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CalaMariGold

CalaMariGold

Skills
Experience
Content Creator
Web Developer
Content Creator
Web Developer
Game Developer
Music Producer
Game Developer
Music Producer

About Me

Hiya, my name is Mari (she/her) and I'm a 24 year old web developer with passions in
game development, content creation, and music production.

You can find me on all these platforms

Skills

Click on a skill to view more info on it!

General

Branding

Branding

Over the years, I learned the importance of maintaining a consistent, aesthetically pleasing, and relevant brand, whether it be for personal use, independent content creation, or business. Color theory, logo design, font design, characters/mascots, and more are all aspects of branding that I’ve worked with for many different projects over the years. You can see my branding work with Rebirth of the Night, TREPIDATION, streaming/content creation, and a few other projects. and

Game Design

Game Design

Since highschool, I realized my love for game design, especially systems design. I love to utilize statistics, analytics, player feedback, and overall game feel to improve upon balance, create new QoL mechanics, new content, and more that will result in an enjoyable experience for players. I believe I have successfully applied my game design skills to games I've worked on, as well as other projects such as Rebirth of the Night and TREPIDATION.

I'm an avid follower and supporter of many game design focused YouTube channels, such as Game Maker's Toolkit, Adam Millard - The Architect of Games, Whitelight, Like Stories of Old, and more. I'm inspired by their unique yet sensical approach to game design.

Film Production

Film Production

Film production is a fun hobby and passion of mine that has required me to learn many different skills, especially video editing. One day, I'd love to edit and produce a live-action original film or trailer on YouTube! Below are examples of my previous work in film production.

 

 

Marketing

Marketing

Working in both the indie game industry and web development industry, I have experience in digital marketing as well as e-commerce.

In the past I've utilized social media such as Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook to promote an agency's products, as well as video games. I still have a lot to learn, so I hope to gain more experience in marketing in the near future.

Community Management

Community Management

Community management is big passion for me. It's something I'm improving on every day and have been doing for much of my life. My first real experience was in highschool, where I created a Minecraft server that had a small but tight-knit community and staff, even managing to raise money through donations to pay for server costs.

From college until now, I've created many Discord communities and watched them thrive with hundreds or thousands of members, as well as fall. I've made my fair share of mistakes throughout the process of it all, a lot of which required me to grow as a person and make hard but necessary decisions.

My biggest achievement has been the Rebirth of the Night community, which under my ownership grew from a couple hundred Discord members to becoming partnered with over 13,000 members. Ultimately, I was still in the learning process and my actions and behavior caused me to step down, which was a very hard decision. I believed I learned a valuable lesson in maintaining transparency with your community and how to better work with your team.

Now, I manage my own community for my streaming/content creation life, most of which is in my Discord. I'm so, so incredibly proud of that community and I made some of my best friends through it.

Project Management

Check back soon!

Development

Front-End Dev

Front-End Development

Whether it's games, websites, software, and more, front-end development is where I excel most. The design aspect of front-end dev lets me show my skills in a creative way. I do have knowledge on back-end development and one day would like to be well-versed enough to be considered a fullstack developer.

Back-End Dev

Back-End Development

Back-end development and server work has not been my focus, but is something I'm constantly learning and striving to improve. With hands-on experience in professional work and passion projects, I have experience with SQL, DNS, cloud environments, FTP/SFTP, web servers, Linux environments (namely Ubuntu), and more.

HTML & CSS

HTML & CSS

I learned both HTML and CSS back in highschool and still utilize it frequently. Now with many visual builders gaining popularity in WordPress, there is less and less need for any hardcoding HTML or CSS, but I still consider these two neccessary skills to continue improving on.

JavaScript

JavaScript

Code Academy JavaScript Certificate JavaScript is a newer programming language to me, as rarely have I had to use it for WordPress technical support or even building WordPress sites, however I believe JavaScript is very neccessary and I hope to continue improving my skills!

PHP

PHP

I've used PHP sparingly for WordPress technical support, though rarely have needed it to use it. I hope to gain more experience with PHP in the near future!

SQL

SQL

SQL is rather new to me as I don't focus on back-end development, however I feel like having knowledge of it is vital especially in regards to technical support and general web development. I understand foundational concepts and commands and hope to continue learning!

WordPress

WordPress

WordPress is my go-to CMS for web development. It's what I use for all the websites I've worked on over the past decade. I'm very familiar with most features available in WordPress as well as many different plugins, such as most visual builders. Its UI and general design is intuitive and easy for me to utilize to its fullest extent.

C#

C#

All my experience of C# comes from game development in Unity. C# is by far my favorite programming language due to its comfortable syntax for me and readability, however I'm also comfortable with many other languages.

Java

Java

Java was the first ever programming language I learned in highschool. It had a steep learning curve for me, but I quickly got the hang of it within a year. I took 3 courses in highschool for Java, including AP Java. Since then, I haven't found a use for Java in awhile, aside from some Minecraft mod tinkering. I'm still very familiar with Java overall and can code comfortably with it.

C++

C++

I learned C++ in my senior year of highschool and immediately became comfortable with it after learning Java. I haven't used C++ in awhile, but I'm confident I can jump back into it when needed.

Python

Python

I am not as comfortable in Python as I am in C#, Java, or even JavaScript, however I have utilized Python for my Discord bot and some scripts for personal use. I very much plan on continuing my journey on becoming proficient with Python!

JSON

JSON

I learned how to use JSON Minecraft mod and modpack development, which requires a lot of JSON editing for new content and other tweaks. I'm very familiar with the syntax and JSON's overall usecase.

Git

Git

For most of my time spent doing software development, I've been using Git. I'm very familiar with the process and how it's used. These days I use GitHub for nearly all my projects.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Being a web developer for many years, I learned that SEO is one of the most important aspects of web dev. I've utilized many different WordPress SEO plugins in the past like Yoast SEO and SmartCrawl to a successful degree. I understand the importance and usability of page readability, length, keywords, search page titles and descriptions, and more.

ZenScript

ZenScript

ZenScript was the main scripting language of working on Rebirth of the Night, as well as my other Minecraft modpacks. I'm very familiar with it at this point, especially since much of its syntax is similar to Java and C#.

Software

Unity

Unity

After trying out engines like CryEngine and Unreal Engine in the past, Unity quickly became my favorite and go-to engine for game development. I played with Unity all the way back in early highschool and since then I became very familiar with its environment and workflow, creating both 2D and 3D games. Unity's object/component system is extremely intuitive to me and makes the workflow process a lot of fun. I used Unity all throughout college and still actively use it for solo indie games I'm creating.

I hope to continue to learn every aspect of Unity development and work with a team in the future.

Ableton Live

Ableton Live

Ableton Live is my favorite digital audio workstation to make music with. It's what I currently use for all my recent tracks, including my single Top of the World". I enjoy the workflow and UI design, as well as its track component system that is similar to Unity's component system. I've been using Ableton Live for the past 3 years now.

Adobe Premiere

Adobe Premiere

Adobe Premiere is my go-to video editing software. I used it to produce and edit all my video game trailers, with some help from Adobe After Effects. I've been using Premiere for a little over 2 years and enjoy the video editing process very much. I'm familiar with the color correction process, transitions (B Roll, A Roll, etc), masking, effects, and more.

I hope to obtain more video editing experience in the future by editing live-action films, trailers, and more video game content.

Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a new skill to me that I'm still learning. It has a higher learning curve to me than Adobe Premiere, but I still enjoy the learning process nonetheless. I utilized AE to create the "Anti-Cupid" lyric video on my YouTube. I hope to gain more experience in the future!

Paint.Net

Paint.Net

I've used Paint.Net for many years for all my graphic design and image editing work. I find it a lot easier to get into than a program like Photoshop, but I also don't have the means to purchase Photoshop due to it being a bit expensive for me. One day I'd love to switch over to Photoshop where I suspect many skills to transfer over.

ProTools

ProTools

ProTools was the first digital audio workstation I've worked with back in college and is what I used to mix and master my first metal track "Anti-Cupid". It was a ton of fun to learn and I definitely enjoyed the process, however I much prefer Ableton Live these days. Still, if I needed to produce a song in ProTools, I'd know what I'm doing.

Reason

Reason

Reason is a digital audio workstation I utilized for a course in college. I produced my unpublished track Unkept Memories" on Reason. I enjoyed making the track but would prefer to stick to other DAWs like Ableton Live.

Music

Piano

Piano

I've been playing piano for nearly my entire life. It was the first instrument I learned and I still practice to this day. In middleschool and highschool, I was known to be "the piano kid" from playing at many talent shows. Today, I love to incorporate my piano playing into my EDM and electronic songs.

Drums

Drums

I've been playing drums on and off since middle school. Lately, I've been practicing consistently for more than a year now and it's become my favorite instrument to play. I still have a lot to improve upon, but I'm making progress every day!

Electric Guitar

Electric Guitar

You'll hear a lot of my electric guitar playing in all my metal and rock songs, such as in my single "Anti-Cupid". I love to play metal and djent ever since highschool and hope to continue improving.

Acoustic Guitar

Acoustic Guitar

I've been playing acoustic since highschool and I learned how to play both finger style and with a pick, usually preferring to play with a pick. You can hear my acoustic playing in my new single "February Rain".

Synthesizers

Synthesizers

I've been experimenting with synthesizers for the past couple years now and I've had a lot of fun doing so. I understand the basics when it comes to it but definitely hope to continue improving. You can hear some synths I created for the lead and rhythm melodies in my track "Top of the World".

Live Audio Production

Live Audio Production

During my later years of college, I switched from computer science to music production courses. One of the courses was live audio production, which managed to get me an internship doing stage setup and sound check for the popular band Emarosa! I operated a Behringer X32. It was an amazing experience and would love to do it again one day.

Professional Experience

Work experience and education.

Reggio Digital logo

Overview

Reggio Digital is a web development and WordPress hosting agency. Reggio primarily focuses on configuring and managing the technical side of a client's website. That includes taking care of site fixes, tweaks, updates, security, migrations, and more with unlimited customer support.

I began working for them as a contractor back in 2018. I was responsible for fixing, tweaking, and creating optimized and responsive sites using WordPress, CSS, and HTML.

In 2022, I became a full-time employee doing more of the above, as well as creating full sites and handling technical support for many clients. A few of the sites I built can be viewed below in the Web Development section

Overview

Iperdesign is a digital branding, marketing and design agency. I worked as an intern during college as a front-end web developer and game developer. I enjoyed my time here a lot as I genuinely liked the work culture and freedom to express my suggestions and opinions. I gained a lot of valuable knowledge on the development process and overall was an insightful experience.

Development

During my time at IperDesign, I was a front-end web developer focused on creating and tweaking WordPress sites for clients using HTML, CSS, and a couple plugins. During my free-time, I also worked on their platformer game made in Unity, Iperbot. I pretty much had a lot of free range to implement whatever I wanted with Iperbot, so long as it fit some general criteria. I added new levels and reworked old ones, fixed tons of bugs, added new mechanics, and implemented an online leaderboard. I'm really proud of the work I did on Iperbot as it allowed me to grow my coding and development skills in other areas besides web development in a fun but challenging way.

Highschool

Throughout highschool, I created dozens of games and experiments using Java and C++, as well as Unity, and other engines. 
Here's a list of just a few of the games I created:

  • Terraria clone (fan recreation for educational purposes)
  • Unfair Mario (fan recreation)
  • Poker
  • Flying side-scroller
  • Plants vs Zombies (fan recreation)
  • Maze game w/ custom level editor

College

During college, I created fewer, but larger games. One of which was a 2D turn-based strategy similar to Worms or Tanks (the old flash game). I worked with a team on this one as the project lead. In the end, the game included online and local multiplayer, unique abilities, complex algorithms for projectile trajectory and manipulation, custom UI and art, and more.

Another game I worked on heavily was IperBot, which you can read more about in the Iperdesign section.

Passion Projects

A few of my favorite passion projects that taught me valuable skills.

Rebirth of the Night text logo

Overview

Rebirth of the Night is a Minecraft modpack I created and led a hobby development team for nearly 2 years. Under my ownership, RotN gained more than 600,000 downloads and the Discord server grew from a couple hundred members to over 13,000 members and becoming partnered with Discord.

I was responsible for all aspects of development (excluding art), community management, branding, marketing, tech support, and releasing. Creating RotN is easily the most influential thing I've ever done. It was a great learning experience to be apart of something bigger than myself. I was astounded with how many people were deeply affected by a modpack, how many close friendships were made because of the community, and how many people it inspired. I had massive ambitions for RotN, including changing the entire modded Minecraft community for the better by setting the bar for modpack quality and commissioning mods the community needed. I stepped down in April of 2021 to reflect on personal growth and move onto other projects.

Development

I mostly utilized ZenScript (a scripting language with similarities to Java) and JSON. ZenScript, paired with the mod CraftTweaker (as well as its many addons), allowed us to create new content in Minecraft in the form of new items, crafting recipes, and more.

Much of our design philosophy for RotN was to make it feel like its own game, not just a Minecraft modpack. The goal was to create something consistent, fun, balanced, high-quality, and perhaps most of all, unique. I believe that with the very talented development team, we accomplished our goal.

Community Management

During my time as owner, I focused heavily on the community. I wanted to make sure everyone felt safe within the community, especially LGBTQIA+ folks. I made sure to go above and beyond to protect groups of people who are more likely to be targeted by harassment. I highly valued content creators. I would frequently visit streamers playing RotN on Twitch, introduce myself, and ask if they had any questions or feedback. I learned a lot about how to treat others, how to listen to your community, and how to respect those you work with.

Branding and Marketing

Below you will see two trailers for RotN that I edited, recorded, and produced.
I mainly did these for fun because I think trailers are really cool, but in terms of branding and marketing, they really help build up hype and show the level of passion, care, and quality we put into the modpack.

Trepidation text logo

Overview

TREPIDATION is my newest Minecraft modpack on CurseForge. It's still quite small and very much in development, but I believe is truly unique and has massive potential. Others have said the same, but the main thing currently holding it back is its early state in development. Despite it still being small, I'm genuinely proud of myself for this project. I'm proud of myself for the branding and for making something different.

Development

Much of the development section in RotN is the same here, as both modpacks use mostly the same mods to change the experience, as well as many new mods.

Community Management

Right now, the community is very small and mostly inactive, however, I'm always there when someone asks a question and believe I'm much more prepared now for a larger community than I was with RotN.

Branding and Marketing

Branding was one of my main focuses for TREPIDATION. I find it a lot of fun to keep things polished and consistent. This modpack is a lot more focused on horror, as you'll see in the trailer I created entirely by myself. I value even the most simple and smallest things when it comes to consistency and branding, such as a unique main menu, in-game UI, and even the game font.

Overview

Katamario (temporary name) is an arcade indie game I'm currently solo developing in Unity. It's gameplay is a combination between Katamari Damacy and Agario where you control a ball picking up objects and other players on a multiplayer server to become the largest ball.

This project is open-source.

Overview

Baa is a 24/7 Discord bot I created that is hosted on a cloud server running a Linux distro, Ubuntu. The bot is an instance of Red, an open source Discord bot created by Twentysix and improved by many.

I created Baa as a passionate project. I practically live on Discord and always wanted a single bot to do just about everything I need. Baa focuses on fun games and tools for server members, as well as a very robust and extensive security system for communities. I wanted content creators and other communities who are likely for attacks to feel completely safe with Baa protecting their server and its members. I've coded plugins (named called "cogs") using some simple Python and custom scripts for others to use within Baa that secure their server with auto-moderation. I also enjoy giving Baa life and a personality for members to feel more connected and safe.

One of Baa's prominent features is the ability to talk to him via OpenAI's language models (such as ChatGPT). I created a cog that sends a request to OpenAI's API for image or text generation using their model engines.
You can view this source code here.

Baa is available to join your server for a monthly cost of $3/month to my Patreon. Baa was never meant to be a public bot due to server costs and other restrictions, so there is a limit of 100 servers that Baa can be in.
Baa's documentation for usage in your own server can be found here.

Baa's Bio

Hello human! I am a grove sprite (tree spirit) created by CalaMariGold. Type !help to see all my commands! I am here to protect communities from harmful entities while also promoting fun!

Web Developer

Experienced front-end web developer using WordPress.

I've been making websites and experimenting with WordPress for 6+ years now, including working for multiple web design agencies during college and obtaining plenty of real-world experience.

Most recently, I worked full-time at Reggio Digital as a Web Developer and Technical Support Engineer. I began working for them as a contractor back in 2018. I was responsible for fixing, tweaking, and creating optimized and responsive sites using WordPress, CSS, and HTML.

In 2022, I became a full-time employee doing more of the above, as well as creating full sites and handling technical support for many clients. A few of the sites I built can be viewed in my portfolio.

My Website Portfolio

CalaMariGold

I made this site in about a week as a way to not only showcase what I can do, but also because it's fun! I created this design from scratch and utilized WordPress and Beaver Builder, as well as custom CSS.

What To Eat In

What To Eat In

A site I created under Reggio Digital. I was in charge of development of a redesign of the entire site. I also maintained and updated the site by publishing new blog posts and managing the newsletter.

Traveler Broads

Traveler Broads

I helped with overall development of a redesign of the entire site under Reggio Digital.

The Globetrotting Teacher

The Globetrotting Teacher

I helped with overall development of a redesign of the entire site under Reggio Digital.

LetsRV

LetsRV

A website I created for Reggio Digital client. I was in charge of development for a redesign of the entire site.

Vanlifers

Vanlifers

A website I created for Reggio Digital client. I was in charge of development for a redesign of the entire site.

Canadian Society of Breast Imaging

Site currently not live, check back later!

 

Game Developer

Growing up with a deep interest in game development.

Early Life

My first steps as a game developer

Since my early teens, I've been experimenting with game engines, programming, researching game design, and making fully playable games.

In high school, I dreamed of working for AAA game studios. I took every possible programming class and even passed an AP programming class. On my free time, I made simple FPS games in CryEngine, Unreal Engine, and Unity. I was an early adopter of VR and bought an Oculus Rift Development Kit 2, which I played around with in Unreal Engine.

College

What I learned as a college student

I went to a university for a bachelors degree in computer science with a concentration in game development. Throughout those years, I made platformers and turn-based 2D games in Unity for internships and course projects, usually taking the leadership role for any group projects. I learned a lot about game design and what it's like to work with a team. I didn't end up graduating as I quickly discovered that I much prefer to learn on my own by getting real world experience instead of a structured school experience.

Present Day

Where to now?

Well, I don't actually know! Where will these skills I've learned over the years take me? How will my interest for all things computer science and design guide me in the future? All I can hope is that it puts me in a place that makes me happy and proud of myself.

For now, game development might be put on the backburner, but I still hope to release an indie game for fun one day!

Music Producer / Musician

Kawaii EDM  -  Metalcore  -  Punk  -  Chill beats

 

Music has always been a part of who I am. I've been playing piano, drums, and guitar for most of my life and hope to become a professional drummer. I play, record, and produce all my own music from EDM, metal, pop, acoustic, and more.
Follow me on your favorite streaming service to get notified on my next release!

Check out all my releases here!

Content Creator

Chaotic good vibes.

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I also post on YouTube! I'm currently using YouTube as a way to explore different facets of content creation and seeing what I like best. Generally, I'm just experimenting with how I want to proceed with YouTube videos in the future.

I occasionally stream on both YouTube and Twitch, which are heavily community focused. A lot of my streams are conversations with chat, where we talk about a wide variety of topics including random chit-chat, mental health issues, LGBTQIA+ topics, and more. When we're not talking about heavier topics, we like to have a fun and chaotic vibe with many ways for the viewers to directly interact with stream. Sometimes I play Minecraft in the background, community games, special events, survival games, and more. So, if you're new to my streams and haven't said hi yet, don't be shy! <3

I also post on YouTube! I'm currently using YouTube as a way to explore different facets of content creation and seeing what I like best. Generally, I'm just experimenting with how I want to proceed with YouTube videos in the future.

For professional inquires, contact me through the email provided on my resume.
For all other inquires, contact me at [email protected]

Copyright © 2023 CalaMariGold