Sean Dugan's Portfolio

about me

Over my 15 years in software development, I’ve built a variety of applications including websites, mobile apps, video games, simulations, educational software, and programming tools. I am passionate about game development and everything Python.

My experience in programming began at age eight when I was introduced to Visual Basic 6. From then on I was hooked, and I seized every opportunity to code. My brother, Jared, and I developed Flash games in Actionscript and built websites in HTML / Javascript for an educational charity. Throughout high school, I learned Java and continued creating educational games. I attended Indiana Institute of Technology on a mathematics scholarship, graduating with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering. The program used Ada, C/C++, and VB.net.

After college, I co-founded a business to help kids learn programming and technology to better prepare them for the future. Our team developed curriculum, taught courses for middle/high school, and produced educational software. We used Python, Lua, C, C++, C#, Unrealscript, and Unityscript languages with Blender Game Engine, CryEngine, Unreal, and Unity game engines as well as made our own embedded Python binding for Unreal 4. Our company was privileged to win two regional awards, Emerging Company and Innovator of the Year.

I currently build tools for programming, 3D graphics, and mathematics. You can check out some of my favorite projects in my portfolio below. I’m always on the lookout for the next opportunity to build something new.

Mayan Multiplication is an app available on the App Store and Google Play. It is a collection of five math games to help elementary students learn multiplication facts. Each challenge promotes speed and accuracy by integrating the math with compelling and strategic gameplay. The 3D graphics immerse students in the Mayan world as they progress through a series of 10 different ranks from stone to diamond. Each game is constructed so the challenge of playing doesn’t affect the math but instead breaks routine and reinforces knowledge. Mayan Multiplication was developed using Unity and the programming languages were C# and Unityscript, a Javascript variant.

PI is a visual Python programming environment designed to help new or infrequent Python programmers to avoid frustrating syntax errors. It has a browser front end that uses graphical blocks which are connected to make programs. These blocks are arranged in hierarchical groups in a sidebar palette which reminds the beginner of the available statements. The block programs are converted into text-based Python, one block to one line of Python code. The labels on the blocks are actual Python to help users in learning text-based Python. Unlike most visual languages, PI supports concepts such as local variables and passing functions as parameters to other functions. A large number of additional blocks are available for the extensive libraries that make Python so powerful and versatile. Hovering over blocks from these libraries will yield built-in documentation. Code generated from PI can be used anywhere that uses Python.

PI has a Python server back-end that runs on the same computer. That way, the user can run Python programs directly from PI, load and save programs, control other programs such as Excel and SQLite, etc. The server also allows PI to convert Python code to blocks. PI was written in HTML, JavaScript, and Python.

Python3D is an extension for the Unity game engine which allows the user to program Unity in Python. The use of a high-level language, like Python, enables rapid development, but since it is calling most of the code from the underlying C# routines, it still performs quite well. Included are example programs and scenes to help new Unity developers to learn how this already popular game system is used. One of the examples is an FPS (First Person Shooter) programmed completely in Python, using only 3D models that were downloaded from the Unity Asset Store. Python3D was developed in C# and Python.

This development system can be combined with a special edition of Python Incubator (mentioned above) allowing the programming of Unity in a block-based editor that has special blocks for Python3D.

This educational physics simulation demonstrates the mathematics of range finding and projectile motion for high school students. The simulation is set in a 3D game world of a Spanish harbor in the Caribbean where a pirate ship is firing upon a town. As the defender of the town’s fort, the student has a single cannon and rangefinder. The simulation only allows one shot, after that, the ship returns fire and never misses, destroying his cannon. Since guessing won’t work, this requires the student to calculate the trajectory. To do this, he must figure the distance to the ship using a range finding table and then the elevation of the cannon using a ballistics table. The simulation does not provide these tables, so the student must construct them himself using included lessons and computer programming. The tables are written to text files that are picked up by the simulation and appear written on papers near the cannon. Students have the satisfaction of actually programming a visible part of the world. The tables are calculated outside the simulation so any programming language can be used. The software was created in Unity.