Game Development and Prototyping

Christopher and Christen Main's journey from indie game developers to influential figures in the Unreal Engine ecosystem began in 2015, leading to the creation of Vertical Third, a comprehensive gameplay architecture available on the Unreal Engine Marketplace that earned them two Epic MegaGrants. As Creative Director, Illustrator, and Game Designer, Christen Main has played a pivotal role in developing Vertical Third, which gained significant recognition through a 3-hour showcase on Inside Unreal, Epic's official livestream, and has its tech demo available on the Epic Game Store. The platform's capabilities extend to cloud-based instanced dedicated servers for multiplayer functionality, while Christen's expertise has been further recognized through her roles as an Unreal Authorized Trainer and Epic Developer Community Author, specifically for the UEFN Boba Shop course on 3D modeling tools. In 2024, the duo represented Epic Games at the Game Developers Conference's Educator's Summit, presenting "Game Connectivity: Polishing Your Bells and Whistles," while continuing their creative endeavors through projects like "Wandering Wisp" and "The First CastleDay," both of which have been featured on Inside Unreal with behind-the-scenes content

In 2015, Christopher and Christen Main, then indie game developers, were navigating online demos, education games, and seeking funding through venture capital, government grants, and publishing. To streamline their workflow, they developed internal tools that eventually evolved into Vertical Third, a comprehensive gameplay architecture now available on the Unreal Engine Marketplace, which has received two Epic MegaGrants. Christopher, the sole programmer and tech artist for Vertical Third, integrated a proprietary launcher and patcher into the tech demo available on the Epic Game Store, and implemented online play with cloud-based instanced dedicated servers to showcase its multiplayer capabilities. Vertical Third was featured in a 3-hour showcase on Inside Unreal, and Christopher is an Unreal Authorized Trainer and Epic Developer Community Author for the UEFN Boba Shop course on 3D modeling tools. In 2024, the duo presented “Game Connectivity: Polishing Your Bells and Whistles” at the Game Developers Conference's Educator’s Summit on behalf of Epic Games. They continue to explore creative projects, including the pre-vis for “Wandering Wisp” and the cinematic short “The First CastleDay,” both of which have behind-the-scenes content on Inside Unreal