John P. Doran

John P. Doran

John P. Doran

Instructor

Technical Game Design & Development, Extended Reality (XR), Smart Pedagogy, Digital Therapeutics (DTx)

John P. Doran is a passionate and seasoned Technical Game Designer, Software Engineer, and Author. His passion for game development began at an early age. He later graduated from DigiPen Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Game Design and Bradley University with a Master of Science in Computer Science.

For over a decade, John has gained extensive hands-on expertise in game development working in various roles ranging from game designer to lead UI programmer working in teams consisting of just himself to over 70 people in student, mod, and professional game projects including working at LucasArts on Star Wars: 1313. Additionally, John has worked in game development education teaching in Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. To date, he has authored over 10 books pertaining to game development.

John is currently an Instructor at George Mason Korea. Prior to his present ventures, he was an award-winning videographer.

Current Research

My current research focuses on integrating extended reality (XR) in education, exploring game-based digital therapeutics (DTx) for health, and advancing game development techniques with various game engines. Additionally, I am pursuing a PhD in Computational Social Science, expanding my expertise in data-driven analysis of social systems.

Selected Publications

Doran, John P. Unity 2022 Mobile Game Development: Discover Hands-On Techniques and Examples to Build and Publish Engaging Games for Android and iOS, 3rd Edition. Packt Publishing, June 2023.

Doran, John P., John David McGrew, Jiyeon Seo, and Caleb A. Sloan. Games for Good: Improving Lives & Industry through Digital Therapeutics. Mar. 2022.

Doran, John P. Unity 2021 Shaders and Effects Cookbook: Over 50 Recipes to Help You Transform Your Game into a Visually Stunning Masterpiece, 4th Edition. Packt Publishing, Oct. 2021.

Doran, John P. Extended Reality (XR) Based Smart Pedagogy: Data Analytics Driven Examination of Smart Technology Application to Student Success. Oct. 2021.

Doran, John P., William Sherif, and Stephen Whittle. Unreal Engine 4.x Scripting with C++ Cookbook: Develop Quality Game Components and Solve Scripting Problems with the Power of C++ and UE4, 2nd Edition. Packt Publishing, Mar. 2019.

Brenlla Ramos, Brais, and John P. Doran. Unreal Engine 4 Shaders and Effects Cookbook: Over 70 Recipes for Mastering Post-Processing Effects and Advanced Shading Techniques. Packt Publishing, May 2019.

Expanded Publication List

Doran, John P. Unity 2022 Mobile Game Development: Discover Hands-On Techniques and Examples to Build and Publish Engaging Games for Android and iOS, 3rd Edition. Packt Publishing, June 2023.

Doran, John P. Games For Good: An Exploration of Game-Based Digital Therapeutics (DTx). Nov. 2022.

Doran, John P., John David McGrew, Jiyeon Seo, and Caleb A. Sloan. Games for Good: Improving Lives & Industry through Digital Therapeutics. Mar. 2022.

Doran, John P. Unity 2021 Shaders and Effects Cookbook: Over 50 Recipes to Help You Transform Your Game into a Visually Stunning Masterpiece, 4th Edition. Packt Publishing, Oct. 2021.

Doran, John P. Extended Reality (XR) Based Smart Pedagogy: Data Analytics Driven Examination of Smart Technology Application to Student Success. Oct. 2021.

Doran, John P. Unity 2020 Mobile Game Development: Discover Practical Techniques and Examples to Create and Deliver Engaging Games for Android and iOS, 2nd Edition. Packt Publishing, Aug. 2020.

Doran, John P., William Sherif, and Stephen Whittle. Unreal Engine 4.x Scripting with C++ Cookbook: Develop Quality Game Components and Solve Scripting Problems with the Power of C++ and UE4, 2nd Edition. Packt Publishing, Mar. 2019.

Brenlla Ramos, Brais, and John P. Doran. Unreal Engine 4 Shaders and Effects Cookbook: Over 70 Recipes for Mastering Post-Processing Effects and Advanced Shading Techniques. Packt Publishing, May 2019.

Thorn, Alan, John P. Doran, Alan Zucconi, and Jorge Palacios. Complete Unity 2018 Game Development: Explore Techniques to Build 2D/3D Applications Using Real-World Examples. Packt Publishing, Jan. 2019.

Doran, John P., and Alan Zucconi. Unity 2018 Shaders and Effects Cookbook: Transform Your Game into a Visually Stunning Masterpiece with Over 70 Recipes, 3rd Edition. Packt Publishing, June 2018.

Doran, John P., and Matt Casanova. Game Development Patterns and Best Practices: Better Games, Less Hassle. Packt Publishing, Apr. 2017.

Doran, John P. Unity 2017 Mobile Game Development: Build, Deploy, and Monetize Games for Android and iOS with Unity. Packt Publishing, Nov. 2017.

Dickinson, Chris, John P. Doran, and Greg Lukosek. Unity 5: Learning C# by Developing Games. Packt Publishing, Jul. 2017.

Lee, Joanna, John P. Doran, and Nitish Misra. Unreal Engine: Game Development from A to Z. Packt Publishing, Aug. 2016.

Doran, John P. Unity 5.x Game Development Blueprints. Packt Publishing, May 2016.

Doran, John P. Building an FPS Game with Unity. Packt Publishing, Oct. 2015.

Doran, John P. Unreal Engine Game Development Cookbook. Packt Publishing, Nov. 2015.

Doran, John P. Unity Game Development Blueprints. Packt Publishing, Nov. 2014.

Doran, John P. UDK Game Development. Packt Publishing, Apr. 2014.

Doran, John P. Mastering UDK Game Development HOTSHOT. Packt Publishing, Mar. 2013.

Doran, John P., and Christos Gatzidis. UDK iOS Game Development Beginners Guide. Packt Publishing, Aug. 2012.

Courses Taught

GAME 101 - Introduction to Game Design
GAME 140 - Applied Coding for Game Designers 
GAME 210 - Basic Game Design
GAME 232 - Online & Mobile Gaming 
GAME 240 - Gameplay Scripting & Implementation I
GAME 310 - Digital Game Design
GAME 330 - Computer Game Platform Analysis
GAME 331 - Computer Game Platform Analysis Lab

Education

M.S. Computer Science, Bradley University, Peoria, 2021
B.S. Game Design, DigiPen Institute of Technology, Redmond, 2011

Recent Presentations

Doran, John P., and Vladimir Uskov. "Smart Pedagogy: An Extended Reality (XR) Based Approach." KES-SEEL-22 | KES International Conference on Smart Education and E-Learning, 2022, doi:10.1007/978-981-19-3112-3_4.

Doran, John P. "Games For Good: An Exploration of Game-Based Digital Therapeutics (DTx)." International Conference on Global Trends in Gaming (ICGTG 2022), 18-19 Nov. 2022, Tongmyong University, Busan, Korea. Paper ID: ICGTG-[09].

In the Media

Kim, G. "엔터테인먼트, 그 이상의 '게임'을 가르치는 대학교." Inven, 17 Mar. 2023. Retrieved 9 Aug. 2024, from https://m.inven.co.kr/webzine/wznews.php?idx=282793.

Park, H. "조지메이슨대, ‘디지털 치료제 국제 심포지엄’ 미국서 개최." 대한경제, 11 Nov. 2022. Retrieved 9 Aug. 2024, from https://www.dnews.co.kr/uhtml/view.jsp?idxno=202211111139083090578.