On His Game

By Erica Leal, UC Irvine

Third-year UC Irvine student Eric Patrick has always gravitated toward virtual environments.

“With physical activities, you’re kind of limited by [whether] you can get enough people together or have the materials,” he says. “But you’re really unbounded when you’re in digital spaces.”

Growing up in Mission Viejo with a father who worked in computer science, Patrick discovered at an early age that he enjoyed designing playable experiences for others. His initial endeavors included making Minecraft maps for his friends.

During his first year of high school, Patrick enrolled in an introductory computer science course and learned the coding language Java. He then began translating Java to C# to code in Unity, a cross-platform game development tool.

Patrick went on to start a game-making club as a high school sophomore, forging a space where he and fellow students could create levels and receive feedback. His first few projects were 2D space shooter games.

“Looking back now, they’re not very good games, but they’re still dear to my heart,” he says.

As Patrick continued to hone his craft, his dedication to game development grew as well. This led him to UC Irvine’s Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences, where he’s currently pursuing a double major in game design & interactive media and computer science.

In addition, as a member of the campus’s Video Game Development Club, Patrick works with others to bring new concepts to life. He relishes the puzzlelike nature of devising games – overcoming technical challenges and maximizing entertainment value. Last spring, Patrick led the creation of a game called Convergence, which includes a live gravity simulation, allowing players to consume smaller planets as they grow into larger ones.

“It’s fun to be working in a big team,” he says, “with the momentum of having everyone chipping in, having their ideas fly in meetings.”

In fact, Patrick says, that sense of community is what he values most in his time at UC Irvine, as it has contributed to his expanding skills.

“Having all these people who are really experienced and being able to soak up that knowledge has helped me make games,” he says. “There’s a notable jump in quality from the games I made my senior year of high school to Convergence. It’s like night and day.”

Patrick is also among the 2023-24 recipients of the Julian Feldman Endowed Scholarship in ICS. With tuition and health challenges at home, he says, the aid allows him to study in peace without worrying about his family’s finances.

While hoping to establish a career in game design, Patrick welcomes the idea of going into the field of computer science too. But for now, his goal is to continue crafting new digital experiences.

“It’s really about being able to create this thing that I can see and play,” Patrick says. “It’s fun for me, but more importantly, it’s being able to see other people react positively to something I made.”

This story originally appeared in UCI News.