Welcome to Nickweb.org

Greetings! Welcome to my personal website and portfolio. My name is Nicholas Crook, but everyone calls me Nick.

I have a rather diverse range of skills, ranging from software development to game design to speculative fiction writing. I do have the tendency to catch on quickly to most any other thing that interests me enough to make me put my mind to.

The programming language I use the most frequently is C#. I do have working knowledge of C, Java, and Python, and have exposure to PHP, Javascript, MySQL, and HTML. I've also used the XNA framework extensively in the production of indie games.

In my spare time, I create indie games--two of which I've released onto the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace. I'm a fairly decent programmer, but not much of an artist--for models, textures, and audio, I typically ask favours of friends or browse for free or budget-friendly content.

My trend toward game design and development began at a young age: one of my early memories is creating a board game using magic markers and posterboard. Since, I've created many more like that, sketched out original ideas on notebook paper, and even crafted prototype sequels to video games I enjoyed. When I picked up programming, I integrated this interest as well and rolled with it.

Current consoles are PS4 and Xbox 360. I enjoy a wide variety of games, but typically trend toward open-world games with puzzle mechanics, platformers, and first or third person action games. Some of the franchises I've enjoyed in recent years have been the Batman: Arkham series, the Assassin's Creed games, and the Bioshock series. Single titles that stand out would include Bulletstorm, Prototype, and Dragon Age: Origins. Classic series would definitely include Mega Man and The Legend of Zelda. First console was a classic NES.

So, that's a little about me. Feel free to browse the links to the top, and come back any time.

-Nick