Professional Experience
Lead Level Designer for Unannounced Project August 2019–Present
A new and exciting project from InXile
- Leading level design and content implementation for an unannounced project
Lead Level Designer for Bard's Tale 4 Director's Cut September 2016–Present
Bard's Tale 4 is a 21st century continuation of one of gaming's oldest and most celebrated series.
- Led a team of 5-7 designers from the end of preproduction through release and into the multiplatform release of the Director's Cut
- Reviewed all level design content and tasks, working directly with each designer to refine the ideas into final quality.
- Assisted and mentored junior designers.
- Responsible for planning all levels and all of the content for the entire game
- Designed all overworld zones and several dungeon spaces.
- Construction: Used the level editor and Google SketchUp to create and iterate on level prototypes.
- Gather and implement feedback from internal and external playtests.
- Directed and guided R&D tasks related to console development, particularly in the areas of memory management and level streaming.
Senior Level Designer for Firefall April 2015–November 2015
Firefall is a hybrid MMO/FPS that focuses around freedom of movement, in addition to instanced missions and open world combat.
- Responsible for planning level layouts and constructing whiteboxes in our in-game editor.
- Worked with the scripting and world building teams in order to see the level from concept to completion.
- Construction: Used the level editor and Google SketchUp to create and iterate on level prototypes.
- Gather and implement feedback from internal playtests.
Lead Designer/Associate Producer for National Museum of the United States Army Experiential Learning Center October 2014–April 2015
The National Museum of the United States Army Experiential Learning Center Game is an educational game centered around teaching the basics of the GSTEM fields in an engaging and approachable way
- Responsible for interfacing with government customers, gathering requirements, and creating production timelines.
- Created and managed sprint backlog, presented sprint demos for management and government customers, and ran daily scrum meetings.
- Prioritised bug fixes for initial release to customer.
- Created content and designed levels for each of the apps 5 game types.
- Wrote and revised dialog for game's initial release and subsequent updates.
- Managed small outsourced teams, and several internal developers across multiple disciplines.
Level Designer for America's Army Visualiation Platform 3 May 2010–April 2015
The America's Army Visualization Platform is a suite of products geared towards helping active duty soldiers learn to use vehicles and equipment that are essential to their jobs.
- Responsible for interfacing with government customers, gathering requirements, and creating production timelines.
- Designed and documented eight levels across four separate products, with a specialization in large, open world maps.
- Construction: Terrain, Textures, Lighting, Decorative Mesh Placement, Entity Placement, Art Integration
- Scenario Design and Scripting
- Managed small outsourced teams, and several internal developers
- Sole Level designer across multiple projects
Level Designer for Next Generation Internal Prototype January 2014–April 2015
Our Next Generation Internal Prototype is a series of experiments in Unreal 4 directed at expanding the studio's capabilities, and creating a framework for future product development.
- Responsible for interfacing with government customers, gathering requirements, and creating production timelines.
- Created tasking and oversaw the day-to-day development of the prototype.
- Worked with art and programming teams to develop a method of carrying over content from Unreal 3 to Unreal 4.
- Scripted a dynamic day/night cycle and a framework for weather effects.
- Reconstructed a large scale map from our Unreal 3 product, and give it a visual upgrade.
- Managed several internal developers across multiple disciplines.
School Experience
Level Designer and Producer for Project: Snakebite May 2009–May 2010
Unity and eMotiv EPOC Headset Team Master's Project. Work on Project: Snakebite ceased in May 2010
- Created Placeholder Assets in 3DS Max 2009 and Co-Created level
- Construction: Terrain, Textures, Lighting, Decorative Mesh Placement, Entity Placement, Art Integration
- Scripted dialog tree to respond to user's emotional state, detected by the EPOC Headset
- Wrote Thesis Proposal
Level Designer for Under Deadly Skies August 2009–December 2009
Gears of War Individual Directed Focus Study
- Created Level Design Document
- Construction: BSP Layout, Textures, Lighting and Lighting Channels, Decorative Mesh Placement, Entity Placement, Cover Links and Groups, Encounter Scripting and Balancing
- Scripted Boomer to shoot out lights and create areas that are fatal to the player
- Scripted light puzzle/trap that the player must use against enemies
- Thematically consistent with Gears of War
Associate Producer (Faculty Appointed) for Primae Noctis June 2009–December 2009
Unreal Tournament 3 Team Project
- 17 Member Team (8 Level Designers/6 Artists/ 3 Software Engineers)
- Created and Maintained Asset and Development Plan and Maintained Product Backlog
- Worked with Game Designer to Refine and Balance Game play Through Play Testing and Changing Player Metrics, and Assisted in Organizing and Creating Milestone Presentations
- Managed and Directed Team, Conducted SCRUM and Tracked Tasks
- Compiled Feedback and Suggested Improvements to Game play and to Development Pipeline
Level Designer for Stranded March 2009–May 2009
Gears of War Individual Directed Focus Study
- Created Level Abstract and Level Design Document
- Construction: BSP Layout, Static Mesh placement, Lighting and Lighting Channels, Textures, Gameplay Entity Placement, Cover Links, Encounter Scripting, Flow Analysis and Iteration
- Scripted Game play Sequences with multiple objectives that trigger on a timer or when previous objectives were completed
- Studied and maintained architectural style
Associate Producer/Level Designer (Faculty Appointed) for ROM's Hard Drive to Silicon Valley October 2008–December 2008
Torque X Builder Team Project
- 4 Member Team (2 Level Designers/1 Artist/ 1 Software Engineer)
- Game Tied for "Best Overall" by peer vote at Guildhall's 2008 Winter Exhibition
- Created Level Layouts for Levels 1 and 3
- Created and Maintained Game Design Document and Asset and Development Plan
- Prepared Statement of Work
- Managed and Directed Team, Tracked Tasks, and Conducted SCRUM
Level Designer for Tex-Mechs January 2008–April 2008
Student Team Project using a custom made pressure pad and a hacked Wii-mote
- 4 Member Team (2 Designers and Artists/2 Programmers)
- Placed 1st in the 2008 Vicarious Visions Student Design Challenge
- Created and Implemented Level Layout in Maya
- Built and Textured Environmental Assets
- Co-Developed Game Design
Education
Professional Certificate from Guildhall at SMU August 2008–December 2009
BS in Electronic Media, Arts and Communications from RPI August 2004–May 2008
- Minors in German Language, Technological Entrepreneurship, and Game Studies