PORTFOLIO
Showcasing Game, Level, Puzzle, Mission and Technical Design.
Additional details can be available upon request
AGATHA CHRISITIE'S HERCULE POIROT:
THE FIRST CASES
BAFTA SCOTLAND GAME OF THE YEAR 2022
Credit also to: Blazing Griffin
Microids
Notable Tasks: Puzzle Design, Content Design
I am very proud of Poirot, as it was my first official released game as a Designer.
This project put all of my studies, knowledge and skills to the test, as I was apart of a small design team that only consisted of 1 Lead designer and 2 Junior designers (including myself).
For the two junior designers, the game was split down the middle for story chapters to which we would provide the content for. We also had our own independent responsibilities to enhance the game experience.
We would follow a rough narrative guideline for what narrative beats must be included, but all other content was up to us to design and implement.
Our design process of Poirot consisted of a lot of planning and working closely with the teams writer on the project. The planning process was mainly spent in spreadsheets and documents, in which designers would map out narrative key points, red herrings, mind map deductions, player objectives, conversations with NPC's using the Dialogue Manager and puzzles to provide engaging gameplay to the players. This would be reviewed and then approved, before finally implemented into the editor where it is iterated and improved upon.
My independent task was overall world building, as I have a very keen interest on Level design.
I would be in charge of all world and story interactions, how they were to be interpreted by the player, placement and presentation and overall polish to ensure the player felt immersed in the world.
Poirot was an incredible opportunity to learn about game development for all platforms including current generation consoles, as well as getting a first hand experience in game development for a designer within the industry. It was also a great opportunity to show my skills, knowledge and potential as a designer for the many years to come. I now look forward taking on a project with a big responsibility, and one which pushes me out my comfort zone to learn and improve.
Enjoy the trailer!
ASSASSINS CREED: NEXUS
Credit also to: Ubisoft
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Puzzle Design, Visual Scripting
Assassins Creed is a franchise I grew up on and consider myself very lucky that I can design and create worlds in one of the cornerstones of the games industry.
Assassins Creed Nexus was my first experience in the AAA space, as well as open-world level design, but I quickly adapted to the Ubisoft level design philosophy and mentality. I was able to incorporate my traditional level design skills as well as learn and apply new innovative ways that encourage exploration and immersion. Having 360-level design skills, the ability to evoke emotion and create personas, and general experience in the AAA space are attributes I am proud to have.
With alot of the Levels of Nexus at an art level by the time I joined the project, I primarily honed in my visual scripting skills, whilst also designing, proposing and implementing block out improvements for traversal and puzzle areas of the project. I am proud to say I was the owner of two Greece missions within the project and managed to drive and maintain a high level of quality since I joined the project.
AGATHA CHRISITIE'S HERCULE POIROT:THE LONDON CASE
Credit also to: Blazing Griffin
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Puzzle Design, Mission Design
Hercule Poirot: The London Case was my first taste of Level Design at a professional level and my very first sequel. With the game being my first sequel, my main personal objective was to take my career to the next level and take what I had learned from the previous game from a developer standpoint.
Aside from the same responsibilities from the previous game (which included: chapter structure, puzzle assets and solutions, etc) I also took on the responsibility of Level Designer and created blockouts for all the levels that are present in the game. Before I had left Blazing Griffin, I even helped bring a select few to art quality expected for release.
I also setup all design prefabs and templates for the rest of the team to begin or follow the design intentions. This included: setting up design prefabs with in-world interactions, setting up the mindmap puzzles with nodes and onnections, and general debug setup for when designers need to test out their work.
This project was the last one for me at Blazing Griffin so it holds a very special place in my heart.
MURDER MYSTERY MACHINE
BAFTA SCOTLAND GAME OF THE YEAR NOMINEE 2021
Credit also to: Blazing Griffin
Apple Arcade
Microids
Notable Tasks: Quality Assurance, JIRA Maintenance
I will always remember Murder Mystery Machine (MMM) as my first official game in the industry.
At the end of my second year of school, my passion for games was at an all time high and I impatiently wanted to be apart of the industry. I handed out a couple CV's, asking for a part-time design position while I still studied. Blazing Griffin got back to me almost immediately and offered me the opportunity of a QA works placement during my days off at university. What started off as a month, became 3 months and a paid opportunity later on in the summer to complete the MMM project.
This was my first insight into the true inner workings of a games studio, and I learned of tools and processes that would come to benefit me when I would become a designer.
I was official credited as Quality Assurance, but I was also given the freedom to provide design insight when testing the game.
My daily routine would be to document all overnight builds on if they were successful or not, maintain regress bugs on JIRA, and overall testing of the game to ensure it meets the expectations of the team, the publisher and most importantly, the players.
It was also during this time that the studio offered to give me insight talks from each department and a deeper dive into the design processes of game development in the industry.
I am proud to say that MMM has since been nominated for the BAFTA Game of the Year 2021.
Enjoy the trailer!
INTEGRATED PROJECT 3 //
"OVER/TIME"
Credit also to: Ruari McGhee
Dorian Janjanin
Ruben Di Giulio
Bruno Pasha
Andrea Caramiaj
Leah Taylor
Georgi Slavov
Mark Feeney
Rosa Ahtiainen
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Puzzle Design, Content Design
A lot of my skills were put to the test with this project, however, it paid off as the project was a success and has been praised highly by our client.
My role within the project was primarily Level, Puzzle, and Function Design as I was in charge of creating and populating the rooms we would use for our "Level Generation System", designing and configuring the puzzles in the game and making sure the pro-gen, puzzles and overall game flow seamlessly together.
I also conducted and moderated playtest sessions to ensure the team was hitting the correct aesthetic we want from the player when they are playing the game and general design input to allow the player to feel more immersed with our project.
Credit also to: Ruari McGhee
Briony McKelvie.
D&AD NEW BLOOD AWARDS 2020 //
"MURDER AT THE MANOR"
AWARDED GRAPHITE PENCIL!
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Notable Tasks: Level Design, Content Design, Puzzle Design, UX Design
"Murder at the Manor" was our winning submission to the D&AD New Blood Awards 2020. It was specifically for the RARE and Xbox brief that asked designers to create a concept of a game that "helps players create stories together"
Although only a concept was required, the team were able to create a working prototype that showcased core mechanics and USP's of the game.
My tasks primarily consisted of the level design, the functionality of the game, and what mechanics and motives each player will have. I also acted as the spokesperson for the team and presented the game with our Video presentation.
The team is very proud to win the Graphite Pencil award, but we are also proud of the project in its entirety. The University acknowledged our win with their newsletter where we all gave an interview detailing how and why we chose to enter:
https://www.gcu.ac.uk/student/news/studentnewsnewbloodawards/
VISUAL SCRIPTING SHOWCASE //
"UNSAYNTED"
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Technical Design, Content Design
This gameplay video showcases what I learned from the online courses taught by GameDev.TV.
This was the final game (in a series of 3) created by myself, based off of material from the course and assets from the Unreal Marketplace.
Overall, I praised the course highly on its content and ability to teach students of all academic levels. Notable features I learned from the visual scripting course were: set up projects, create blueprints (of all levels), create and edit functions, create UI, add and adjust audio, create animations through skeletal meshes, and package the game.
The course was all scripting based, so the level was designed and implemented by myself and I also made finer adjustments to UI, audio, and some areas of scripting.
NARRATIVE DESIGN //
"CRESCENT HILLS"
Credit also to: Andrew Black
Euan Brown
Ryan Clifton
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Technical Design, Content Design, Narrative Design, Puzzle Design
"Crescent Hills" was our coursework submission for the Games Narrative module at Glasgow Caledonian University.
With a passion for level, narrative and quest design, I took it upon myself to be the group leader for this project. I wrote the narrative and designed the level with the aim that both pillars would complement each other for the players experience.
Using free assets from the Unreal Marketplace, the team of designers were able to successfully tackle the brief and produce a game that achieved a high mark for the module.
The vertical slice of the game is available to play, so if you think you can deduce what happened on that fateful night at Crescent Hills, send me an email!
NARRATIVE AND LEVEL DESIGN //
"AREA 51 GAME"
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Narrative Design, Technical Design, UI/UX Design, Content Design
This was my first attempt to design and create levels for a First-person story-driven game. It was a solo project of mine that I believe could tell a narrative filled with suspense and mystery.
I wanted to incorporate environmental storytelling to drive the narrative, as well as design a level that encourages exploration to complement the overall lore of the game.
I have always had a fondness for story-rich games such as "Gone Home", "Firewatch" and "What Remains of Edith Finch" to name a few. Essentially, games that can give players that "Eureka" moment and to my knowledge, no one had done it with a setting such as Area 51.
I put a lot of my visual scripting skills to the test and also went out of my comfort zone to deliver the correct visuals and aesthetics I was hoping to achieve.
Video 1 showcases the first iteration of the opening level, while Video 2 showcases a later level when the player has descended to the underground sector.
GLOBAL GAME JAM 2020 //
"REVIVE THE HIVE"
Credit also to: Ruari McGhee
Euan Brown
Ryan Clifton
Bruno Pashaj.
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Puzzle Design, Technical Design, UI/UX Design, Content Design
This was my team's submission for GGJ 2020. With the theme of "repair", the team tackled the theme figuratively and literally, so we created a game where you must repair a spaceship whilst also repairing the civilization of the human race.
For this project, some of my primary tasks were to implement in the mechanic of shooting and destroying asteroids mechanic for player 1 and the mechanic for fixing the issues within the ship for player 2.
The biggest task I undertook was designing and creating an interactable screen for player 1 to navigate between floors on the ship. This proved to be a challenge but I am proud that I left my comfort zone to learn new areas of game development. The challenge paid off and we were able to implement a working UI screen for the GGJ play party.
Overall, this project was a good opportunity for me to showcase my blueprint and UI design skills.
Credit also to: Andrew Black
Euan Brown
Ryan Clifton
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SERIOUS GAME DESIGN //
"VR: THE PROBLEM"
Notable Tasks: Technical Design, Level Design
This project was my final submission for my third-year module of "Serious Game Design". For the team, I implemented the blueprints for both environments: The City and The Forest. These include the fire spreading, water rising, and general intractability of the levels.
Although not shown, I also designed and created the menu system for our game with VR intractability as well as conducting the playtest sessions for other students to try our game.
This project highlighted my skills in VR development and the ability to adapt to any design situation as this was our first time ever making a VR game.
FREELANCE CLIENT WORK //
"BATTLE ROYAL LOBBY"
Notable Tasks: Level Design
This project was the first time I believed I could take on a role with more responsibility with Game and Level Design. It showcases my ability to be able to Whitebox a playable area that encourages player flow and immersion.
The Client wanted a child-friendly "Battle Royale" lobby for no more than 32 people and the theme was to be of a medieval tavern. This proved to be a challenge as taverns are typically cramped and dimly lit. However, I believe I was able to make it true to the source whilst also making the environment child friendly.
Again, this reinforces my ambition for level design and my ability to research, design, and implement in a unique and playable level for all players.
Credit also to Timehop Games:
Josh
Marco
Sandra
Ronnie
Panos
Music by CFO$
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INTEGRATED PROJECT 1 //
"GRADE RUNNER"
Notable Tasks: Level Design, Content Design
"Grade Runner" was my first integrated project for my Game Design course. The task was to create am arcade mobile game that would show the university in a positive way.
To highlight replayability, I took it upon myself to design multiple variations of the same environments, that would be randomly generated for the players. I also designed the power-ups for the game to help players try and beat scores from the leader board. I conducted playtest sessions with other students to gain a better understanding of how players felt whilst playing and what issues to be resolved.
Overall, this project also demonstrates my ability for mobile games development and my ability and ambition to try something new.