Projects
Half-Life: Alyx (2020)
Contributions: Principal level designer for the “Jeff” chapter—a unique, VR-centric horror experience and fan favorite. Worked in small, informally-structured, multidiscipline groups to collaborate on various gameplay systems and pieces of level content across the game.
Studio: Valve
Platforms: PC/Steam VR
Critical Reception: Bafta nominated; Metacritic 93%; Best VR Game of the Year 2020 - The Game Awards; GameSpot Game of the Year.
Engine and tools: Source 2 and Hammer
BioShock (2007)
Link: Portfolio Page
Job Title: Level and Systems Designer
Contributions: Designed and crafted "Neptune's Bounty," a level which helped define the tenets of BioShock level design. Design owner for AI systems, driving iteration and tuning behaviors. Design owner for UI & UX on the PC SKU. Built marketing demos and promoted the game.
Studio: Irrational Games
Platforms: Xbox 360 | PS3 | PC
Critical Reception: "One of the greatest video games of all time"; Critically acclaimed, Bafta award winner, and one of the highest rated games of all time. Winner of multiple Game of the Year awards.
Engine and tools: Unreal and proprietary scripting system
BioShock 2 (2010)
Link: Portfolio Page
Link: Development Process Page (password protected)
Job Title: Senior Level and Systems Designer
Contributions: Created "Fontaine Futuristics," one of the most memorable levels in the series. Brought one of the most beloved and interesting characters "Gil Alexander" to life. Made everyone's favorite inanimate object, the Unstable Teleport Plasmid.
Studio: 2K Marin/Australia
Platforms: Xbox 360 | PS3 | PC
Critical Reception: Critically acclaimed, Bafta nominated, and highly rated
Engine and tools: Unreal and proprietary scripting system
Scanner Somber (2016)
Project Role: Sole Contracted Level Designer
Contributions: This project was a “palate cleanser” for Introversion—a design experiment built under intentionally enormous time constraints. I covered all level construction duties, including mesh modeling, blocking spaces, decorating, and fleshing them out to shippable quality. This project was a joy to work on—the audience loved it, and it inspired the creation of a sub-genre of similar LiDAR-themed horror titles.
Studio: Introversion
Platforms: PC/Mac/Linux - VR Supported
Critical Reception: 91% user rating (Steam)
Team Size: two core members—myself (contracted for project) and Introversion’s Chris Delay
Project Length: ~3 months contracting
Engine and tools: Unity + mesh creation plugin
Dance Central (2010)
Link: Portfolio Page
Link: Development Process Page (password protected)
Job Title: Lead Designer
Contributions: Lead the design for a new type of dance game for Xbox 360 Kinect. Solved usability and design problems for a new type of input and technology that was in parallel development with the game. Collaborated on design and creative vision. Shipped a high-quality franchise starter for the launch of Kinect.
Studio: Harmonix Music Systems
Platforms: Xbox 360 Kinect
Critical Reception: highly-rated and hailed as Kinect's "killer app"
Engine and tools: Proprietary engine and tools. Microsoft office and Visio for documentation
Project Length: ~1 year
CAPTAIN FOREVER REMIX (2016)
Link: Portfolio Page
Link: Development Process Page
Job Title: Company Founder
Contributions: Built and shipped a game on a two-person team after licensing the design for a beloved and award-winning indie classic. Created all of the art assets, drove world building, designed and tuned major systems, planned the approach to marketing, made all marketing assets, and wrote dialogue.
Studio: Pixelsaurus Games (self-employed owner)
Platforms: PC | Mac | Linux
Critical reception: 94% user rating (Steam)
Team size: two core members (myself and Brian Chan) and one audio contractor (Emeen Zarookian)
Project length: 18 months
Engine and tools: Unity, Adobe Suite, Google Docs
Captain Bubblenaut (2013)
Link: Portfolio Page
Contributions: Collaborated on a two-person team to explore new design space and make something truly unique. Created all art assets and drove world building.
Studio: Pixelsaurus Games (self-employed owner)
Team size: 2 (myself and Owen Macindoe)
Platforms: iOS iPhone & iPad
Project Length: 3 year spare-time side project
Engine and tools: Cocos 2D, Xcode, Adobe Suite
H O C K E E (2014)
Link: Portfolio Page
Contributions: Built a game in 48 hours to test collaboration with a new dev partner. Explored new design ideas. Created all art assets and defined design goals.
Team size: 2 (myself and Sean Gubelman)
Platforms: Browsers | PC | Mac
Project length: 48 hours
Engine and tools: Unity and Adobe Suite
Swat 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate (2006)
Link: Portfolio Page
Contributions: Designed, built, scripted, decorated and lit half of the levels in the game, which ran double-duty in both single and multiplayer modes.
Studio: Irrational Australia
Platforms: PC
Team Size: 6
Project Length: ~6 months
Engine and tools: Unreal, 3DSMax and proprietary scripting system
Tribes: Vengeance (2004)
Link: Portfolio Page
Contributions: Built mind-bending 3D spaces to compliment Tribes' unique blend of combat, jetpacking and skiing. Built multiplayer levels for one of the most unique and revered franchises in competitive FPS gaming. Designed, built, scripted, decorated and lit single player levels.
Studio: Irrational Australia
Platforms: PC
Team Size: ~30
Project Length: ~2 years
Engine and tools: Unreal and proprietary scripting system