2010 – 2015
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Global Agenda, TPS MMO, Level Designer
Tribes: Ascend, FPS, Level Designer
SMITE, Third Person MOBA, Level Designer
+ Level Design on several unannounced/ unreleased projects
I started my career at HiRez right before graduating college. Because of it being a smaller studio at the time of my joining, it created an interesting environment for learning self-management and growth. Developers were actively encouraged to interface directly with players, which created many learning opportunities in itself, as well.
The studio frequently started and scrapped new projects when trying new genre mixes, while also rebooting old favorites. The variety of projects early on helped me to discover what types of projects I enjoyed working on.
Level Designer
2014 – MOBA, UE3 Engine
Maps:
Tutorial, Jungle Practice, Assault, Siege
Responsibilities:
A large chunk of my focus on Smite was to work on new user experiences- working with team members to create tutorial and practice maps, and continue to refine these over the years based on player feedback and user research. The tutorial in particular went through a variety of map types before integrating it into the single-lane Joust map. I was responsible for writing VO and Kismet scripts, UI prompts, game/level balance, and more to refine the player’s introduction to a third person MOBA.
Additionally, I was responsible for creating the original Assault (all random, all mid) and Siege (2 lane, shorter Conquest variant) gamemode maps. This included set dressing passes to emphasize for players which side of the map they’re on- something trickier to achieve versus most MOBA’s isometric view. I would also assist with rolling out new level art updates as Smite continued to change and refine its art style.
I also helped with creating spectator views of all the maps, which at the time involved creating a second, “squashed” view of the maps to accommodate for our spectator cameras.
Level Designer
2012 – FPS, UE3 Engine
Maps:
Ports – Air Arena (ported legacy map), Lava Arena, Hinterlands, Walled-In (ported legacy map), Fraytown, Lockdown, Whiteout, Nightabatic, Inferno, Miasma, Outskirts, Canyon Crusade Revival (adapted legacy map), Terminus
Responsibilities:
wip
Level Designer
2010 – MMO TPS, UE3 Engine
Maps:
PvE Maps: Bolonov’s Entourage, Recursive Communications, Terminus Water Station, 28 Nights Later, Canyon Encampment
PvP Maps: Toxicity, Haulin’ Acid, Magmarock
Responsibilities:
I wore many map-making hats during Global Agenda’s development process. While I did get a chance to make a few original PvP maps- most notably Toxicity- much of my time was spent improving existing PvP and PvE maps: adding alternate ways to access points, adding more cover from enemy fire, making lighting adjustments and optimizations, and other general improvements. I revisited maps like Blackwater Loch, Trafalgar, Osprey Arena, and the tutorial to make changes and generally improve player experience.
I also frequently made PvE maps that supplemented our Open World story lines, providing short missions that gave players extra experience points for completing. These instances could also be run as dailies after their initial completion, thus helping to expand the replayability of the zones.
During the Recursive Colony 1.5 patch, I worked with the lead designer to write much of the quest and NPC dialogue as well as developed the related PvE missions. Also, because of the small team, I used our character editor to develop the visual look and personality of many of the NPCs. Other responsibilities included helping create new armor materials, as well as assisting with an environment art /lighting pass, and placing NPCs within the Open Zones.