Game Designer - Release Date: TBA 

On Splinter Cell I was a game designer working on gameplay focused features including gadgets and security systems. I was responsible for development of those features leading multi-disciplinary teams in design and creation of prototypes. I also was responsible for planning out the goals of the features at various development stages and determining how we should achieve those goals, including what we needed for prototypes, MVP’s, and polished versions of the features.

During this time I also volunteered as a mentor for more junior designers, interns, and new hires to help them grow as designers. I was also a judge for the Ubisoft NEXT competition for the design category. I reviewed and provided feedback to entrants and and worked with the other judges to determine who moves forward in the competition.

The biggest challenge when remaking a classic is brining it forward while still respecting what made the original special.

Game Designer - Release Date: December 6th 2022

For Far Cry 6 Lost Between Worlds DLC I worked as a game designer who focused on creating designs exploring various new functionalities we could do that supported the core concept. With less than a year to make this project we had to work scrappy and fast leading to rapid iterations and being decisive on where we allocated our development time.

I also supported the design team as the primary knowledge base of Far Cry 6’s base game ensuring other designers not only kept gameplay consistent between the base game and the DLC, but also didn’t negatively affect the base game with their changes. On top of that I led development for the New Game+ game mode and the Demo that was releasing at the same time.

During this time I also acted as a judge for the Ubisoft NEXT competition for the game design category. I would review student submission, provide feedback and guidance to ward entrants as well as work with a panel to decide who to move forward.

The biggest challenge about this project was the tight development timeline forcing us to think scrappy and be ready to kill features we cared about when the timeline just didn’t add up.

AI Specialist - Release Date: October 7th 2021

On Far Cry 6 I was asked to bring my technical experience to the AI QC team. I quickly integrated into the AI team which allowed me to gain a real expertise in the AI of the project and work with the programmers, animators, and designers to create workflows for more efficient debugging and bug fixes.

As my knowledge, experience , and rapport with the team grew I was given more responsibility including fixing bugs in the systems, working on design features, consult on designs, provide feedback on new designs, and check over new designs for potential issues before  implementation and areas we should be watching out for. By the end of the project I was the most knowledgeable person on matters relating to AI as a whole.

I was asked to become the studios first Development Tester - AI Specialist. As the first AI Specialist I was tasked with defining best practices and standards for testing AI in the studio, defining what it means to be an Development Tester - AI Specialist , training new AI specialist, and working with management goals for the the future of testing in the studio.

AI Specialist - Release Date: October 29th 2020

With less than a year until launch, Watch Dogs Legion had one of their AI Testers suddenly leave the project. With major milestones approaching fast they couldn’t leave the position unfilled while they searched for and trained another AI tester, as the studio’s AI Specialist I was asked to temporarily move over to the project as it was expect that I could ramp up fast and understand the game and systems quickly. With in a week I was deep diving into bugs and providing feedback for the team. I brought systems and processes I developed for Far Cry 6 to the team, worked with the other AI QC, designers, and programmers to identify areas that needed additional testing and wrote test cases for external testing teams. After 3 months the milestone was passed, and new hire was found, and I was meant to return to Far Cry 6, despite the Watch Dogs teams asking if I could stay.

Ramping up onto a team so fast and helping out with such a major milestone really pushed my knowledge and ability to adapt and pick up on new systems and designs in a short amount of time. I don’t believe anyone expected me to do as well as I did in the situation, mostly expecting me to help the team stay above water, but despite the chaotic nature of the shift I managed to elevate the team and left a strong impression on them despite my short time there.

Missions Tester - Release Date: March 27th 2018

With my technical background I was asked to test missions with complicated AI for Far Cry 5. My knowledge and skill set allowed me to debug issues where we were pushing AI in ways they were not original meant to be used. Despite the mission AI breaking frequently and finding many bugs with them we were able to ship the missions with minimal bugs and the AI not causing walk-through breaks.

As a missions tester I provided feedback on the missions flow and fun factor, ensured mission functionality and consistency between other missions, discovered and logged exploits, and helped balance mission difficulty.

Open World Tester - Release Date: November 15th 2016

Starting as an Open World Tester on Watch Dogs 2 I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the industry including working in co-dev and working with specialized multi disciplinary teams. I started with being responsible for shops and invasion of privacy missions interiors making sure they look and function as expected, especially with AI & player navigation.

Over time my responsibilities grew to include land mark points of interest in the Silicone Valley region and sections of missions that went through those land marks.

On the team I worked closely with level artist, object bank, and level designers to ensure everything was working as expected.

2011-2014

I Graduated from Algonquin College’s Game Development program. Over the 3 year program I learned about programming, 2D/3D art, Animation, and level design.

The last year of the program we also worked on a capstone project. As a team of 10 people we delivered Endless Shadows. A online 4 player co-op horde mode game.

I acted as a lead programmer on this project, giving out tasks, reviewing code and scoping out work. I also was responsible for the design and creation of weapons, player controls, and the online systems. Development for this project was done entirely in Unity.

While I am not sure a playable build still exist of the game, you can see what we worked on in the trailer.

2024

I have completed the Udemy course Unreal Engine 5 C++ The Ultimate Game Developer Course. Looking to keep my skills sharp and learn more about one of the most popular engines out there I took this course and I am now using what I learned to make a small project on the side.

The course went in depth on how to use Unreal engine and C++ to achieve basic goals and teach the skills to create what you need. All functionality in the video is implemented by me.