Older Projects | Portfolio

I worked on these projects while employed at THQ Studio Australia from 2005-2011.

Marvel Avengers, cancelled (2011)

At THQ I worked on a cooperative multiplayer game based on the Marvel Avengers franchise. The game employed a unique first person view that allowed players to get right into the middle of the action. It was an ambitious and challenging project as we had to experiment and solve tricky issues such as first person melee combat. Ultimately, as THQ's financial troubles mounted, our studio was closed and this project was cancelled.

During pre-production I split my time between prototyping gameplay spaces and designing / testing enemy AI.
During production I moved onto level design full time and was ultimately given responsibility for 4 levels in the game. I white-boxed the levels with an artist and started placing enemy encounters, story / cutscene triggers and other objects in the game editor.

Megamind: The Ultimate Showdown (2010)

Megamind is an action/adventure game based on the Dreamworks film. Set after the events of the movie, the player takes control of the blue skinned hero and does battle with the new gang of Metro City; the Doom Syndicate. The game features co-operative play through story mode and offers many mini-games and unlockable powers and items.

By Alpha phase of production, all cameras in the game were still placeholders and there were many issues associated with implementing them in the game editor. I was put onto the project to oversee this system. I initially worked with a programmer to update the camera tools then spent the rest of my time implementing all cameras in the game.

The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno (2008)

Into the Inferno is based on the third and final season of The Last Airbender cartoon show. With the game leading on the Wii console, major systems such as combat, puzzles and world interaction were designed with the Wii’s sensor capabilities in mind. For example, the player can extinguish fires by using their on screen cursor to pick up water from a puddle, or swirl their cursor in a circular motion to generate an air ball that can be used in combat.

Brainstormed with design team to come up with mechanics that take advantage of the Wii Remote.
Puzzle and level design. I was primarily responsible for 2 levels in the game. I designed the layouts, added enemy spawn encounters and other game objects / triggers.
I took on a technical design role towards the end of the project and worked with an artist and programmer to implement major parts of the user interface such as the options menu and game over screens.

The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth (2007)

The Burning Earth is based on the second season of The Last Airbender cartoon show. There was a concerted effort to move away from the traditional RPG elements of the first game and focus on creating a fast paced action adventure with simple environmental puzzles to break up the action. The game also features local multiplayer and many mini-systems such as gun-turrets, ‘smart bomb’ abilities, stealth and several flying missions.

I was the principal combat designer on this title. I designed and fine-tuned all player and enemy attacks, designed the skill trees and balanced damage values.
I also white-boxed 3 levels in conjunction with an artist and ultimately assumed responsibility for one of them. Tasks included environmental puzzle design, enemy encounter placement and filling the level with breakable and interactable objects.
I also designed the stealth system that is used in several levels.

The Last Airbender (2006)

Avatar: The Last Airbender is based on the Nickelodeon cartoon show of the same name. The story takes place between the first and second seasons of the show as the heroes investigate a series of kidnappings. The game is primarily an action adventure but also features many RPG elements such as random loot, levelling up and unlocking different abilities via skill trees.

I was a combat and level designer on this title. I designed and fine-tuned many of the hero’s abilities.
I also designed 4 of the level layouts in the graphics package Xara, which the artists used to generate the final level geometry.
I designed many of the side quests and their associated story elements and dialogue.

Spongebob Squarepants: Lights, Camera, Pants! (2005)

Lights, Camera, Pants! is a party game based on the popular Spongebob TV show. It features over 30 different mini games allowing up to 4 players to battle for supremacy. Each mini game has a different goal and a unique gameplay mechanic.

I designed and implemented a tie-breaker mini-game that is played if scores are tied. Scripted most of the logic of the mini-game in the editor’s scripting language.