I was primarily a Level and Gameplay Designer. I greyboxed and designed maps in the current rotation. I also ideated, prototyped, and fully implemented 2 Party Modes into the the roster. In addition to these responsibilities, I've done significant UI work, prototyped and designed abilities, and general bug fixing and Live Service tuning when needed.
I fully ideated, prototyped, and implemented the Party Mode "Get Lit" in the span of a few months for Season 2 of CTR. The goal was to make a fully cooperative, dynamic mode that provided variety from the normal competitive gameplay.
Get Lit
Players must light all the lanterns in a map by using their candle. A candle's flame diminishes overtime, so they must relight it on a Lit Brazier. I really wanted to emphasize the cooperation aspect of our goal, so I added a mechanic where players can also relight candles with each other.
This shifted the gameplay drastically. Now there was this tense push & pull dynamic between players, who now balance sticking together to keep their candles lit and drifting apart to cover more area. I worked with Environment, UI and VFX artists, as well as Animators to achieve the finished mode and the boss wave.
Empire Online
"[Crash Team Rumble is] a platformer built around taut, dynamic level design, that makes perfect sense."
IGN
"What I like most about Crash Team Rumble, though, is its map design and how it forces you to use your character's skills. The maps here remind me of old-school arena shooters like Quake or Halo in that you’re always able to get to where you want to be quickly."
"Usually there’s a stinker or two in any multiplayer game’s map rotation, but every map in Crash Team Rumble is distinct and fun to play."
Mission Design
Design Problem:
Gem Pads were platforms that players can capture to boost their team's scoring potential. To capture a gem pad, a player must simply jump on the gem, and that gem switches to your team's color. Once all gem pads in a cluster are captured, the team must hold that status for 10 seconds, after which a boost is received.
Context:
Main Mechanic
In the original design, players could flip the color of the gem pad to their team instantly, at all times. This resulted it long, drawn out battles over the gems where sneaky players passing by would see a Gem Cluster about to be captured, simply tap it, and leave. Players could spend half the game struggling to flip all their gems, only for a random, player to completely reset their progress- creating a Sisyphus situation.
My Solution:
I redesigned the Gem Pad logic in Unreal Blueprints to have a "transition period" when flipping between teams. This way, player's would have to make a vested commitment to interacting with the Gem Pads. during that time commitment, they opened themselves to being attacked, losing Wumpa, and the opportunity cost of not helping their team elsewhere. This made for more interesting decisions do be maid, and balance the weight of spending time on Gems vs Collecting Wumpa vs Defending the Bank.
In the original design, players could flip the color of the gem pad to their team instantly, at all times. This resulted it long, drawn out battles over the gems where sneaky players passing by would see a Gem Cluster about to be captured, simply tap it, and leave. Players could spend half the game struggling to flip all their gems, only for a random, player to completely reset their progress- creating a Sisyphus situation.
Abilities, UI, Localization, and More
Some of the other duties I performed included:
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Ideation, Implementation, and Tuning of 2 Abilities (powers) in the final shipped product. [Minefield & Garbage Dump]
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Restructuring of "Placement Mode", which is the players ability to place powers during a match.
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UI Design and Implementation in multiple areas.
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Coordinating localization of strings in game.
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Involvement in interviewing and selecting interns.
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Pitching and Presenting new projects.
Powers
Placement Mode
User Interface
Fun Facts!