About

BACKGROUND

My love for games dates back to the Doom2 days, for which I authored countless multiplayer maps. As technology improved, I continued working in Level Design, releasing several levels for both Quake and Quake2. Eventually, my work caught the eye of John Romero who offered me my first professional job as a Level Designer at Ion Storm in 1998.

Over the past 20+ years as a professional game designer, I have had the privilege of working in a vareity of design roles on a wide array of titles across multiple platforms. In 2016 I founded a new game development studio with two partners called Digital Continue. Our goal was to create new family-friendly game IPs hallmarked by marketable innovation and unique design and aesthetics. We have shipped two original IP games as well as two publisher projects.

I also had the opportunity to mentor aspiring game developers as a College Professor teaching Level Design for the Guildhall at SMU, a Master's Degree game development program. I am proud to say that many of my former students are now in leadership positions at successful companies such as Bethesda, Ubisoft, Insomniac, 343, and others.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Player Choice

"A game is a series of interesting choices." - Sid Meier

I am a big proponent of player choice in games. Giving players opportunities to make meaningful decisions that affect gameplay is a fundamental aspect of game design that helps provide an engaging player experience. Whenever players are given the opportunity to make a decision that yields a noticeable effect in the game, they inherently feel more empowered and invested in the results of their decision. Meaningful choices and the outcomes of these choices create a possibility space for players to have different experiences based on their decisions, allowing them to explore and experience the game in their own individual ways.

Strive for Innovation

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs

While the realities of the production schedule might not always allow it, it is my position that as designers we should strive for innovation whenever we can. It is important to note that innovation does not have to be on a grand scale, nor does it have to be something completely new and different. Even small innovations can help make a game stand out from the competition. Blizzard Entertainment, one of the most successful game companies in the world, has built their success on taking established genres and mechanics and improving them with a series of small innovations throughout their games.

Champion for the Player

"I design for real people. I think of our customers all the time." - Giorgio Armani

The most important role of a game designer is to constantly be a champion for the player. A designer needs to be sure to take the time to view the game through the lens of the player throughout all stages of development. The primary focus of the designer should be ensuring the best possible player experience from the intro screen to the end credits. Over the course of production, it can become difficult to take off your designer hat and view the game objectively. During my career I have heard designers several times utter the words "You're playing it wrong!" That phrase should be stricken from our vocabulary. If the player is having difficulty understanding where to go or what to do, it is the designer's job to re-evaluate the system and figure out what needs to be changed to enable the player to be successful.

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