Shaman

Play on itch.io

Shaman is a third-person action-adventure game where you assume the role of a young Shaman amidst a great cataclysm. Seek out the ancient secrets of your people and gain the ability to Shapeshift into the mighty Jaguar, cast fireballs and incinerate your foes, and unlock the ability to lift objects at a distance.

Being part of a small team, I had to take on many roles across design, level design, and technical design.

Responsibilities as a Game Designer

• Directed and collaborated with a team of level and game designers to establish and execute the game's creative vision.
• Created and maintained the Game Design Document and Feature Briefs.
• Conducted research on reference games to understand what makes particular features interesting.
• Ideated and created various looks for the different biomes in the game.

Responsibilities as a Level Designer

• Created and maintained a Level Design Document to track changes to the game world.
• Created the Hub world used to travel to sub-levels, with diverse terrain and biomes.
• Drafted level layouts on paper, then grayblocked in-engine to understand scale, proportions, and gameplay flow.
• Performed art passes to incorporate assets while maintaining performance and visual storytelling.
• Studied player wayfinding and navigation, using feedback to improve level design and structure.

Responsibilities as a Technical Designer

• Collaborated with level designers to improve performance using the GPU profiler.
• Utilized Blueprints to implement functionality for interactive objects and authored Feature Briefs.
• Created a telekinesis system for puzzle-solving gameplay.
• Helped conduct weekly builds and ad hoc tests to identify problem areas.
• Served as a mediator between Design and Programming teams.