CONTRABAND
Role
World/Level Designer
Genre
Open World, CO-OP
Date
A co-op smuggler’s paradise set in the fictional world of 1970s Bayan
2020-currently
MY ROLE: WORLD & LEVEL DESIGN
During my first two years at Avalanche Studios, I worked as a World Designer. My responsibilities included planning the early stages of content distribution for locations of various scales (macro, meso, and micro), gathering references to enhance the game's believability, creating and iterating on location layouts, and working with our terrain sculpting-, and road network tools. I had to learn Avalanche's proprietary engine which was a unique challenge in itself as its system, while sharing familiarities with Unreal and Unity, had its own workflow and tools to learn. Despite this, the workflow for world and level design was exceptional. I frequently assisted new colleagues in learning the engine, and by sharing tool knowledge and improving their workflow efficiency.
Later in production, I transitioned to the Level Design team, where I've been now for 2.5 years. Here one of my primary focuses was owning the level design for a major activity area, collaborating with various disciplines (some in different time zones), and coming up with solutions to problems regarding our level design and encounter spaces. I initiated a restructuring to optimize the Level Design and art workflow. Additionally, I planned and executed blackouts, tested mechanics, and designed scripted events and gameplay moments to enhance the co-op experience.
I was fortunate to mentor a Level Design intern, which required me to refine my feedback, thinking about how and what type of feedback I gave. To effectively support the intern, I optimized my daily workflow by organizing my schedule and allocating dedicated time for mentorship. I assisted with task management, provided time estimates, pointed them to the right people if they had questions I couldn't answer, and much more. I wanted to make sure that they got as much out of their internship as possible.
Avalanche Studios has been a great place to grow as a developer, and I’ve learned a lot from the very skilled and experienced game developers working here.