Hello, I'm Joseph - an aspiring game designer/developer. As part of Relic Entertainment's COH-Development closed community group I analyzed faction design, combat mechanics, tech tree design, and unit balance in order to provide feedback and recommendations to the developers.
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I have a passion and mind for breaking down game systems and mechanics and brainstorming potential improvements. I want to create games with an emphasis on player agency and decision making. Games that are easy to learn, but hard to master. The type of games that leave players wondering what the best course of action is at any given moment.
Child of Ruin
Gameplay Engineer
Child of Ruin is a micro-sized narrative adventure. It strives above all else to leave an emotional impact on its players, telling a compelling and captivating story. It includes one pivotal choice that leads to two branching endings, as well as simplified turn-based combat.
Design Pillars:
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A Choice You'll Never Forget
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Reckon With Time Lost
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The Price of Power
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Team Size: 46
Project Length: Three Days + Extra Polish Time
Engine: Unity
Accolades:
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Top 10 New/Popular Games on Itch.io
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1750+ Browser Plays
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50,000+ Itch.io Impressions
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What I worked on:
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Polarity Tracking System
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Lore Shrine System
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Objective Tracking System
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Bridge Progression System
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Debugging
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QA​
Soul Commander
Game Designer and Developer
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Soul Commander is a hybrid hex-based strategy/3x3 tactics battle game that places the player in control of a party of units on a mission to subjugate their enemies. Our goal was to create a game that fuses elements of turn-based 4X strategy games with a unique tactics-like combat system.
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Team Size: 8 + 1 Advisor
Project Length: Two weeks
Engine: Unity
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What I worked on:
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Combat design
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Battle scene UI, Player Town UI, Main Menu UI
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Unit stats & balance
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Animator Controller Logic
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Combat mechanics and systems programming
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Debugging
Additional Experience
Relic Entertainment | COH-Development:
I was chosen by Relic's developers to join a closed community group responsible for helping test balance changes, faction design, tech tree design, map design and relay constructive feedback and recommendations to the developers. I articulated problem areas and proposed solutions via a private forum and Discord server. Attended presentations about future updates and product roadmaps to provide insight and help guide design and development decisions.
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YouTube Content Creator:
As part of NetEase's "Fearless Pioneers" program, I was an officially partnered content creator for Lord of the Rings: Rise to War. My strong understanding of game systems, mechanics, and balance enabled me to produce educational videos to assist other players with learning the game.
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Disciples of Ungoliant Fellowship Leader:
I was the primary leader of my team while I played Lord of the Rings: Rise to War. Teams (fellowships) in Rise to War are comprised of up to 100 individual players and each faction can contain multiple fellowships. I resolved conflicts within the team, managed diplomatic relationships with other teams and factions, handled player retention and recruitment, incorporated small team-building events, and closely coordinated with my officers to plan and guide the overall direction and vision for our faction each season.
About Me
I have been playing games since floppy disks were actually floppy. Yes, I'm that old. I can distinctly remember sitting at my grandparent's dinner table telling them that, when I grew up, I was going to create games based on the books that I was reading.
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I have an innate drive to peel back the layers of game mechanics and systems and ponder about the design choices that were made when a game was designed. I am naturally inclined towards thinking of ways to improve or fix pain points.
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I am fascinated by games that manage to find the perfect balance between simple to learn, but difficult to master and observing metagames evolve over time. Although I am also a fan over extraordinarily complicated games because of the decision making involved with so many intertwined systems.
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In my free time, I am currently playing Albion Online, Total War: Warhammer III, Helldivers 2 and Spirit Island.
Feel Free To Reach Out
I am always interested in meeting other passionate game designers, developers, or gamers. I love discussing anything game related or sharing ideas and brainstorming. Send me an email or connect with me on Discord: phoenixgaming23