Forrestry Games

1. COMMANDOS: ORIGINS
   1. OVERVIEW
   2. MY WORK
2. PROJECT CITADEL || (UNRELEASED)
   1. OVERVIEW
   2. MY WORK
3. THE PIT: INFINITY
   1. OVERVIEW
   2. MY WORK
   3. WORK EXAMPLE
4. THE PIT: THE BOARD GAME
   1. OVERVIEW
   2. MY WORK

COMMANDOS: ORIGINS

Real-Time Tactics, Unreal Engine 5 || To Be Released 2025

OVERVIEW

• A reboot of the 1998 Commandos franchise, Commandos: Origins follows the cast of the original game on their way to becoming the best of the best in the early years of WWII
• NOTE: The documentation I have access to is extremely limited, due to the game not yet being released and my existing NDA

MY WORK

• I took over as Lead Designer role following the departure of the previous lead, and was primarily responsible for:
  • The design, implementation, testing, and balancing of all character abilities, control inputs for keyboard + mouse and gamepad
  • I was also responsible for a massive redesign of gameplay mechanics including the addition of a pseudo-inventory system, refactoring several core character ability mechanics, and overhauling the UI elements for enemies and tutorials
• I helped mentor juniors across all of the departments and assisted in interdisciplinary communication clarifications
• I worked with our publisher and the art department to create trailers and public-facing marketing material, as well as setting and attaining development expectations

PROJECT CITADEL || (UNRELEASED)

Roguelike, Unity || 2022

OVERVIEW

• Set in an alternate 1920s US, Project Citadel focused on the long-term effects of eldritch horrors and corruption on a city walled off from the rest of the world and its unwilling inhabitants
  • The game’s core cast of characters were permanent, and if not taken care of, would eventually fall to the corruption influencing the city and cause a game over
  • The addition of a second row to character positioning allowed for a wider variety of abilities focused on both character and enemy placement, as well as an increased risk from said enemies
• NOTE: The documentation I have access to is extremely limited, due to the sudden and unexpected nature of the project cancellation

MY WORK

• I took over the Lead Designer role at the beginning of the production phase, and was responsible for:
  • The creation of and balancing of character/monsters abilities, skills, and progression trees
  • Outlining requirements for the map, exploration, and city systems, as well as the music and musical queuing system
  • Working with the management team to set and attain development expectations
• I also headed the large rework of the data system (in conjunction with the coders) being used in order to better serve the design, including the switch to TSVs as well as the implementation of naming and data conventions
• The production team while very enthusiastic was also quite junior, and so I had an opportunity to help them improve and grow as developers regardless of discipline

THE PIT: INFINITY

Co-Op Roguelike, UE4 || Kerberos Productions, 2019

OVERVIEW

• The Pit: Infinity was a 3D FPS adaptation of Kerberos Productions’ 2013 hit title Sword of the Stars: The Pit with co-op with up to 2 other players
• This game took place on a lab-world, where the player(s) would need to reach the bottom of a procedurally generated series dungeon consisting of 25+ persistent floors (levels)

MY WORK

• I worked on this title from near start to near finish, working closely with the Design Director on:
  • Adapting a top-down 2D combat, loot, and interaction system to a 3D system while still retaining the feel of the original game
  • Monster, weapon, character, and map generation balancing and implementation
• I was tasked with creating and maintaining all design-related documentation on the project
• I also was responsible in part for weapon, ability and environmental sound design
• I worked in concert with the Design and Studio Directors to manage and interact with the community on Steam, which also included research and filtering of feedback provided by the community

WORK EXAMPLE

This is an example of the work that went into adapting a system that originated in a 2D AND turn-based system (in this case Weapon accuracy) into a 3D real-time environment.

While our initial intentions were to keep the mechanics as close as we could to the original, the realities of a real-time first-person system necessitated adjustments. Instead of a ‘chance-to-hit’, the system became ‘quality-of-hit’ whereby player “accuracy” (i.e., actually hitting a target) was based on their own inputs, but the damage dealt was affected by the other systems of the game (damage types, resistances, weapon types, skills, etc).