My work as level and encounter designer for Project Nautilus presented me with many new challenges. This project marked the first time I joined a project that was already partially through development.
My role on the team was an extremely diverse one. As the encounter designer, I worked with many different disciplines. These included level and systems designers, artists, AI programmers, and the narrative team.
As a team, one of our goals was to create creatures that react to environmental stimuli brought about by the player.
At the start of the project, the world designer, art director and I sat down to flesh out world space and creature design, while I brainstormed what scenarios these could lead to. The world designer drew the basic flow of the map, while I populated it with possible interactions.
I worked with AI programmers and systems designers to make the planned interactions into reality. After weeks of iterating together, we had created interactions that met our goal of manipulating creatures using environmental stimuli.
I was also a member of the narrative team. My knowledge of the game's world design and narrative flow helped develop dialogue. Once the writers had created the necessary lines, I implemented the triggers that would play these lines in the engine.
I also collaborated on the game's email system, working closely with the product owner to create a cryptic storytelling device.
Project Nautilus was published on May 6, 2022. I take great pride in the project.
Team members:
Daniel Waleik: Level & Encounter Designer
Nicholas Adams: Product Owner, Level Designer
Wesley Elmer: Design Lead, UI Designer
Sean Uzar: Systems Designer, QA Lead
Donovan Garcia-Buckler: Producer
Alex Barnett: Producer, Marketing Lead
Crystal Wong: Art Director, VFX Artist
Matthew Conrad: Environment Artist
Amber Williamson: Environment & Texture Artist
Blade Osborn: Animator, Rigging Artist
Emma Shea: Animator, Rigging Artist
Nicholas Perell: Technical Director, Narrative Director
Brandon Boras: Gameplay Programming
Egor Fesenko: UI, Systems, & Optimization Programmer
Brandon L'Abbe: Tools & Pipeline Programming
Spencer Bohl: Gameplay AI
Austin Burkett: Technical Sound Designer
Alyssa Fabian: Sound Designer
Eric Harvey: Lead Narrative Writer
Aaron Pastor: Narrative Designer & Writer
Joshua Berkowsky: Narrative Writer
Hannah Pauquette: Copy Editor
Brandon Skylar: Voice Actor