Resumé

Education

Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Minor in Mathematics
Graduated Dec. 2013

Work Experience

Gunfire Games in Austin, TX (Hybrid)
Principal Game Designer (Player & Systems Lead), Darksiders 4 | Nov. 2024 to Jan. 2026

  • Designed and implemented combat systems and progression systems, in alignment with the Director’s vision
  • Managed and oversaw a small team of senior designers, while contributing heavily as an Individual Contributor
  • Designed and implemented the core player kits of the 4 horsemen, and a unique boss
  • Collaborated closely with animation, vfx, and sound design
  • Developed in UE5 using Blueprint and local AI tech

Wonderstorm in Los Angeles, CA (Remote)
Lead Combat Designer, The Dragon Prince: Xadia | Aug. 2021 to Oct. 2024

  • Designed and drove combat for this multiplayer isometric ARPG for all platforms
  • Stood apart from other ARPGs with more focus on gameplay: high engagement, combat depth, skill expression, clarity, gamefeel, and replayability
  • Lead a team of 4 combat designers to create 10 heroes, 24 bosses, 14 elites, and 20 enemies
  • Personally designed, implemented, and balanced:
    • Core combat systems like poise, dodging and blocking, aggro, stealth, non-holy-trinity role differentiation (no healers, just tanks and damage dealers)
    • Combat-adjacent systems like stats, in-mission power-up shops, and mission modifiers
    • 7 hero kits with varying playstyles, difficulty, and strength/weakness profiles
    • 3 boss fights, each exemplifying the 3 different types of boss fights in the game (soloable, low coordination, and high coordination max difficulty)
    • 6 “Tools”, re-usable abilities that any hero can equip
  • Coordinated and collaborated with other disciplines to maximize gameplay quality and facilitate appropriate usage of combat assets
  • Developed in UE4 using Blueprint, C++, and a proprietary scripting language

YAGER Development in Berlin, Germany (Remote)
Game Design Lead, The Cycle: Frontier | Dec. 2020 to Aug. 2021
Senior Combat Designer, The Cycle: Frontier, Unannounced | Oct. 2020 to Dec. 2020

  • Defined high-level gameplay needs of combat and gameplay systems to fulfill game pillars from the Creative Director
  • Managed and mentored a team of 12 designers
  • Defined “what good looks like” for design craft and cross-discipline collaboration, and how it correlated to titles and promotions
  • Designed and implemented new creatures in collaboration with animation, vfx, and sound design
  • Represented game design in leadership strategy meetings
  • Briefly supported another project to help the director nail down core gameplay and systems

Gunfire Games in Austin, TX
Senior Technical Combat Designer, Remnant: From the Ashes | Jun. 2020 to Oct. 2020
Technical Combat Designer | Remnant: From the Ashes, Darksiders 3 | Jan. 2019 to Jun. 2020

  • Fulfilled a craft lead role for the enemy design team, establishing core design principles for bosses in new titles and mentoring new designers on design and technical craft
  • Designed and implemented many major bosses for Remnant: From the Ashes and its DLCs
  • Collaborated with a fully matrixed team of artists, animators, and sound designers
  • Utilized my technical background to implement unique abilities and behaviors
  • Designed and implemented all of the bosses for Darksiders 3’s second DLC
  • Assisted others in designing and implementing enemies, items, player combat, and game systems
  • Utilized my technical background to pitch in on solving technically challenging bugs and features leading up to release
  • Identified, prototyped, and implemented design improvements to player character combat
  • Worked on all elements of design of a “vertical slice” prototype game
  • Developed in Unreal 4 with significant local studio tech

Riot Games in Los Angeles, CA
Game Engineer, Champion Team | Dec. 2015 to Current

  • “Full Stack” engineer working on gameplay, engine, tools, build, and some platform work
  • Created new playable characters in a cross-discipline team (art, narrative, design, engineering), collaborating on all elements of the character
  • Relied on as the sole engineer on champions, collaborating with designers and artists to identify, prioritize, and develop new engine features to open design spaces and introduce new mechanics
  • Primarily coded in C++, with some C#, Python, Lua, and an in-house scripting language
  • Shipped three new champions (Ornn, Pyke, Sylas), and aided on improvements to Live, tools, and other in-development champions
  • Worked on a small team of engineers to develop “Chronobreak” for Esports – a combination of engine tech and tools to allow for rewinding and resuming games from a previous point in time
  • Developed in a proprietary engine

National Instruments in Austin, TX
Software Engineer, Radio Frequency R&D | Dec. 2013 to Oct. 2015

FarmerApps, Inc. in Lubbock, TX
iOS App Developer (Freelance) | May 2013 to Dec. 2013

Standards Design Group, Inc. in Lubbock, TX
iOS App Developer | Oct. 2011 to May 2013

Data-Intensive Scalable Computing Laboratory (DISCL) in Lubbock, TX
Undergraduate Student Research Assistant | Aug. 2012 to Dec. 2012

ConocoPhillips Bridge Program in Lubbock, TX
Student Tutor, Mentor | Aug. 2010 to May 2012

Skills

Professionally developed with Unreal Engine (4 & 5), C++, C#, Python, Lua, proprietary languages
Hobby work in Unity, GameMaker, my own engines
And overall I’m still a very active gamer, keeping up with new games big and small, in just about every genre