John Bearden Portfolio

Resume |

John Bearden
Level Designer

Level Design Skills

Game Engine	Software Tools
Hammer (Half-Life 2) The Elder Scrolls Construction Kit (Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) Radiant (Quake 4) UnrealEd (Unreal Tournament 2004) Aurora Toolset (Neverwinter Nights)	Autodesk 3D Studio Max 8 Adobe Photoshop CS2 Microsoft Office 2003 (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Access) Microsoft Project Microsoft Visio Scrolling Game Dev Kit (2D Game Engine)
Applied Skills	Applied Skills
Working in Small to Large Development Teams Efficient Use of Level Lighting, Level Optimization and Particle Effect Techniques Low Polygon & Medium Polygon Model Creation for Use in Game Model Unwrapping and Texture Creation Model Animation Using 3DS Max Knowledge of both subtractive and additive level editors Game Deconstruction Techniques	Basic Game Scripting using C++ Quest construction including dialogue and journal writing and scripting Working in a Source Control Environment Storyboard layout and concept art Knowledge of the business and history of video games Cinematic Scene construction and shooting techniques Pre-Production Game Documentation Writing & level design Map Layouts

Game Experience

Haunted – Guildhall	March – September 2007
Game Designer – Half-Life 2 Team Project

Created optimized BSP and lighting and positioned model geometry with appropriate occluder brush placement
Served as Game Designer for project which included a robust Game Design document complete with storyboard, story document and game metrics testing system
Produced custom sounds to replace HUD, system menus and in-game sound assets
Managed the core game mechanics and made adjustments as necessary during QA testing
Placed triggered audio and custom soundscapes within all levels of the game
Created and maintained a central story element document
Produced background music and custom loops for all levels of the game and system menus

Atomic Super Men – Guildhall	March – September 2007
Level Designer – Half-Life 2 Personal Project

Worked as an individual level designer to produce a complete Level Design Document, five unique in-game art assets and a production quality Half-Life 2 single player level
Designed a uniquely themed Half-Life 2 map used in conjunction with Master’s thesis field research focusing on audio techniques for level designers
Created optimized BSP and lighting and positioned model geometry with appropriate occluder brush placement
Produced three new document templates to aid future level designers when considering audio placement within their levels

Vale Rangers – Bethesda	January – March 2007
Level Designer – Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Team Project

Created quest dialogue and journal entries for 4+ hours of new game play
Recorded and balanced levels for actor voice audio totaling 200+ new lines of in-game dialogue
Created NPC scripts used during player interaction encountered during new quests in game
Created and maintained a quest dialogue tree document and journal entry document
Created and maintained a central story element document
Created two new dungeon environments

“Flash Gordon” Hanger Scene – Guildhall	June – September 2006
Environmental Artist – 3D Studio Max Personal Project

Created five environmental art models using a maximum of 3,000 – 5,000 polygons per model
Used various techniques in 3D Studio Max including edit mesh, edit poly, edit spline, mesh smoothing and advanced unwrapping techniques
Practiced advanced techniques of bump and specular mapping as well as using normal maps on scene models
Added particle effects, animation and set up lighting and cameras for final hanger scene

Heroes vs. Villains – Guildhall	June – September 2006
Level Designer – Unreal Tournament 2004 Team Project

Served as a level designer on a full team including three artists, three programmers and three level designers to produce a full Unreal Tournament 2004 Project in a three month development cycle
Developed under a source control environment to produce level design documents, concept art, a full “assault” style Unreal Tournament 2004 map and 25 in game art assets
Created optimized BSP and lighting and positioned model geometry with appropriate occluder brush placement

Arizona Mining Co. – Guildhall	August 2006
Level Designer – Unreal Tournament 2004 Personal Project

Worked as an individual level designer to produce a production quality “deathmatch” map in Unreal Tournament 2004 within a five day production cycle
Created optimized BSP and lighting and positioned model geometry with appropriate occluder brush placement

Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb – Guildhall	June 2006
Level Designer – Unreal Tournament 2004 Team Project

Served as a level designer on a full team including three artists, three programmers and four level designers to produce a pre-defined Unreal Tournament 2004 Project in a two week development cycle
Developed under a source control environment to produce two in-game models and a “freeze-tag” style Unreal Tournament 2004 map
Created optimized BSP and lighting and positioned model geometry with appropriate occluder brush placement

Education

University of Oklahoma

May 1997

Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems

The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University

September 2007

Master’s of Interactive Technology Digital Game Development with a specialization in Level Design

Business Skills

Related Experience

Owner – JAM’s Gaming Coliseum

May 2003 – December 2005

Developed an extensive business plan and raised start up capital, business duties included managing finances, marketing events and performing routine PC maintenance and enhancements

Web Developer– Zale Corporation

July 1997 – December 2005

Developed, Designed and maintained e-commerce and financial investor web pages
Developed an strong intranet/extranet website that utilizes Ultimus Workflow for digital signature and approval processes
Developed on-line verification, wish list, gift registry and catalog based e-commerce web pages
http://www.zales.com, http://www.zalecorp.com