Battlezone

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I designed levels and game mechanics for PS4 VR game Battlezone. Levels were being made across a range of visual styles and to support a variety of gameplay types. Mechanics I'm responsible for are spread from moment to moment gameplay through to wider aspects of the overarching metagame. I also built the final "boss" level of the game; taking it from initial concepting, through whiteboxing, gameplay iteration and working with an artist to polish it for release.

Leading up to and after the release of Battlezone I also helped promote the game in a number of ways. I staffed demo-booths at Play Expo Manchester and EGX. I demoed the game both on the Twitch stage at EGX (Viewable here) and during a number of live streams from the Rebellion offices (here). I also presented the game to BAFTA as part of a VR event for their members.

I showcased the game's coop functionality by playing with a number of journalists on pre-release builds and answering their questions. I was formally interviewed by the Scottish Sun at EGX and I also wrote articles on building levels for Road To VR (Viewable here) and combat design for Upload VR (Viewable here).



Before moving to design I was also the main UX designer on Battlezone where we took on a whole new range of challenges relating to virtual reality. Particularly exciting was devising a way of making the UI diagetic as well as functional with the new properties that full 360 degree head tracking implies. I also worked to find solutions to motion sickness (resulting in the cockpit and A-frames design that helps give a static frame of reference for the player's movement) and was responsible for putting these ideas into practice in time for the game's first demo at E3 2015.

In 2018 we released "Battlezone Gold" a free update to the game that included new mission, improvements, bug fixes and the ability to play the game on a traditional screen without VR. I was the sole designer on the project from the release of the initial version in October 2016 to the release of Gold Edition in May 2018. I was responsible for all areas of design on the update and Xbox One part. I was interviewed about the development by The Sixth Axis (Viewable Here).