Specializing in:
Game Design Specializations
Our professional services cater to a diverse clientele,
ranging from AAA internal studios to Independent developers.
Level / Quest Design
Spatial Blockout and Experience Pacing, Objectives / Quest Flowgraphs, Dynamic Event Scripting, Stylistic Camera Framings, and Art Kit Placement
- Linear / Circular Blockout Creation
- Quest (Main / Side) Design and Planning
- Combat Arenas, Traversal Obstacles, and Puzzle Spaces
- Authored and Free-Roam Camera Framing for Gameplay, Objectives, and Vista Moments
- Rational Gameplay Pacing and Planning
- Multi-Wave Combat Setups and Dynamic Events
- Art Asset Implementation w/ Atmospheric VFX
- Global and Local Lighting Setups + Optimization
- Technical Organization of File Structure, Nomenclature, and Approval Pipelines
Open World Design
360 Onion-Ring Approach Blockouts, Terrain Sculpting and Framing, Enemy Multi-States & Alert Propagation Event Scripting, Scene Scripting for Player Agency
- 360 Approach Vector Blockout with Onion-Ring Encounter Gameplay
- Activity Quests Design, Planning, and Cross-World Map Implementation and Pacing
- Player Agency Scene Scripting that allows for all Player Choice Possibilities and Multiple Outcomes
- Gameplay Discovery Frameworks for Leading Players to Optional Content
- Collectibles Interaction and Puzzle Design
- Terrain Planning and Sculpting for Landmark and Gameplay Framing
- Traversable Obstacles Gameplay with
- World Content Planning Tools with Cross-Discipline Implementation Guidelines
Gameplay System Design
3C’s, Economy Balancing, and Feedback Loops
- Hero / Enemy Camera, Combat, and Interaction Systems
- Faucet and Sink Economy Design and Balancing
- Combat Loop Breakdowns and Pacing, with Anticipation, Hit, and Follow-Though Frame Breakdowns
- Engagement and Reward Feedback Loop Structures
- Traversal Mechanic Rulesets and Gyms
Narrative Design
Script Writing, Story Plot Development, Meaningful Branching Dialogue
- In-Game and Pre-Rendered Cinematic Scripts
- Non-Linear Quest Design for Open-World Games
- Hero / NPC Designs, Interaction Flowcharts, and Histories
- Dialogue Branching
- Deep World Building and Historical Event Charting
- Developing / Cleaning Up Lore and Story Bibles
Cinematic Design
Unreal Sequencer Production, In-Game / Pre-Rendered Cinematics Creation, Define Pipelines and Workflow
- In-Game Cinematics that Transition into Gameplay
- Cinematic Cameras with Analogue Style Lenses and Shot Framing
- Previs / Layout Scene Creation based on Storyboards and Script
- Background Elements Creation with Asset Placement, VFX Creating, and Lighting Pass
- 4K Sequence Rendering with Correct Gamma and Blacks to send to Davinci for Finaling
Who Are We?
Seasoned AAA game developers who have decades of game development experience and multiple released console, PC, XR/VR, and mobile titles.
They also have serious Steam backlogs.
Christopher James
Principal Game / Level / World Designer
Experienced Cinematic Designer
Personal Portfolio: http://chrjames.com/
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrjames/
About
22+ years of experience as a Game / Level / World Designer with Design credits in multiple AAA and iii video games, most recently Hirogami and Horizon 2: Forbidden West.
Credits in TV/Movie animation for World Building Supervision, CG generalist, and layout/previs works.
Extensive experience with building designs in 12+ different game engines throughout his career.
Credited Titles
Hirogami, Horizon: Forbidden West, ReBoot: The Guardian Code (TV Series), Barbie: Video Game Hero (D2D Movie), Quantum Break, Agents of STORM, Hitman, Dungeon Defenders 2, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Lucidity, Indiana Jones: Staff of Kings, Army of Two, Full Auto
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John Ryan
Principal Narrative Designer
Expert / Senior Game Writer
Personal Portfolio: https://www.johnryanwrites.com/
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanjohn/
About
15+ years’ experience writing for game franchises and wider IP.
Written, designed, and edited narrative for the Fable, Guild Wars, Destiny, Forza, and Horizon franchises
Credited Titles
Fable 2, Guild Wars 2, Guild Wars 2 Living World Content, Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns, Destiny: House of Wolves, Destiny: The Taken King, Destiny 2, Iron Man VR (For Quest), Forza Motorsport 7, Horizon Forbidden West, Lily’s Garden Chapters 5 and 6, and June’s Journey Volume 7.
“Chris’s insights were crucial to our game’s level design, making him a key part of our development process. His openness and responsiveness to feedback stood out, and we’re eager to work with him on future projects. ”
Motion Logic Studios
John Kubasco
CEO / Creative Director
Pricing Structure
As every project is different and has their own needs, below are examples of Daily, Weekly, and Monthly deliverables that we could assist you with.
We will determine the pricing based off of our initial conversion. What we guarantee is that all of our rates will be reasonable for the time spent and the type of deliverables to be completed.
Please note: If your Studio needs assistance to help bring your passion project to life and if these pricings fall outside of your budget ranges, please contact us anyways and we’ll be more than happy to see what we can do for you. It’s important to us that we help each other out during these difficult times.
Daily
Playtests with Feedback, Presentations, and Solutions
- Play the current build to Identify Issues and Propose Solutions that focuses on the end user experience and cater to your game’s creative and design direction.
- Give a Presentation on a variety of topics, such as:
- Use of Game Theory in Video Game Design and Rational Progression Models
- Level / Open World Level Design Cross-Discipline Planning, Experience Pacing, and Implementation Guidelines
- Technical Design Organization for Unreal and Best Practises
- Narrative Design and Writing for Games
- Setting up Cinematic Pipelines that reflect Animation Industry standards
- ETC … Anything related to Game Design, Level Design, Open World Design, and Narrative Design!
- Use of Game Theory in Video Game Design and Rational Progression Models
Weekly
Blockouts, Prototypes, Outlines, and Scripts
- Build In-Game Playable Gameplay Prototypes to help your team with new concepts.
- Write Quest Documents and Dialogue Scripts that is needed to fill in the gaps of your game’s narrative.
- Provide Player Experience focused Suggestions and Proposals based on a throughout review of your project.
- Propose Criss-Discipline Frameworks, pipelines, and /or workflows that aims to assist the team efficient and quality content delivery with clear approval gates.
Monthly
Ideation to Implementation Content Delivery
- Design and Produce Quality In-Engine / Regular Design Content that best aligns with the intended gameplay experience
- Provide Detailed Documentation that includes (but not limited to):
- Gameplay Experience Breakdowns with Researched Transmedia Examples
- Top-Down Papermaps with Dynamic Event Callouts
- Rational Progression and Pacing Flowcharts
- Story and NPC Interactions with Cinematic Callouts
- Cross-Department Dependencies Lists
- Clear QA Playtest Checklists.
- Gameplay Experience Breakdowns with Researched Transmedia Examples
Location and Travel
We live in different cities across the West Coast in both Canada and the USA – PST time zone.
We are more than happy to travel to your Studio for a short-term amount of time!
Where we can meet and greet the team, have knowledge sharing, understand the issues your team is having, and work together to create content delivery plans to help get your projects to where you need it!
For Full-Time contracts of content delivery, we will be working Remotely from our respective homes.