Ark: Survival Evolved
Announcement trailer
Project Summary
If I could describe the beginning of Studio Wildcard with one word it would be “chaos”. We had limited funds that were being dispersed across several outsourcing studios with mixed results. Our version of Unreal 4.5 had severe stability issues in the first months of development. We had six months to make a relatively fun and functioning game that could provide enough income to keep our young studio afloat.
As arduous as the first half of 2015 was, our release day of June 2nd, 2015 was far more rewarding. Four years and four expansions later, Ark is frequently in Steam’s top 10 concurrent users, while our team has grown from nine to over a hundred employees.
As arduous as the first half of 2015 was, our release day of June 2nd, 2015 was far more rewarding. Four years and four expansions later, Ark is frequently in Steam’s top 10 concurrent users, while our team has grown from nine to over a hundred employees.
Responsibilities (Pre launch - june 2015)
- Worked directly with creative directors to realize the level design vision of Ark
- Adapted to a “start-up” environment and met rigorous deadlines and demands including:
- Designed 80% of caves with marketplace assets usually on a 1-2 week deadline
- Created several prototype “pitch” biomes for potential venture capitalist
- Designed Ocean Biome in 10 days
- Took several locations throughout the map from blockout to full completion
- Designed multiple "showcase" areas for the game's announcement trailer
Responsibilities june 2015-Present
- Lead Level Designer's go-to team member for creating "focal areas" in every map, problem-solving and emergency QA
- Designed majority of caves and boss arenas for the Ark Franchise
- Scripted boss prototype levels with dynamic changing environments
- Assisted in technical level set up, including npc spawns, level streaming, weather toggles, landscape conversion
- Assigned as Lead Level Designer for Ark: Extinction, duties included
- Reviewed and approved the entire layout of Extinction expansion
- Created weekly sprints for 5 person level design team
- Designed multiple areas of the map including Forbidden Zone, Sunken Forest, South Wastelands and Northern Wastelands
- Presented level design progress to creative directors in monthly updates
- Mentored level designer transitioning specializations