| Experience |
Unannounced independent production, USA, 2017-present Working in Unreal
Engine 5 and responsible for nearly every
aspect of design and production on this unannounced
game builds a more thorough understanding of UE4 in
different departments. It is an immensely rewarding
project so far, and Cloud Chamber working on
Bioshock is the only industry development that has
compelled me to consider moving this project to the
backburner and signing up.
Senior
DesignerActivision / Blizzard (Toys For Bob), USA, 2012-2017 My work on designing
and creating the multi-billion-dollar
original-IP Skylanders video games was
in gameplay / core mechanics, scripting, level
design, cameras, etc. (I also touched on many
other aspects of the productions, from story to
hardware prototyping.)
Senior & Lead
DesignerI used proprietary tools to develop and polish entirely new game mechanics and systems without requiring engineering assistance. This avoided dependencies (and saved money) which allowed game levels to feature more unique mechanics than a team our size could normally produce, resulting in award-winning games enjoyed by adults while still accessible to children. Several Skylanders productions also involved distributed development, coordinating work and pipelines with other Activision studios. 2017 was spent assisting the development of an (unannounced) original IP for Activision using Unreal Engine, and involved level building, puzzle design, and core mechanics scripting. In addition to the Skylanders flagship console games, I also entirely designed and scripted two Skylanders expansion packs for the core games. Both were best-sellers. Titles include: Skylanders: Giants, Skylanders: Trap Team, Skylanders: Imaginators, Gryphon Park Observatory Adventure Pack, Sunscraper Spire Expansion Pack, Cursed Tiki Temple Adventure Pack Platforms include: PS4, PS3, XboxOne, Xbox360, Switch, Wii-U, Wii, Android, iOS, Fire Griptonite Games / Amaze Entertainment, USA, 2005-2011 Projects at
Griptonite were Hollywood IP titles successfully
produced with extremely tight schedules matched
to movie release dates, challenging budgets, and
fixed deadlines that we absolutely could not
move (due to movie release dates). I worked at every
stage of production, bringing top franchises of
Disney, Dreamworks, 20th Century Fox, etc. to yet-to-be-announced
(at the time)
next-gen platforms.
Initially a senior designer, I later worked as lead, training and mentoring junior designers. I produced key concept art, puzzles, mission designs, camera systems, pipeline systems, location plans, 3d modelling, level editing, scripting, wiring, story, cutscenes, dialog, controls and interface design, core mechanics, gameplay tuning and polish, and more. Titles include Dreamworks' Kung
Fu Panda 2 (Xbox Kinect, PS3, Wii /
uDraw), Disney's The
Princess and the Frog (Wii), Shrek
Forever After (DS), Shrek the
Third (Wii, Xbox360, PS2, PSP), Where
the Wild Things Are (Xbox360, PS3,
Wii), Over the Hedge (PSP), Eragon
(PSP), and others.
Lead Designer Zombie Inc., USA, 2003-2005 While I did some
auxiliary work on Shadow Ops: Red Mercury
(Xbox, PC, Unreal engine), my primary
responsibility was designing Interplay’s flagship
game, a sequel to Kingpin (PC, Xbox,
Unreal engine). This involved game and systems
design, 3C's, prototyping, level building, team
coordination, and creating and maintaining concept
art and design documents for both internal team
use and externally for the publisher. (Interplay
unfortunately was shut down midway through
production)
Level Designer Valve Software, USA, 2001-2003 My time at Valve was
focused on Half-Life
2 (PC, Source engine). I was primarily
level building, but tasks included game design,
concept art, prototyping, and playtesting. Half-Life 2
won six BAFTA
awards and over thirty five Game Of The Year
awards. My concept art was also used for the
coffee-table book Half-Life
2:
Raising
The Bar, now a collector's item.
"Doom" conversion (Early amateur/enthusiast work) Working alone as a
young gaming enthusiast, I created the first TC
mod ("Total Conversion"), coining a term that
became widely used in the PC mod scene. Highly
acclaimed and often regarded as one of the
greatest game conversions, Aliens-TC introduced
new features, "groundbreaking" gameplay, and
notably influenced the wider industry.
Previews provoked disbelief, seeming too good to
be possible with available technology.
Rolling
Stone Magazine / Glixel article about
Justin Fisher and Aliens-TCPC Gamer Magazine article about Justin Fisher and Aliens-TC (I have also done game design work for companies in Canada and New Zealand) |
| Education | Bachelor of Fine Arts
(Design)
|
| Portfolio | A
brief portfolio is here |
| Skills | Platforms Microsoft
- Xbox One, Xbox360, Xbox, Windows / PC
Editing/BuildingNintendo - Switch, Wii U, Wii, 3DS, DS Sony - Playstation 4, PS3, PSP, PS2 Unreal
Engine 5 (and 4, 3), Alchemy, TFBtool, World Machine, Hammer,
Radiant, Worldcraft, Inferno, Quintessence, Ludaman,
MOOD, and
others.
Graphics/ModellingMaya, 3D
Studio, Blender, Photoshop, Illustrator, Inkscape, Freehand, Visio,
QuarkXpress, PageMaker, PhotoPaint, OBS Studio, Shotcut, Animation
Shop, and others.
Language/ScriptingC, UE4 UE5
Blueprint, Scriptgraph, Lua, Arduino, GML, HTML,
XML, C++,
and others.
GeneralMS
Office, Perforce, Source Safe, CVS, DevTrack,
FogBugz, and others.
Productions have included distributed development, asset outsourcing, classics remastering, etc. |
| Interests | Sports and hobbies
include dance, solar robotics, design, games, art,
miniature electronics, hiking, fencing, and creating
things that should exist but don't ...yet. |
| References |
Cloud Chamber is right next to the Toys
for Bob studio (where I worked for six years,
until a couple of years ago) so I believe that any of
your own contacts at Toys for Bob would give you
confidence in me and carry more weight from being
known to you than would references I provide. Additional references are also available of course, and can include people I managed, people who managed me, and/or people who worked alongside me. |
| Contact Details | Justin Fisher |