Adrián Ponce

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Am i Adrián Ponce? Am i Adrián Ponce? Am i Adrián Ponce? Am i Adrián Ponce? All I know is that at the moment I am a third-year student in the Video Game Design and Development program at CITM-UPC in Barcelona, Spain. I was born here in Barcelona and raised with Ecuadorian heritage. Everything else is subject to change, name, physique, mentality, etc.

Background

About Me

I have no background, the world was created 15 minutes ago, and everything else is a fake memory implanted into our brains. In those memories I can recall that I have been the lead designer for Alien:Nemesis, lead designer for Breaking Cats and lead designer for JailedVR.

I have some experience playing the Drums and the Violin, but in my free time I mostly read, watch movies, play videogames and try to question everything in life no matter how stupid it may seem. Overall I like to make intriguing experiences and have tried to do them in all my projects.

Project Overview

For this project, my contribution was on a lot of different areas around the design process, as I was the lead for the design department.

Main Tasks

Team Management

  • Making sure all designers knew what their tasks were and what we needed them to accomplish.
  • Checking on other departments, ensuring that all things were being implemented following design guidelines.
  • Creating and maintaining communication channels with and between all designers to ensure we worked in the same direction.
  • Being in constant communication with all other leads to maintain an optimal development pace without losing cohesion.

    • Core Design

  • Defining the core game loop and game pillars.
  • Constant communication and feedback on all design elements.
  • Reviewing process.

    • Prototype Tester:

  • Playtesting prototypes until they get the green light to be implemented.

    • Creation and Design of all Levels:

  • Design of all levels.
  • Modeling of the blockout of all levels.
  • Assembly of some of the final art levels in the engine
  • Import the FBX, add the textures, the colliders, environmental particles and other terrain modifiers.

    • Enemies Placement

  • Design the overall layout of the placement of the enemies depending on the room and level the player is at the moment.

    • Lights placement of Lvl2

  • Design and placement of the lights inside the engine.

    • Controls Design

  • Last iteration of the controls to make them feel as intuitive as possible.

    • Resources and Rewards

  • Defining the rewards that can be found on each part of the game, from abilities to currency.

    • Level Up Mechanics / Skill Tree

  • Defining the last iterations of the skill tree / level up mechanics.

    • Design of Abilities

  • Design and revision of all the abilities and its mechanics.

    • Design of VFX Particles

  • Design and placement of the particles of the levels in the engine.

    • Narrative

  • Revision and redesign of the narrative in order to maintain the cohesion with the levels and player progression.

    • Organization and Communication

  • Ensuring clear communication between Design and Code / Art.
  • Conducting weekly meetings to discuss the direction of the project.
  • Keeping tabs on each member, its status and the state of his work.

    • Terrain Modifiers

  • Placement of all terrain modifiers in order to make the rooms more interesting and visually appealing.

    • Spawn and Checkpoint Mechanics

  • Design of the respawn, health items and checkpoint mechanics.

    • Design of Camp HUB

  • Design of the respawn, health items and checkpoint mechanics.

    • Game Design Document