Stephen J. Skelton /

818.648.9488
Game Designer /

SUMMARY

Game design professional with over 15 years experience creating compelling gameplay and stories for AAA franchise titles, generating detailed content for original and licensed properties, and working with small and large teams to create unique and realistic game experiences.

WORK HISTORY

Freelance(July 2011 - Present)

Contract work for PC and console development.

  • Design consultation - pre-production work on existing concept (licensed or original IP), providing concrete design elements from initial "elevator pitch" as well as story/character development, and production schedules.
  • Documentation for use in pitch meetings and production (game concept creation, 2-page pitch, extended pitch, initial GDD).

CI Games(November 2012 - November 2014)

Producer, LORDS OF THE FALLEN & ENEMY FRONT (Xbox One, PS4, PC)

  • Represented games at Destination PlayStation, Bandai Namco Global Gamers Day, E3, press interviews.
  • Presentations for distributors/business partners (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Redbox, etc.)

Creative Director, ALIEN RAGE (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

  • Unreal Engine 3 Sci-Fi FPS.
  • On site with team in Poland for 4 months as Creative Director bringing the game to Alpha & Beta, followed by remote direction from Los Angeles.
  • Designed player perk system which increased EEDAR Lasting Appeal score by 30%.
  • Recruited external level designers, created/supervised mulltiplayer maps production schedule.
  • Feedback/direction for all departments (design, art, animation, sound, programming), cutscene direction.
  • Wrote game system specifications for programming department (scoring, weapons, audio log functionality, etc.).
  • Rewrote game objectives/plot, redesigned achievements to fit within downloadable game requirements for consoles.
  • Provided marketing support when needed (title suggestions, "back of box" copy, etc.).
  • Represented game at company reviews, company-wide presentation and to press for E3, gamescom, PAX Prime.

AppKin Studios(May 2009 - June 2011)

Game Designer/Producer, Unannounced iPhone Project

  • Formed small development studio to focus on casual games for the iPhone platform.
  • Created game concept and design document for arcade-style project using the iPhone’s accelerometer as primary input.
  • Developed prototype using Torque Game Builder. Integrated assets from other studio partners and wrote all game scripting.

Spark Unlimited, Inc.(August 2002 - November 2008)

Lead Designer/Writer, Legendary (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC)

  • Managed overall game design (features, specs, research, documentation) on Unreal Engine 3.0 project in collaboration with the design department and production team.
  • Created game storyline in collaboration with the Design Director, wrote dialog script and in-game text. Dialog and in-game text developed with team based on storyline/gameplay needs.
  • Managed gameplay balancing: Player controls, game difficulty, AI abilities, player weapons, enemy vs. weapons tuning to provide real tactical choices when using weapon set, etc.
  • Scheduled and managed Design Department, coordination/collaboration with other departments.

Lead Designer/Writer, Studio Development

  • Franchise development of original IP with publisher. Worked closely with creative director from publisher to build out the “bible” of the original IP world in anticipation of sequels and multiple-studio spin-off projects.
  • Studio pitch development of original and licensed IP concepts. Worked independently and in collaboration with Design Director on more than half a dozen game pitches. Presented pitches to game publishers and motion picture producers, directors, execs, etc.

Senior Designer, Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)

  • Contributed to every aspect of game design (locations used, characters, gameplay features, level layouts, etc.). Wrote large portions of, edited design document.
  • Specifically created the designs/documentation for six levels:
  • Breakdown and Into Red Square levels used as “Vertical Slice” to prove out gameplay and for early demonstrations. I worked directly on these levels, contributing most of the object placement, scripting, etc.
  • Come Out Fighting level design/geometry block out given to separate design team due to schedule changes. No major changes made to initial design.
  • I worked directly on the three Aachen levels (First City To Fall, Underground Passage, Surrender At Aachen) with a Junior Designer assisting to implement/contribute to my level designs.
  • Wrote dialog/in-game text for all 6 levels I designed and for many of the cutscenes/briefings.
  • Created many of the game’s characters in collaboration with concept artists.

Electronic Arts Los Angeles(November 2000 – July 2002)

Designer, Medal of Honor Frontline (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)

  • My leves were all of Mission 4: Several Bridges Too Far, Yard By Yard, Arnhem Knights. Implemented all gameplay from scratch, using the existing geometry layouts and basic scenarios provided by the Lead Designer.

Designer, Clive Barker’s Undying (PC)

  • Implemented game objective system.

SKILLS

Agile Dev/Certified ScrumMaster
Issue Tracking/Agile Software (JIRA, Bugzilla, etc.)
3D Game Engines (Unreal/Unity., etc.) / Source Control Software (Perforce, AlienBrain, etc.)
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premiere / Microsoft Project
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Office
Slack

EDUCATION

B.A. Theatre and Drama, Indiana University