Jimmy Brown | Level Designer
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Lordbound
 - Level Designer -

​Development: Ongoing
Group Project

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E
ngine: Creation Kit 
Status: Late Alpha
My Duration: 2017 - Present

​​Project Summary: 
Lordbound is an expansion-sized mod for the Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim. Our large international team consists of industry professionals, college aspirants, and veteran Skyrim modders. To produce in an efficient manner, the team is modeled after the format of a professional studio with developers expected to produce high-quality content while prioritizing assignments for efficient pacing. ​
​
Currently the mod contains:​​
  • 170+ Interior cells, including 50+ dungeons.
  • 3 separate major questlines filled with additional sidequests.
  • 3 square kilometers of exterior world space.
  • Over 60+ hours worth of playtime in a single playthrough.  

My Responsibilities: 
Level Designer: 
As Level Designer​ I conceptualized, designed, and implemented over 20+ houses / buildings and 30+ dungeons and worked on exterior world spaces. Working alongside our Quest Team as well as other departments I receive, advise, and implement requested designs down to specifications. 

World Team Designer:
Since interiors had reached content complete, I started helping our world team iterate and complete exterior world space designs. Most of the initial designs are already laid out, so I was tasked with finishing areas and getting them ready for optimization. 

Dungeon Feature Owner: 

My core responsibility is to ensure all 170+ interiors made by myself or the team meet project standards, while also providing ways to improve production efficiency. I'm also tasked with fixing any bugs found by our QA team. To help keep this department organized, I supply the team with:​
  • Interior Level Design Documents
  • Triage Reports 
  • Logs (Spreadsheets, Word, Trello, etc.) [Examples provided below]. ​
  • Playtest feedback​
​
   Media Coverage: 
Picture




 PC Gamer

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​   Kotaku

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           ModDB

Highlighted, In-game screenshots of the dungeons

My Work:
​Below is a collection of my work on the project containing one screenshot for each dungeon and interior I've created and completed.
Examples of Dev Timeline [Screenshots taken after completion]
Concept / Paper Designs for the dungeon "Brainrot Cave":


Role Description / Tasks: 
Level Designer
​

Concepts​
  • Paperdesign (Drawing, Adobe Photoshop, Paint 3D, AutoRealm)
  • Graybox design in Creation Kit
  • Initial proof of concept​

Development: 
  • Expand upon initial proof of concept to first playable
  • Clutter / Decoration Pass 
  • Create and implement encounters: 
    • ​Combat
    • Puzzles
    • Scripted Custom Events
    • Creating NPC's 
    • Set Pieces​
  • Playtest Level (Recurring throughout development) 
  • Optimization Pass (Navmesh, Lighting [#oflights], Boundaries, etc.)
  • Early polish
  • Host final review session with all stakeholders​
  • Final Polish [Has now officially started]
Dungeon Feature Owner

Documentation
  •  Create progress reports:
    • Maintain logs on all interiors (Excel, Trello, GoogleSheets & Docs.)
  • Feature support:
    • ​Organize Playtests
    • Triage bug reports
    • Triage polish items​
  • Leadership: 
    • ​​Manage all Interior Development 
    • Create tutorials on level design/implementation within Creation Kit
    • Review /provide feedback for interiors on completion 
    • Organize feedback sessions 
    • Write briefings 
More Information:
Visit our ModDB page to see more Lordbound updates.
​Or visit our Discord for our most recent news / builds.
[For Discord, my alias / username is RoKMod]  

Download Request:
Upon request, the latest version of Lordbound can be made available to play.

Tutorial Links: 
A few custom Creation Kit tutorials I set up for our Dungeon Team. It combines my personal experience along with techniques provided by the Bethesda wiki's. [Click the links below to view]. 
- Navmesh
- Occlusion Planes / Room Boundaries


Documentation Samples: 
To help give you a perspective of my documentation work, here's an out-of-date and NDA-edited copy of our main spreadsheet that I created for the Lordbound Interiors. This Google Sheet is used by all departments, but primarily by my team, containing Priority tasks, polish development notes, interior info (names, teleport code, etc.), and much more. To view, click the link below: 
- Google Sheets
Picture

Recommendations:


Michiel Werring
World Designer at Coffee Stain Studios;
Team Lead for Lordbound

"In the year that Jim has been on our team he's gone from junior designer to the Dungeon Feature owner for Lordbound, displaying not only an incredible capacity for all aspects of level design but also collaboration. As feature owner he works seamlessly with our best to create new content, while also supervising aspiring game developers.

A vast portion of the modification’s high quality dungeons were made by him and it has enabled our other features to do better for it. While he may appear to lack industry experience, he has learned a great range of industry practices from experienced members of the team and has the ability to rapidly pick up new things. I would recommend him to any team for any task and expect him to deliver every time."
Birk Denecke
Producer at Coffee Stain Studios;
Producer for Lordbound​
​

"I am Jims producer on Lordbound and I couldn’t be happier with him and his performance. When working with Jim I can always rely on accurate estimations for project planning and expect a high level of quality for any content he produced. He creatively rises to every challenge that we present to him on the project. His work includes some of our best and most challenging dungeons.

​Additionally, he became the owner of the Interior Feature, which means he is not just ensuring the quality of his own work but also the output of a small team of aspiring game developers. Having Jim on my development team is an excellent experience and I am certain he can contribute greatly to any studio out there.
"
Theodore Hilhorst
Mission Designer at 2K Czech;
Level Designer for Lordbound​
​

"Jim is able to successfully translate known game & level concepts into new, bigger, and more polished products; pushing the limits of the Creation Kit engine by using the tools in a creative manner. His attention to detail while capturing a sense of magnitude, scale, and wonder resulted in many breathtaking environments which never failed to make the player stand, gaze, and be astonished at the stunning set pieces. On top of that, his levels are built with a solid understanding of level design principles and are created to give a memorable moment every single time."
Dan Velinov
Level Designer at PlayMagic LLC;
Level Designer for Lordbound​
​

"I have been working with Jim on Lordbound for over a year. Throughout that time I have discovered him as an able and passionate level designer who brings creative ideas, technical skills and game knowledge to the table. His excitement and helpful attitude makes him a great team player. He always finds ways to introduce interesting and unique interactions, making even the simplest levels memorable and fun to play. I would strongly recommend him for any level design position in the games industry."
Rebecca Falktorp
Lead Designer at Palindrome Interactive
Level Designer for Lordbound​
​

"Jim came in to our project and quickly showed his knowledge, initiative and commitment to the group. He very quickly became a leader for the interior world building and managed several individuals in a volunteer environment successfully, along with implementing new pipelines and project timelines with other leads that made my work much easier. Jim is easy to communicate with and very passionate about game development. He will do well at any studio he lands at and is a true rock that you can rely on when problems are bubbling up."
Keano Raubun
Narrative Designer at Nixxes Software;
Lead Quest Designer for Lordbound

"Jim has played a crucial part in realizing the dungeon experience for Lordbound, and it's safe to say that our best work on the project wouldn't have been possible without him. In a relatively short time, I've seen him grow from an eager hobbyist to a respectable level designer; from working on small caves and huts to massive narrative-focused dungeons in collaboration with our Quest Team.

Whether it's creating a new dungeon according to spec, or revamping and polishing an existing one, Jim has always managed to elevate the intended design and surprise us with his ideas and their execution. Jim's dedication to the project and passion for level design shows in his work, and I'm certain his future works will be nothing short of impressive.

Jim is an absolute joy to work with, and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a highly-creative and collaborative designer to help realize their game worlds."
Daniel Lewis
Game Designer at Big Pixel Studios;
Quest Designer for Lordbound

​
"I've worked with Jim as he's produced a range of gameplay spaces in the form of dungeons and explorable in-game regions for Lordbound and the results have never disappointed.

Collaborating with the other teams during the project, Jim created great content to team requirements and desired spec, but was always forthcoming with great feedback, thoughts, and opinions which enhanced each location. He is extremely responsive to feedback and any required changes and has produced a ton of great content with varied styles, at often astonishing speeds.

With a fantastic sense of visual flair, he excels in creating memorable spaces that leave great impressions, convey the stories we need them to convey and are a delight to explore.

Because of the above, Jim has been an invaluable addition to the Lordbound team and I believe he'd no doubt be a fantastic choice for any content needs on any project."
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  • Portfolio
    • Adventure Roll
    • Children of Ug-Qualtoth
    • Lordbound
    • Whispers of Ug-Qualtoth
  • Resume
  • About Me
  • Contact