Taylor C. Hadden — Game Designer

Resume

Game Design and Development Skills

  • Game Design — Specializing in systems and combat design.
  • Level Design — Including level layouts and level scripting.
  • Game Production — Three years of experience working in a production environment with a focus on collaboration and teamwork.
  • Communication — Able to communicate mechanics and concepts through writing, visual documentation, orally, and presentations to large groups.

Technology Skills

  • Gameplay Scripting and Programming — Three years of experience with C#, four years of experience in Javascript and ActionScript 3, comfortable in Java.
  • Game Engines — Three years of experience with Unity 3D, familiarity with UDK.
  • Version Control — Two years of experience using Git, four years of experience using Subversion.
  • Other Programs — Working knowledge of Adobe Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop as well as Microsoft Office.

Professional Experience

7/12 – Present

Effective Assessment — Programmer

In charge of designing and implementing the front-end for a detailed database-driven application for student assessment information.

2/11 – 4/12

Emergent Media Center at Champlain College

  • ViewBoost — Lead Interactivity Designer

    • Design lead behind a comprehensive travel and rural discovery application for mobile devices.

  • BREAKAWAY — Content Scripter and Quality Assurance Tester

    Working on finalizing the localizations for the Breakaway project in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund and the Population Media Center.

  • Ford Foundation Project — Lead Game Designer

    Collaborated with Yellow Wood Associates to conceptualize a game designed to educate the player in wealth creation in rural communities.

  • Brainstorming and Prototyping Team — Game Designer

    Developed game mechanics, wrote design documentation, and presented new conceptual designs for games addressing financial literacy.

Education

Champlain College — Burlington, Vermont

Bachelor of Science in Electronic Game Design, Class of 2012, Magna cum Laude

  • Cumulative GPA of 3.799
  • Received the Highest Academic Performance in Game Design, 2012 award

Project Experience

8/11 - 4/12

Satoshi and the Thousand Samurai

Lead Designer — Working to build a vertical slice of a 3D side-scrolling combat game in Unity 3D with a team of eleven people based around Japanese Kabuki theater. In charge of maintaining creative vision, establishing art pipelines, level design and scripting, GIT repository maintenance, and programming assistance.

2nd Place in the 2011 Renssalaer Game Fest.

01/11 – 4/11

Inertia

Lead Designer, Producer — Over the course of four months, built a 3D game from scratch in Unity 3D with a team of 5 and 7 people. Responsible for organizing the team and maintaining creative vision.

09/10 – 12/10

Forlorn

Level Designer, Level Scripting — The culminating, monthlong micro project of a class on the Unity 3D engine. The project consisted of a team of three and resulted in a tight, six-minute game experience. Acted as level designer and lead scripter.

09/10 – 12/10

Duelist

A four-month solo project in Flash. Produced a complete flash game from the ground up. Coded own game engine in ActionScript 3, designed own gameplay, and produced all of the art assets for the project.

01/09 – 04/09

Flutter

Lead Programmer, Designer — Culminating project of a game production class. Worked in a team of four over the course of four weeks to produce a full, seven-minute game in Flash. Acted as lead programmer and game designer.

4th Place in the 2011 Renssalaer Game Fest against games with a four-month development cycle.

Other Experience

January 2011

Squish — Champlain College Game Jam

Worked on a team of three to build a game in Flash over the course of 48 hours. Acted as lead designer and engineer.