JT Manning
Game Designer & Writer
Chronomancer
Encounter/World Designer
Designed, developed and iterated on a first-person looter-shooter with encounters and puzzles at the forefront of the design with time mechanics as the backbone.
A project meant to mirror the popular design of difficult to solve/deeply narrative-driven puzzles alongside engaging and challenging single-player moment-to-moment first-person action.
What I Learned:
Some mechanics take longer than others. Having a solid base for what can and can't be done in the right amount of time is crucial to being feature complete and successful.
Having a strong vision and a good pipeline is the difference between being able to finish on time and not.
Solaris Rift
Game Director
Systems, Encounter,
and Narrative Design
For Solaris Rift, I was the initial Design Lead and creator of the card game that would go from physical to digital. I iterated on PVE encounters through playtesting extensively, changing mechanics, and modifying the overall direction of the game throughout the project, while also creatively managing a highly scoped project.
Now Available on Steam.
Runes of Legacy
Systems/Encounter Designer
Designed and implemented a combat system to go in tandem with a spell crafting system for all enemies and bosses to derive from.
Tested and iterated on many forms of systems with a gameplay-focused mentality. Maintained data sheets for the player, level progression, enemies and bosses.
What I Learned:
Not every mechanic or good idea can make it into the game. Just because it is doable and viable doesn't mean it inherently makes the game better.
UX is a very important part to making systems shine. The way things look and feel can determine if a thing gets made or not.
Speakeasy
Brackeys Game Jam 2021.2
Systems/Level Designer
I was responsible for all encounter details starting from building levels from scratch in Maya to implementing textures and placing enemies. Then I tested and worked on gameplay mechanics and tweaked whatever I could in the weeklong time frame.
What I learned:
Collaboration and communication is everything.
You can do an incredible amount of work in a single week if you plan and are smart about that plan.
