RESUME
Education
January 2010 – December 2011 | The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University, Plano, Texas
• Certificate in Digital Game Design, specialization in Level Design
o Classes included practice with game engines, design theory, narrative practice, entry level art and programming, and large scale team games.
o Utilized musical background to compose in-game soundtrack and mix sound effects
August 2006 – December 2009 | The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
• Bachelor of Musical Arts
o Ritter Family Music Scholarship.
o Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts Dean’s Honor Roll.
o Graduated with distinction.
Skills
• Level Design skills: Planning and constructing level and game flow from concepts and design doc to in-engine creation. In-engine creation includes blockout (BSP, static mesh placement), texturing, lighting, scripting. Engines include Unreal Editor 3, UDK, G.E.C.K., Gears of War Editor, Torque X, Hammer, Unity.
• Music and Sound Skills: Both creation and editing of original and pre-existing music and sound through tools, such as Adobe Audition, Audacity, Garage Band, Finale, and instruments electronic keyboard and cello.
• Story Creation: Writer and planner of game dialogue, story premise, and character details.
• Art Skills: Model building and texture application in 3DS Max, and texture and map creations in Adobe Photoshop.
• Programming: Familiarity with languages C# and Lua.
Game Experience
“Love Me” | UDK Engine | Fourteen Developer Team | January – May 2011
The game is a single-player, 2.5D, side-scrolling puzzle platformer created through the UDK engine. A fourteen-developer team including producer, game designer, five level designers, five artists and two programmers built the game.
My tasks as a level designer included:
• Placed enemies and basic puzzles into each level
• Compiled all sound effects for the game, including voiceovers
• Triggered music to loop during gameplay and fade when watching cutscenes
• Designed overall layout and experience of fourth and final stage
• Polished gameplay and design alongside other Level Designers by repeated testing and changing of geometry, puzzles, and decoration placement
“Escape Artists” | Gears of War Editor | Solo Project | October – December 2010
The level is a single-player, 3D, third-person shooter level created through the Gears of War editor. The level is a solo project.
My tasks for this level included:
• Drafted initial document and maps for solid outline of geometry and gameplay progression
• Built level from scratch utilizing static meshes and BSP to create cave environment
• Set path nodes and collision boundaries so player and enemies could move properly
• Utilized Kismet tool to control enemy spawns, camera shakes, objective descriptions, and scripted events on triggers
“Gravity” | UDK Engine | Seven Developer Team | August – October 2010
The game is a single-player, 3D, first-person shooter level created through the UDK editor. A team of seven people, including producer, game designer, three artists, two level designers and a programmer built the game.
My tasks for this level included:
• Constructed combat-based room and the challenges it entailed
• Compiled all sound effects and music for the game
• Wrote story and background for the game, including in-game dialogue and text
• Polished gameplay and design alongside other Level Designers
“Crissaegrim: The War Against Zelrakis” | Torque X Engine | Four Developer Team | March – May 2010
The game is a single-player, 2D, top-down scrolling shooter made in the Torque X engine. A four-developer team including two level designers, one artist and one programmer built the game.
My tasks as a level designer included:
• Composed the game’s all original musical soundtrack
• Designed tutorial stage and final stage, including enemy and environment placement
• Wrote story and background for game, including level progression and story-text screens
• Implemented all sound effects in the game
Activities and awards
• Guildhall ‘Audioriffic’ award for sound work on Love Me
• Winner of Game Developers Conference Online 2010 Game Narrative Review Competition.
• Classically Trained Cellist of 10 ½ years.
• Creative fiction writer, from short stories and poetry to class projects like movies or skits.
• Actor, including UIL competition and high school Peter Pan production.
• Eagle Scout.
taylor@taylorkerr.net | 214.546.1414 | copyright © 2012 Taylor Kerr