<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/ddbb5150-c99c-455c-8e1d-547ddcf9ad34/red.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/ddbb5150-c99c-455c-8e1d-547ddcf9ad34/red.png" width="40px" /> I'm a passionate game designer with an intense focus on combat and NPC design, which I have been practicing through a Half-Life 2 mod, Inhuman. Below is a summary of my work done and some writing I've done on the process.

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Half-Life 2: Inhuman

https://youtu.be/Y2i3N4RTey0

Personal Project

Roles: Game Design Lead, Game Director, Level Designer

Team Size: ~5

Duration: 2018 - Present

Releasing Q2 2024

Website: https://www.moddb.com/mods/inhuman

Half-Life 2 Inhuman is a mod which reworks almost every facet of Half-Life 2 from AI to weapon design. I sought to redefine Half-Life 2's gameplay, taking it from what I considered to be a war of attrition weighted in the player's favor to a more intense skill based experience, where the player can die more quickly but has more control over firefights.

• Designed and programmed modular schedule system for NPCs.
• Reworked enemy behavior to create more natural combat pacing.
• Created a Squad AI Manager which tracks NPCs in a squad and assigns them new cover positions when needed.
• Redesigned weapons to feel more responsive and to fit more neatly into specific roles.
• Programmed an interest source system similar to its implementation in Mark of the Ninja.
• Created new inventory item to allow the player to restore their armor with the press of a button.

<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/dbc638bb-bd65-4225-a73e-4c605cb5e40e/red.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/dbc638bb-bd65-4225-a73e-4c605cb5e40e/red.png" width="40px" /> Creating reliable yet distinct weapons was a big goal for the project. I accomplished this by balancing around a core set of three weapons and making sure each one had clear roles, from long range to close range.

Another major change came in the form of the added battery item. This item allows players to restore their armor (which now fully protects from damage). However, the recharge time is gradual and taking further damage ends the recharge. This creates moments of tension in firefights, where players will try to duck into cover and recharge their shield while worrying about enemies chasing after them.

All of these changes came through iterating on my work after feedback from playtesters. A notable example of improvements made thanks to playtesting can be seen in the SMG weapon. For a long time, players tended to "spray and pray" with the gun and did not react to its change in accuracy, even after a dynamic crosshair was added. In order to get them to use the gun a bit more effectively, I opted to add a vertical kick to the gun that grew stronger the more they fired the weapon. Immediately I saw playtesters react to this change and start using it how I wanted without prompting them in any way.

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Boreal Alyph