Experience

• Senior Artist at Dovetail Games

  Doncaster, GB

  April 2022 - Present

  Currently responsible for guiding the environment team comprising of 3 sub-teams of 3D Artists & Level Designers. Identifying any issues and choosing the correct course of action.

  • Level designing key areas of the game. Blueprint coding interactive assets
  
  • Project planning for current and upcoming releases. Providing timeframes, scoping content
  
  for roadmaps, managing and supporting the team's day to day activities
  
  • Line Manager duties for Level Designers & 3D Artists. Career guidance and mentoring
  
  • Collaborating with other department leads on new mechanics and features
  
  • Ownership of level design for all projects. First port of call for other departments
  
  • Reviewing content submissions from team members and outsource studios.
  
  • Creating tutorial documentation and videos that demonstrate the workflows used within UE4

• Route Builder - Artist Level 3 at Dovetail Games

  Chatham, United Kingdom

  March 2021 - Present

  Artist Level 3 has adapted the role into managing a team of Route Builders. Responsibilities are now focused on assuring all Route Building content is delivered. While still maintaining aspects of previous artist levels.

  • Ownership of level design for projects. First port of call for other departments
  
  • Assigning tasks to members of the team, tracking progress and relaying the information to Dev managers
  
  • Reviewing content submissions from team members and outsource studios
  
  • Creating tutorial documentation and videos that demonstrate different aspects of level design within UE4
  
  • High level planning for Agile development

• Route Builder - Artist Level 2 at Dovetail Games

  Chatham, United Kingdom

  December 2019 - March 2021

  Promotion to Artist Level 2 bought additional responsibilities to the Route Building role. This coincided with Dovetail Games' release of Train Sim World 2 which brought the simulator to new levels of quality and immersion.

  • Mentoring junior members of staff on best practises for level design in Train Sim World 2
  
  • Increased exposure to high level planning, contributing to time estimates and allocating work
  
  • Updating on team progress via daily meetings with leads across all departments

• Route Builder - Artist Level 1 at Dovetail Games

  Chatham, United Kingdom

  September 2016 - December 2019

  Route Builder is a role within the Environment Art team that uses Unreal Engine 4 to create representations of real world locations, which act as the game environments for Dovetail Games' Train Sim World.

  • Responsible for level designing sections of the environments within Train Sim World
  
  • Managing personal workload to ensure content is delivered on time
  
  • Researching real world locations to recreate landmarks and features
  
  • Collaborating with 3D artists to produce low-fidelity footprints to quickly block out an environment
  
  • Creating scenes that add narrative to a location
  
  • Sculpting and painting UE4 Landscapes into a focused gameplay experience
  
  • Placing assets and foliage with consideration for performance and optimisation
  
  • Setting up navmesh for NPCs
  
  • Creating lighting, collision and post processing effects.
  
  • Managing submissions through source control software
  
  • Consulting with Programmers, QA, 3D and Technical Artists to find the best solutions to problems

• Content Technical Designer at Dovetail Games

  Chatham, United Kingdom

  April 2015 - September 2016

  Created DLC for Train Simulator 2015/16 using LUA scripts and XML blueprints. Focusing on setting up 3D models as functioning trains as well as patching existing DLC when required.

  Setting up a train required research into the unique features it possesses. Finding the more intricate details could involve scanning through old books or contacting rail employees and enthusiasts from around the world. Once enough information had been gathered, gameplay features such as safety systems and control interfaces could be implemented.

  Debugging and revising scripts based on QA and beta forum feedback was common throughout development. This put an emphasis on time management especially when working with multiple projects simultaneously.

• Live Team Scenario Writer at Dovetail Games

  Chatham, United Kingdom

  August 2014 - April 2015

  Responsible for fixing LUA script and editor based bugs for Dovetail Games' Train Simulator 2014/15, working closely with the Live Team's dedicated 3D Artist and QA Tester to work through a backlog of legacy bugs.

  Examples include scripted systems not functioning as expected, incorrect XML blueprints and errors within the in-game scenario editor.

  Communicating with the developers was crucial to understanding the previous history of content and finding out important information regarding the nature of its behaviour. Attending weekly meetings with the Live Team manager formed the basis of scheduling patches.