Ulisses D'Ávila

Ulisses D’Ávila 

📧 ulissesnascim@gmail.com        📞 (672) 999-7347        📌 Vancouver, BC, Canada

A passionate Game Designer & Engineer with 5 years of industry experience.

KEY PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Microsoft (The Coalition)

Feb. 2023 – Aug. 2024 (fixed-term contract) | Vancouver, BC, Canada (hybrid)

Gameplay Designer

Worked on Gears of War: E-Day.

• Took ownership of Gameplay & Technical Design for a group of game features (Environmental Mechanics), with a keen eye for the impact on the overall gameplay experience and close attention to implementation risk.

• Built level layouts that implement Level Blueprints/Level Sequencer to showcase specific play situations.

• Used 3D tools (Unreal Modelling & Fracture modes, Blender, Houdini) to iterate on metrics and visual readability of game features.

• Designed & implemented Enemy prototypes, using allotted timeboxes to prove out designs and taking the initiative to iterate on mechanics, relying on frequent playtesting and stakeholder feedback to prioritize the most relevant elements.

• Used Blueprints in Unreal Engine 5 (visual scripting) to implement gameplay mechanics, drag-and-drop editor utilities, dynamic combat encounters and AI interactions.

• Debugged C++ code in Visual Studio and submitted C++ code improvements to engineers.

• Created and supported technical architectures for gameplay mechanics considering studio-wide scalability.

• Determined metrics, collision and networking replication rules on Environmental features to optimize their architectures.

• Tuned combat attributes for enemies and weapons with special attention towards game balance, feel and readability.

• Broke down feature requirements and components, communicating with other disciplines (Designers, Artists, Producers and Engineers) and reporting to the Lead Game Designer to drive owned features through production.  

• Wrote, shared and maintained technical documentation, including Best Practices for other designers on Environmental features to optimize usability of content authoring workflows.

>> Reference letter from Microsoft’s Lead Game Designer is readily available upon your request. << 

Hololabs Studio

Sept. 2022 – Feb. 2023 | Vancouver, BC, Canada (remote)

Game Developer/Engineer

Shipped: Sky Haven (Android, iOS) and AAA interactive attractions at Universal Studios

• Developed gameplay systems and mechanics to maximize game feel using highly optimized Unity C# code.

• Created development tools to service other programmers and designers.

• Fine-tuned behaviours and presentation of Companions and Enemies.

• Scripted moments/encounters for best player experience with a high quality bar.

• Debugged systems/features during production and late development stages.

• Reviewed/approved code from other engineers.

Braindead Broccoli

July 2020 – Sept. 2022 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (remote)

Lead Designer & Engineer, Co-founder

Shipped: Pulling No Punches (PC, Mac, Linux and Nintendo Switch)

• Designed & implemented (C#) all the Combat Systems (such as movesets, input handling, collision and hitboxes), involving research, fine-tuning, playtesting and iterating until the intended player experience was achieved.

• Designed & implemented (C#) all the 3Cs (Character, Camera and Controller) mechanics and systems (see samples in this presentation).  

• Designed & implemented (C#) the entire enemy roster for the game (23 Enemies + 5 Boss Fights), each with their own behaviour, combat moves and navigation, delivering a new layer to the combat puzzle with each new enemy (see samples in this presentation).

• Built a deeply modular visual scripting architecture from the ground up in Unity (C#), allowing for smooth reiterations during the design process while delivering a polished core feeling to the game.

• Architectured the game's memory management strategy, loading and unloading assets to ensure optimized performance using the Addressables system.

• Collaborated with Art, Animation, Tech Art and Sound Design to complete development of features and levels.

• Designed all the Levels and Combat Encounters, employing the Situational Game Design framework to create playful situations.

• Designed unobtrusive tutorials, focusing on the intended player experience whilst invisibly teaching the game’s core mechanics (read more in this article).

• Planned the game’s design around supporting diverse use cases (casual, hardcore, completionists, multiplayer group).

• Balanced the game’s economy for singleplayer and multiplayer.  

OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

University of British Columbia

May 2022 – August 2022 | Vancouver, BC, Canada (hybrid)

VR Software Developer (part-time)

Worked on SimBrain VR.

• Implemented VR input, user interface, hand-tracking and speech recognition in Unity C#.

Painful Smile

Sept. 2019 – June 2020 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (remote)

Gameplay Programmer (on-call)

Shipped: Ultra Foodmess (PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch)

• Developed, tuned, tested and debugged features (e.g. multiplayer support, input handling, achievements) in a near-release multiplayer title with highly efficient Unity (C#) code.

PREVIOUS CAREER EXPERIENCE:

JLT Reinsurance Brokers

May 2011 – Dec. 2018 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (on-site)

Actuarial Director

• Programmed, analyzed and performed Monte Carlo simulations by parameterizing and adjusting probability models, applied to complex scenarios of risks and loss events, to develop and pitch financial reinsurance solutions.

• Due to my self-driven search for technical knowledge and my critical usage of our tools, I was promoted from intern to analyst to manager and then director during this period.

• Collaborated in managing a 10-person team as the leading group in the Brazilian reinsurance market at the time.

• Freely decided to leave this career and use my computing/programming skills for Game Development instead.

EDUCATION:

Simon Fraser University

December 2022 | Vancouver, BC, Canada

Master of Digital Media

• Won the Computer Science and Software Engineering Scholarship award. 

• Studied/worked with game design frameworks and game development engines (Unreal and Unity C#) as part of the program.

• Developed the original prototype for Project Anomaly: Urban Supernatural Investigator, a detective first-person game currently in development for PC/Steam Deck by DARK SCIENCE in Unity C#.

• Developed IRD-VR, a VR training tool for police officers facing Active Shooter situations (Justice Institute of British Columbia). This included playtesting with real-life officials and designing an immersive experience around their emotional feedback.

• Won the 2022 Horizon Interactive Gold Award for the IRD-VR project.

Rio de Janeiro State University

December 2014 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Bachelor of Actuarial Sciences

• Demonstrated knowledge of vector math, linear algebra, databases, analytics and mathematical models.

• Includes programming for predictive financial, statistical and insurance Monte Carlo simulations.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

Gameplay Design, Game Design, Technical Design, Object-oriented programming, C#, C++, Unity, Unreal Engine 5, Blueprints, Visual Scripting, Combat Design, Game Design Documents, Systems Design, Level Design, Feature breakdown, Input handling, Enemy Design, Enemy AI, Navigation, State Machines, Action Planning, Collision Profiles, Replicated properties (networking), Game feel, Game tuning and balancing, 3Cs (Characters, Camera and Controls) design & implementation, Vector Math, Player moves, Player tools, Tutorial Design, Encounter Design, Dynamic Environments (breakables and interactables), Quick prototyping, Feature ownership, Perforce and P4V, Photoshop, Prop Design, Unreal Modelling, Unreal Fracture, Blender, Maya, Houdini, JIRA, Trello, Confluence, Google Docs, Microsoft Office package, Microsoft Excel, Virtual Reality, Oculus Quest, Console Games, PC Games