As part of my time at Skyhook Games, I worked on a large-scale project that was tasked to us by a major studio. The game presented a lot of challenges, and plenty of problems that needed solving; as such, I learnt an incredible amount on this project. Please keep in mind that this project is still under a non-disclosure agreement, due to this I have the additional challenge of keeping the information on this page vague.

This was my first large-scale project at Skyhook, which means that mechanics and systems had to be developed in a way that was scalable, suitable for multiplayer replication, and non-destructive. As you can tell by my portfolio of projects, this is the most unique and the most fun game I have worked on thus far.

This project immersed me in my role as a Technical Designer, I learned to work in a fast-paced environment, managed my tasks and took responsibility for the systems I implemented. A lot of the work involved communicating with the relevant teams to ensure that my mechanics were implemented to the specification of our Game Designers, as well as what I needed to make them work in the systems I built.

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Speaking of which, sometimes design specifications aren't perfect and need clarification in places, or sometimes the designed system doesn't work in the way they hoped. I learned to communicate my ideas with the Design team to come up with a conclusion that satisfies everybody. I made it a key point to maintain exceptional communication with our Game Designers to ensure their visions were accurately implemented into the project. To quote the feedback my Lead Technical Designer received about me - “Loving Brandon’s communication, he let’s us know if there’s anything he needs, it’s really helpful".

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Juggling various systems and mechanics taught me how to effectively section my workload, in a way that meant I could comfortably reach my deadlines. Time management is vital, and I learned first hand how to do it effectively.

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Using JIRA and frequent scrums, I was able to communicate my progress to our Technical team, as well as bring up potential blockers and solutions to accompany them. While not entirely relevant to game development, I feel that it is worth mentioning that I got taught a lesson about humility. Sometimes I didn't have solutions to problems, and that's okay. I allocated myself 15 minutes to try to solve the issue - if I couldn't, I explained my problem and what I tried to my teammates, and they would lend a helping hand. Game development is a team-sport.​​

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Of course, there are the skills I learned to develop my technical processes, which include:

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• Listening and acting on feedback, iterating on the systems I have built.

• Built-in Network Replication to my mechanics, utilizing Unreal’s network debugging tools to ensure optimal performance in all network conditions.

• Built-in World Partition to support my mechanics, ensuring full functionality despite actors not having yet been streamed.

• Utilizing source control and diffs to collaborate effectively with team members.