About
Introduction
Hi! My name is Michael, and I’m a 23-year-old Game Design student at HKU in the Netherlands. I’m currently in my third out of four years, and I have learned quite a lot since I started. I’ve especially improved in many soft skills I didn’t think I would ever need or use. Once I’m done with my studies, I hope to join a medium to large-sized game company that creates story-driven games for people to enjoy.
Skills
- Writing compelling and believable stories, ranging from individual characters to entire worlds.
- Deconstructing those stories and transforming them into engaging quests.
- Utilizing game feel and flow to effectively convey the game world to players.
- Breaking down projects into manageable segments.
- Prioritizing tasks to determine what should and shouldn’t be tackled.
- Conducting efficient team meetings.
- Willingness to ‘kill my darlings’ when necessary.
- Analysing problems and devising gamified solutions.
- Rapidly prototyping and iterating designs.
- Designing and integrating UI elements into the game world.
- Coding basic game mechanics in C# using Unity.
Interests and inspirations
With the stories I write and the elements I implement in my games, I draw a lot of inspiration from movies and other games. Stories like those in the game Undertale are among my favourites. The way Toby Fox, the writer of this game, has created multiple endings or routes with the same underlying systems is really interesting. When working on a project, it can make me think, “How might someone from ‘x’, view this interaction?”
Being able to genuinely place yourself in the shoes of the individuals you’re portraying can make an immense difference. This is the constant goal I’m striving toward: crafting an experience for players where they feel as though the game world envelops them. An immersive experience, if you will.