University of Central Florida
Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
M.S. Interactive Media – Level Design
2020 – 2021

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
B.Arch. with a Minor in Business
2015 – 2020

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Ryan Walter Salomon
Level Designer

My journey to become a level designer has been like no other. Born and raised in Miami, I was always surrounded by vast amounts of culture. As I became a high school student, I moved onto a 47′ sailboat with my family, and we traveled the East Coast of the United States for over three-years. I’ve always joked that my time away from land really helped me gain an appreciation for buildings and other land structures.

My time spent studying architecture for five-years really helped me learn, not just about the specifics of how deep a beam might have to be, but more philosophically about how spaces create an impact on a person’s experience. These ideas at a conceptual level can be directly translated into game design. As a level designer, I’m able to put myself into the player’s shoes to think exactly about how I intend for them to feel when interacting with a space, and then design accordingly.

Technical Skills

Relevant Past Work Experience

Design Lead – Electronic Revolution Studios
(2020 – Present) – Total Team Size: 15 People

· Lead the design team (five members) in the production of a GDD and the full creation of all three levels within the game from conception to completion
· Lead individual playtesting sessions for around 40 playtesters and gathered all feedback for later implementation
· Debugged and optimized game in collaboration with the Lead Programmer
· Worked with the Lead Artist to help determine art direction
· Fully designed and implemented the second level of the game in engine
· Hand drew eleven action blocks on paper utilizing the game’s mechanics and built each one in engine, tested them, and iterated on them
· Created a level layout and pacing diagram for the second level of the game
· Whiteboxed the entirety of the second level of the game, and iterated the spaces based on playtesting feedback
· Replaced all whitebox walls, floors, ceilings, columns, etc. with finalized assets
· Continued to populate the spaces throughout the set dressing process, adding in elements as small as rubble, and as large as water tanks
· Implemented lighting, fog, and post-processing into the scene

Level Designer – Personal Projects
(2020 – Present)

Whiteboxed and Set Dressed ‘‘The Frigate’’
· Adjusted the operating parameters of the asset pack’s Blueprints in the whiteboxing phase to create and adjust for the combat in the level
· Optimized the lighting in the level to be less expensive. This was done primarily by using the Light Complexity viewmode, and adjusting the attenuation radius, of all point lights, and the outter radius of all spotlights.
· Incorporated post-processing by creating a Color Lookup Table and adjusting the parameters of auto-exposure, bloom intensity, vignetting, and grain
· Set dressed the level using multiple asset packs
· Created a level layout with Illustrator and Photoshop

Whiteboxed ‘‘Dagrun Grotto’’
· Used Maya to model a proxy version of the cave, the swinging axes, wall torches, about 10 rocks, the pullable chain, as well as all of the furniture
· Used the landscape tool to sculpt the interior of the cave by using two separate landscapes – one for the ceiling and one for the floor
· Used the foliage tool to paint the stalagmites and stalactites into the cave
· Altered asset pack Blueprints to provide balance to the level’s gameplay
· Used Illustrator and Photoshop to create a detailed bubble diagram and level layout, as well as a reference board

Whiteboxed ‘‘Puzzle Whitebox’’
· Utilized Illustrator to create layouts for each of the three major spaces
· Utilized asset pack Blueprints to help create the puzzles
· Generated three major Blueprints – the launch pad, the box spawner, and the kill box that kills the player and respawns them
· Whiteboxed entire level, and iterated based on limited playtesting

Architecture Intern – Russell and Dawson
(2019)

· Performed field measurements in Massachusetts and Connecticut necessary for the construction of numerous multi-million dollar projects
· Prepared drawings and specifications for architect and engineer review at the schematic and construction document level