I’m Anthony Alvarez.

Growing up in Miami, Florida, video game music and musical instruments were my main interests. I played brass instruments in marching band and sought out digital music by capturing audio and mastering mixes.

At the University of Central Florida (UCF), I completed my bachelor’s degree in Digital Interactive Systems and went on to enroll in UCF’s Master of Interactive Entertainment program led by industry veterans, FIEA. This was an immersive game development experience that simulated the industry and taught me software and prototyping. I even learned how to manage the fallout of a cut game.

I started my career at Darkside Game Studios – a work-for-hire shop. I met talented people and gained industry knowledge by assembling a diverse catalog of projects varying in scope, type and problem resolution. Darkside closed, but I kept in touch with the team for years. Never burn bridges, folks!

After Darkside, I found myself at High Voltage Software where I grew my design, development and game shipping skills. At the time, Virtual Reality was emerging in the market. To explore this area of gaming further, I joined TinMoon Studios – an indie studio in New York. There, I worked with a team on many small VR prototypes. I gained insight into larger studios by collaborating with the Tech Director and Build Directors from Insomniac Games and Avalanche Studios. Despite the studio running out of funding, this was a great experience that paved the way for my next opportunity.

So where am I now? I reconnected with Darkside (now Side) in 2018. As Principal Designer, I lead a team of talented game designers and spearhead the Design Department. We continue to be a work-for-hire business and are involved in co-development opportunities leading to growing, long-term relationships.

Reach out, and get to know more about me!

AAA

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Work History

Summary

Leadership and Accomplishments
– Mentor and manage a team of eight game, technical and level designers across multiple projects
– Oversee team’s hiring, career development, performance reviews and regular feedback
– Spearheading design direction and development of combat systems and encounters to develop gameplay features, missions, systems and levels in Unreal Engine and Unity
– Collaborate to develop and refine core gameplay systems for original intellectual properties

Daily Responsibilities
– Author and maintain extensive design documentation for best practices on high level designs and gameplay feature specs for both external partners and internal development
– Coding and implementing key gameplay features using C++ & Unreal Blueprints
– Point of contact with Art, Production, QA and Design team across several projects to ensure customer feedback, production milestones and issues are addressed
– Refining gameplay systems and levels for single player & multiplayer games

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– Managed two designers on separate projects creating and implementing levels and gameplay
– Optimized levels, missions and content for Borderlands 2 VR DLC

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Summary

– Worked within a small team to design and implement core gameplay systems including AI behavior trees, UI functionality and level layouts for single and multiplayer games for three in-house Unreal 4 projects
– Created and developed design documentation and pitch presentations for publisher consideration

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Summary

– Partnered with two studios to pioneer visceral gaming experiences in emerging VR technology and developed the first commercial VR FPS gaming experience
– Directed development of core AI and animation systems
– Designed, documented and implemented mission content, levels, features and systems for VR and multiplayer games

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Summary

– Collaborated across Art, Production and Engineering departments to manage feature creation from concept to gold master phase on several large-scale projects to create high quality content
– Built efficient systems ensuring performance targets were achieved across all platforms
– Documented key systems, missions and tutorials for internal use and external publishers
– Efficiently blocked out levels using 3D modeling tools while conforming to set metrics and mission design

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Summary

– Designed and implemented scripted events, physics-based puzzles and combat into game environment

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Education

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