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MILES MICHELL

Narrative Designer

Writing -  Levels -  Systems 

PROJECTS

Channel Getaway

Design Lead - Narrative & Level Design

Academic Master's Capstone & Team Passion Project 

September 2023 - Current

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  • I am the design lead of my internal team of four's Master Capstone project. We are creating a narrative-rich environmental puzzle-solving game.

  • I'm focusing particularly on delivering the game's narrative and messaging through my constructed level's flow and constant build-up of character and meaning. 

  • I am constantly iterating NPC characterization and branching dialogue to align with our game's messaging and impact. That being a cautionary tale of being aware of one's media consumption, where the player has the final choice of staying or leaving a fantastical world.

  • I am building the level landscape of a dreamlike beach island. Since the game is under a monochrome CRT-like effect, I'm heavily utilizing guiding lines and effective Mise en Scene staging and film practices to guide the player's progression while maintaining the dreamlike feel of the game

  • I lead and actively ensure design goals are being met across the internal development team in addition to four external artists

Rope Tool 

Level Designer 

Academic Production Studio & Team Passion Project 

January 2024 - Current

  • I contributed my Level Design skills to the student-run passion project Rope Tool, made up of a team of two other designers, an artist, and three programmers

  • The designers and I identified that focusing on physics-based interactions was key for providing effective player onboarding, given that the project had previous struggles with onboarding without this focus

  • I single-handedly designed and constructed the initial physics-based challenges, as well as the final boss encounter and layout within the onboarding level. These sections sought to teach and challenge the player's understanding of the controls

  • I laid out various physics-based objects in the beginning section that would push and pull the player through the level so that players could build speed even if they didn't have the best grasp of the movement mechanics from the get-go

  • I constructed the final obstacle and boss encounter to be small enough so the player could see their immediate threats but large enough so they could still gain significant momentum. This provides an adequate challenge that requires mastery of the game's previous onboarding 

  • Through the collaborative efforts of adhering to our team's code and level asset standards, our team won best in Technical Excellence at RIT's Student Game Showcase in spring 2024

BLADE OF RECLAMATION

Combat and Gameplay Programmer

Academic Production Studio
January - May 2023

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  • I contributed my Unreal Engine 4 Blueprinting and gameplay design skills to my small team of four production studio projects about sword combat in a dark fantasy setting

  • I focused on building the controls and timing of our game's two-handed sword combat. With the central feature being the charge-up heavy sword slash

  • I built and iterated on the camera and movement controls

  • I also built and iterated on hit detection for both the player and the enemy AI agent

  • Lastly, I retargeted and altered the open-source animations we had available to best fit our combat and gameplay design

  • Download the game from our Itch.io page below

CHANGELING - VR

Level Design and Gameplay Developer 

RIT Co-op
January - May 2022

  • I contributed my Unreal Engine 4 Blueprinting and level design skills to the student and faculty-run narrative VR game Changeling

  • I focused on establishing a definitive gameplay and narrative flow for the game’s "Mother Level"

  • I carried out this narrative through player interactions and staging by creating and refactoring Unreal Blueprints.

  • See my included Narrative Design Doc in my Blog for more details

  • Lastly, I engineered dynamic manager Blueprints for doors and NPC character which are used by present and future co-workers

CURSE OF ENFEEBLEMENT

Interactive Twine Narrative Designer - Writter

Academic Solo Project
February - March 2022

  • I wrote an interactive narrative using the tools afforded by the narrative builder Twine 

  • I constructed a magic resource management mechanic that tied into and aided the narrative, which required leveraging Javascript outside of the base Twine functions. 

  • The narrative details the arc of a stuck-up wizard and his relation to his D&D-esque group

  • I integrated visual and auditory aesthetics which reflect the fantasy-heavy narrative

  • Check out the interactive site below! Warning: Story content is very tongue and cheek, and crude

VIRTUAL WORLDS

World Building Collection 

Academic Solo Project
August - December 2021

  • I am building a variety of worlds and scenes, based on concepts I envision 

  • Using Unreal Engine 4 to host these worlds

  • I utilize art basics, environmental storytelling techniques, and Ureal blueprinted scripted events to convey rich narratives without text

  • The video showcased is of a horror-themed story I created based on a specific werewolf myth. Documentation of this concept is found in the video's description

  • Ultize and alter open-source and primitive assets to build my worlds

  • You can see the other worlds I created by clicking the button which leads to my Youtube playlist

LEVEL COLLECTION

Level Design Collection 

Academic Solo Project

August 2021 - December 2023 

  •  I used various game-level editors to showcase completed level designs of various game genres, through my Graduate and Undergraduate Level Design courses

  • Levels showcased where made using editors such as Unreal 5, Megaman Maker, Battleblocks Theater, Portal 2, and Doom 2016

  • I constructed these levels utilizing common-level design concepts and best practices, such as player onboarding and engagement flow

  • You can see all the levels by clicking the button which leads to my Youtube playlist

CREATIVE WRITING DESIGN BLOG  PREVIEW

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ABOUT ME

Hello! I’m a game designer from New Orleans, LA. I love working in the Unreal and Unity game-making engines and programming through C++ and C#. I enjoy team projects and I’m always seeking new opportunities for collaboration. I am also actively honing my skills in creative writing. Aside from those activities my other main hobbies are hiking, acting, and playing Dungeons & Dragons 5e with friends!

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