Jaylin Grierson
Game Designer
Work Experience
Senior Game Designer - AI | Aug 2024 - Present
Intermediate Game Designer - AI | Nov 2022 - Aug 2024
Splinter Cell Remake | In Development
AI designer on the Splinter Cell Remake.
My responsibilities include:
-Owning multiple core AI systems and features.
-Designing features from the ground-up with goals established by direction.
-Prototyping and iterating upon designs to improve the player experience and address feedback.
-Implementing and tuning complex feature data in-engine.
-Implementing AI dialog lines in behaviour trees.
-Collaborating with other teams such as voice design, level design, programming, narrative, and animation.
-Communicating the intention and behaviours of the AI to other teams to help solve roadblocks and identify additional areas for improvements.
-Attending regular reviews with the AI team to assess the status of features and determine priorities for future work.
-Documenting and communicating updates to features.
-Driving my features through the director approval process.
-Mentoring junior team members about game and AI design.
Tools Used
Proprietary game engines, Miro, ​Confluence, Jira, P4V, Excel
Game Designer
Ubisoft Toronto | Apr 2022 - Nov 2022 | Full-Time
Far Cry 6: Lost Between Worlds | 2022 | Multiple Platforms
My responsibilities included:
-Owning my features from start to finish on a strict timeline including creating the design documentation, reviewing with direction, implementing in-engine and on platform-specific development tools, and working with QA to resolve any bugs or design problems which appear.
-Implementing feature data for both my features and those of senior designers.
-Acting as the "go to" game designer for information on how to implement feature data in the engine and how to edit specific files.
-Being versatile solving bugs and completing features which were owned by team members who have offboarded to other projects.
Tools Used
Proprietary game engines, Miro, ​Confluence, Jira, P4V, Platform-specific development tools, Excel
Game Designer
Zynga | May 2021 - Apr 2022 | Internship
Merge Dragons! | 2017 | IOS/Android | Versions 6.4.0 - 8.4.0
Had full feature ownership of the Cloud Isle and Fly-By-Shops features in addition to design ownership of Winter and Spring Seasonal Offers.
My responsibilities included:
-Creating initial design pitches and documentation which outlined the feature's goal and how it would impact existing features in the game.
-Reviewing feature designs with direction and iterating them to address feedback.
-Iterating upon designs to develop them into full feature outlines which could be cost-estimated and actioned upon by the team.
-Implementing feature data in-engine and in excel.
-Collaborating with programming, art, and UX design to ensure smooth feature implementation.
-Testing features in-engine to verify functionality and to confirm it was achieving the intended design goal.
-Iterating and tuning designs, rewards, and difficulty levels to make features as polished and balanced as possible before release.
Tools Used
Unity, ​Confluence, Sourcetree, Google suite, Excel
Game Designer
Ubisoft Toronto | May - Aug 2020 | Internship
Far Cry 6 | 2021 | Multiple Platforms
Had ownership over the post-campaign and live features as well as achievements and Ubisoft Connect challenges.
My responsibilities included:
-Shepherding the post-campaign from the high-level feature outline stage to completion.
-Designing all the feature content and low-level details, including the reward economy, difficulty, and the desired player engagement.
-Implementing all feature data and rewards in-engine to a near shippable condition.
-Attending reviews with direction to approve the feature's level of functionality and address
feedback.
-Designing and developing the achievements and Ubisoft Connect challenges rosters
-Researching the compliance standards for each platform including number of achievements, grade, and additional restrictions.
-Collaborating with the team to determine which features are most important to highlight, and
ensuring each aspect of the game is sufficiently represented.
-Designing the roster while ensuring it has a proper balance of familiar features and new ones.
-Attending meetings with direction to approve the design and iterating upon feedback.
-Implementing data in-engine and on individual platforms from scratch until it was ready to be
verified by QA.
-Documenting feature designs in-depth for use by the team both to verify functionality and for future design owners of the features.
-Documenting "how-to" guides for feature data entry and other implementation tasks to make it easier for other designers to find and edit data in the future.
-Communicating and collaborating remotely with team members on multiple teams including programming, art, and online in multiple time zones and at multiple Ubisoft studios.
Tools Used
Proprietary game engine, ​Confluence, Jira, P4V, Platform-specific development tools, Excel