Orlando Jimenez

Unreal Engine | Visual Scripting | Gameplay Systems Design | Combat Design | Heiarchial State Machines | Behavior Trees | Gameplay Prototyping | Cross-Discipline Collaboration | Design Documentation | Playtest Iteration

Summary

Game Designer with 3 years of AAA and indie experience focusing on combat systems, encounters, and player kits. Skilled in Unreal Engine, visual scripting, and rapid prototyping. Experienced in collaborating across engineering, art, and design to deliver a responsive and polished player experience.

Black Hand Studios / Combat Design Consultant

November 2025 – January 2026, Top Down ARPG (The Dark West)

• Consulted on core combat systems: Refined gameplay feel, responsiveness, and player control.

• Designed weapon archetypes and alternate fire mechanics by introducing distinct combat rhythms and playstyles.

• Developed ability concepts and timing structures to improve combat flow and player decision making.

• Conducted targeted playtests by identifying issues in movement, combat readability, and encounter pacing.

• Provided actionable feedback on ability timing and responsiveness to improve clarity and moment-to-moment gameplay.

• Authored modular weapon and combat design documentation, enabling consistent implementation across design.

• Collaborated with cross-disciplinary teams (design, SFX, engineering, VFX) to align weapon behavior, feedback, and implementation.

ZeniMax Online Studios / Combat Designer (Started as Intern)

June 2023 – November 2025, Third Person Action MMO (Unannounced)

• Designed and implemented core third-person combat systems, including ranged weapon feel, targeting logic, and ability-driven combat loops.

• Partnered with engineers to prototype player kits from the ground up using networked state machines and visual scripting, focusing on fast iteration and system sync.

• Collaborated with animation, VFX, and audio to polish player kits and weapons for a high-visibility Xbox leadership demo, emphasizing timing, clarity, and impact.

• Authored foundational design docs outlining melee principles and weapon archetypes, used to align direction and inform early prototyping.

• Prototyped experimental weapons and abilities outside scope to test engine limits and pitch new combat possibilities.

• Supported cooperative kit development by exploring mechanics that encouraged synergy, team positioning, and role clarity.

• Incorporated playtest feedback to improve UI clarity, input response, and moment-to-moment combat feel.

• Built and maintained a shared test level used by Art, Animation, VFX, and AI teams to validate systems and align timing/readability.

Solo Project / Combat Designer

April 2023 – May 2023, Personal Project 

• Designed and built a first-person prototype focused on combat feel and AI variety.
• Implemented recoil, bullet spread, and fire mode systems using visual scripting.
• Developed enemy archetypes (exploder, chaser) to drive tactical player decisions.
• Built a full test level with encounter pacing, respawn, and damage systems.

Trial of the Elements / Gameplay Designer

March 2022 – June 2022, Broken Games (Full Sail University)

• Designed and implemented elemental combat abilities; scripted the final boss encounter.
• Built boss logic with multi-phase attacks, player tracking, and counter windows.
• Collaborated on ability systems, level design, and combat flow using Unreal Engine.

First Person Shooter / Combat Designer

November 2021, That Team (Full Sail University)

• Designed tutorial and arena levels with wave-based encounters and pickups.
• Prototyped melee and turret AI using behavior trees in Unreal Engine.
• Tuned difficulty and pacing through structured playtesting and iteration.

Education

Full Sail University – Game Design Bachelor of Science / June 2022