Ryan Brain

Ryan Brain

Technical Artist at Ghost Games / EA

Mid-level Game Designer / 17 yrs

Runcorn, United Kingdom

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UI Technical Artist

Need for Speed (2015)

Game Designer

MotorStorm: Apocalypse (2011)

Junior Game Designer

MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (2008)

Game Designer

Driveclub

DRIVECLUB Explained Faceoffs & Challenges
MotorStorm Apocalypse Scripting Examples
I'm a designer with over 9 years of hands-on experience in game design, ranging from mobile games to PC and console, including Sony's PlayStation VR headset. I have worked for some of the most exciting and innovative companies in the industry, such as Sony Computer Entertainment and Electronic Arts.

My experience includes user interface/user experience design, gameplay design and systems design. I have worked on multiple AAA projects from conception through to release and beyond, the majority of which have been in the racing genre.

While I excel at implementing work myself, and have considerable experience using both industry-standard and in-house tools to implement and iterate on required designs from conception through to GM, I am also experienced in steering the development of a feature within a small team.

I have a passion for creation; whether that’s taking a UI mock-up in Photoshop and transforming it into a fully navigable and interactive UI page with final art and animation, taking an idea for a scripted sequence of animations from pen and paper and implementing it within the game engine, or tuning gameplay elements to create the optimal player experience; whatever the requirement and whatever the required method, I can think of nothing more satisfying or enjoyable than making something out of nothing.
Work History

  • UI Technical Artist

    Ghost Games

    April 2015 - Present

    Created and iterated on UI pages using the Frostbite engine’s “FrostEd” tool.

    Authored and implemented animations within the UI, based on pre-viz and reference material.

    Implemented complex functionality using FrostEd’s “schematics” visual programming language, taking pages from simple wireframes to a fully functional UI with final quality artwork.

    Following provided designs, used Adobe Photoshop to create representative mock-ups of UI pages from a User Experience perspective.

  • UI Technical Artist

    Electronic Arts

    April 2015 - April 2016

  • Game Designer

    Evolution Studios

    April 2007 - April 2015

    Designed gameplay mechanics and user interfaces that would utilise the unique experience offered by virtual reality.

    Wrote both high and low-level designs for mission scenarios that would utilise new and existing gameplay mechanics, while driving story progression.

    Worked closely with programmers to create a scripting toolset that would be used to script mission levels, giving me the power to then turn my mission designs into scripted, fully playable segments of gameplay.

  • Junior Game Designer

    Nephin Games

    June 2006 - April 2007

    Was heavily involved in the design and development of two games from start to finish (“Nip Tuck: The Cutting Edge” and “Cellular”), as well as the development of numerous other titles in varying stages of completion.

Education

  • BA (Hons) Game Design

    University of Lincoln, Hull

    September 2003 - June 2006