James Pickett
Mobile
Summary
Professional Level Designer with strong expertise in creating immersive environments. Proven ability to collaborate effectively within teams and adapt to changing project needs while supporting their colleagues. Skilled in using industry-standard tools, implementing feedback, and delivering high-quality results. Known for reliability, creativity, optimism and the relentless drive to improve.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
Work History
Level Designer
Bethesda Game Studios
Rockville, MD
04.2019 - 07.2026
- Created memorable levels ranging from quest dungeons to POIs in titles including The Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield and Fallout 76: Wastelanders
- Designed, implemented and iterated on levels from the blockout to a polished final art and gameplay pass, curating interesting reveals and dramatic compositions
- Designed encounters and novel experiences for levels with a focus on interactivity, pacing and flow
- Worked within expectations and managed scope while collaborating closely with quest designers, environment artists and programmers
- Documented details, plans, lore, reference images, and diagrams to support development and ensure a cohesive vision
- Collaborated to create and define a major faction and quest line for TES6
- Scripted environmental gameplay for levels and behavior for NPCs
- Provided meaningful feedback during playtests and meetings, while striving to inspire and uplift my team
Level Designer & Scripter
House Pixel Games
Dallas, TX
08.2017 - 08.2018
- Designed, prototyped, and implemented 8 pvp levels in Unreal Engine 4
- Scripted level and item gameplay mechanics using UE4 Blueprint
- Collected and analyzed data to inform balance and iteration of content
Quality Assurance
Boss Fight Entertainment
McKinney, TX
06.2017 - 08.2017
- Found, reported, and tracked bugs for a mobile card game
- Tested balance, progression, and the first time user experience
Education
Masters of Interactive Technology - Level Design
SMU Guildhall
Dallas, TX05-2017
Bachelors of Mathematics - undefined
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL05-2014
Skills
- Unreal Engine 4/5
- Unity 5
- Creation Kit
- Dying Light Editor
- Documentation/Diagrams
- Blockout/Whitebox
- Clutter/Environment Polish
- Environmental Storytelling
- World-building
- Scripting
- Encounter Design
- Puzzle Design
- Writing/ NPC Dialogue
ENGINES & EDITORS
DESIGN EXPERTISE
- System Design
- UE4 Blueprint
- C#
- C
- Papyrus
- Lua
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- Confluence
- Jira
- Slack
- 3DS Max
- Perforce
SCRIPTING LANGUAGES
TOOLS
Timeline
Level Designer
Bethesda Game Studios
04.2019 - 07.2026
Level Designer & Scripter
House Pixel Games
08.2017 - 08.2018
Quality Assurance
Boss Fight Entertainment
06.2017 - 08.2017
Bachelors of Mathematics - undefined
University of South Alabama
Masters of Interactive Technology - Level Design
SMU Guildhall