What are the responsibilities and job description for the Combat Designer position at Eleventh Hour Games?
What is your role?
As a Combat Designer for Eleventh Hour Games, you will be working closely with the Lead Combat Designer to create, evolve, and improve combat encounters and in-game actors and functionality. This role will require someone with experience and understanding of general art pipelines (animation, vfx, sound, etc.) and the ability to work with these assets in engine. The perfect candidate has extensive experience developing or playing top-down ARPGs, with the ability to work across different teams and cultures remotely, with strong interpersonal communication and problem-solving mindset. This is a fully remote position.
Qualifications
- 3 years in combat design or a similar role
- Deep understanding of Unity systems, Animation systems (animator, animation layers, parameters, rigs, etc), Shuriken particles, components, prefabs, and associated systems
- Combat design experience focused on recognizable patterns, telegraphing, and great timing
- Strong understanding of in-engine systems handling character logic; ability to debug complex problems and test work thoroughly
- Can create interesting and complex mechanics that are well optimized and considerate of other department needs
- Strong knowledge and investment in understanding ARPGs, competitive products, and various gameplay genres; special interest in understanding what makes a game tick, specifically combat and enemy design
- Ability to widely and deeply discuss combat systems, mechanics, and enemies in one or more IPs
- Creative and flexible to work within the constraints set by the designers and producers
Pluses:
- Proficient in VFX
- Proficient with C#
Responsibilities
- Implementation: Work under the direction and guidance of the Lead Combat Designer to implement monsters. This includes working with animations, vfx, sfx, and ability systems, all inside of Unity
- Balancing and Tuning: An essential aspect of combat design is balancing the gameplay experience, ensuring that it is neither too easy nor too difficult for players. Combat designers are responsible for tuning enemy ability timings, indicators, hitboxes, and more to ensure a fair and fun experience. This can often take many iterations and rounds of feedback
- Collaboration: Combat Designers need to work closely with animation, vfx, sfx, etc to ensure that monsters and combat feel as good as possible
- Bugfixing: Bugfix and troubleshoot monsters in the project. This will involve diving deep into components and systems to solve problems to find those elusive tickboxes and settings
- Scripts and Tools: Build out new tools, components, and functionality as needed to improve the workflow and design of monster creation.
- Game Knowledge: continually play the game to understand how combat works and can be improved. Gain knowledge from combat systems in other games
Why Eleventh Hour Games?
EHG is a fast growing Indie Studio, focused on a passion for top-down action RPGs. We value open communication, close-knit teamwork, and opportunity for ownership and growth! Our mission is to gather and empower the next generation of creators to forge epic games. Epic games build passionate communities, which create passionate people. Passionate people turn into next year's creators. With our debut title Last Epoch, we are moving fast into the next round of adventure!
- Flexible fully remote working arrangements
- Team focused environment, including casual game nights
- 20 vacation days, 10 sick days, 5 floating holidays at the start of each year (increased with company tenure)
- 90% paid health coverage premiums for U.S. based employees 100% dependents
- Dental, Vision for U.S. based employees dependents
- 401K for U.S. based employees
EHG is committed to full inclusion, and is an equal opportunity employer. As part of this commitment, EHG will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact HR@eleventhhour.games. Please note, general employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here.
