Welcome

Welcome to the portfolio of Tomoko Ruiz.

I am a Game Designer with over a decade of experience specializing in Combat and Systems Design. In my work I have designed Weapons, Abilities, and AI NPCs as well as wholistic combat and progession systems.

Most of my projects have been multiplayer Co-op or PvP with supported single player modes.

My personal Design projects included several multiplayer maps for Counter-Strike Global Offensive and Team Fortess 2. I have also created smaller game projects using Unreal and Flash.

Both my professional and personal work have required experience with a variety of development tools including Unreal Engine, Unity, and Source Hammer.

Wreck Runners

WreckRunners is a Co-op multiplayer PVE Game.

This is a "Friendslop" genre game featuring unique combat where Players throw objects to stun or defeat enemies.

My role was to define this combat loop and develop Player items and enemies.

The core combat loop was designed to create maximum tension between retrieving items of value and managing encrouching enemies, all of which have unique methods of attacking players and destroying their valuables.

Combat is intended to be chaotic and imprecise to maximize feelings of havok and unexpected outcomes.

The game also features a Player controlled vehicle and I developed enemies that were uniquely suited for challenging the vehicle in motion and to create dread as player's traversed the world.

Check out a short reel of some of the unique enemies from the game on TikTok.

Superior

Superior is a multiplayer Roguelike 3rd Person Shooter.

I was resposible for designing, tuning, and balancing Player Weapons and Powers.

A major function of my role was to work on the scaling systems that powered the Roguelike experience and drive player choices.

I also contributed hands-on to the design of the player camera, AI, and additional content features including the Doom Room.

See a more in-depth look at my work on the Keywords system and Weapons here.

Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite is the latest mainline title in the Halo Franchise.

I was a contracted member of the Sandbox Team responsible for Weapons. I had the pleasure of working on the Needler, Gravity Hammer, Mangler, Grenades and more! I also designed the library of variant weapons found in the campaign and Fiesta gamemodes.

See a more detailed look at specific weapons here.

Megalith

Megalith is a Hero Shooter/MOBA hybrid game for the Playstation VR.

On this project I designed Titan abilities and mechanics as well as many gameplay features. I was also responsible for overall combat tuning and a resource systems.

All the mechanics were designed for Virtual Reality and take advantage of the increased mobility and interactivity of the headset and motion controllers.

The Havas Health network works with clients throughout the healthcare industry to create promotional materials and experiences. I worked with a variety of technologies including Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to create promotional experiences featured at medical conferences and events.

Firefall is an MMO Science Fiction Shooter set in a future Earth which has undergone several catastrophies.

I had many roles on this project including Combat Design, Content Design, and Level Design. I was responsible for many of the creatures and enemies in the game as well as the design of player weapons and abilties particluarly the Dreadnaught Battleframe.

I also authored several missions including Prison Break, Dirty Deeds, Proving Ground, Operation Cliff's Edge, and Operation Cinderblock. I also built missions and level layout for the Devil's Tusk open world zone.

A closer look at my Combat Design work can be found here.

Marvel Heroes is an MMO Action-RPG featuring Marvel characters and environments.

On this project I worked on the procedural Level Design system to create randomized Open World and Dungeon environments. I also worked on enemy monsters based on villians from the Marvel Universe.

Projects

Using Valve's Hammer Level Editor, I created several multiplayer maps for the Counter-Strike Global Offensive workshop. My maps Seaside and Downtown have been featured in the CSGO Operations and even gained some press attention.

My first published maps were designed for the Team Fortress 2 online community. These maps spanned many different gamemodes including Capture Point, Payload, and Arena.

I have developed several games using a variety of packages including Unreal, Game Maker, and Flash. These games were designed and scripted using each package's scripting language.