Game Designer // Systems + Encounters

Ethan
Ortega

I build the hard part. Combat frameworks, level mechanics, and the systems underneath.

Focus  Systems & encounter design Engines  Unreal, Godot Based  Arizona, US
Selected Work
01 / Level Design Complete

The Array

A combat FPS level taken from greybox to final art across two production milestones.
The Array, final art, substation exterior
Full playthrough + blockout-to-final gallery View case study →

Role

Primary level designer & sole active developer (TeamCitrine)

Software

Unreal Engine 5BlueprintPerforce

What I did

  • Built a single-player combat FPS level from greybox to final art across Alpha and Beta milestones.
  • Authored the full level design document and a critical path of fourteen beats, from a desert ravine to a helipad extraction.
  • Taught the level's laser-routing puzzle in isolation, then combined it with combat and traversal toward a mastery finale.
  • Implemented the supporting systems in Blueprint: Niagara laser, elevator call buttons, and vault-door sequence with audio.

See the full case study for the playthrough video and blockout-to-final gallery.

02 / Systems Design In Development

ProjectTera

A 5-player co-op survival horror FPS where cooperation is the mechanic, not just the theme.
Systems Design Document
Call of Duty Zombies meets Destiny 2 raids.
Triforce / Loom duality · 5 playable archetypes · 6 wonder weapons · Encounter design teardowns
View case study →

Role

Sole game designer — all systems, encounter, and creative direction

Type

Systems DesignEncounter DesignGDD

What I did

  • Designed a full game systems document where the core mechanic — cooperation — is inseparable from the world's theme.
  • Built a Triforce / Loom duality that makes selfish play mechanically punishing and cooperative play mechanically rewarding.
  • Designed five playable archetypes whose surrender arcs are expressed through their class mechanics, not their cutscenes.
  • Designed six wonder weapons, each a philosophical expression of its character's role and story arc.
  • Conducted firsthand encounter teardowns of Der Riese and Ascension, extracting authorable design primitives rather than nostalgia.

See the full case study for the systems breakdown and encounter design analysis.

About

I'm a game design and development student at Full Sail, focused on systems and encounter design. I have 25,000+ hours across MMOs — WoW, FFXIV, Destiny — and I've spent most of them thinking about why certain encounters work and others don't.

I work best where systems meet the player: combat frameworks, level mechanics with real tradeoffs, encounter pacing that teaches through play. I'm building toward a systems or encounter design role at a studio that takes that craft seriously.

Contact

Open to systems, encounter, and level design roles. Best way to reach me is email: ethanortega102@gmail.com