Hey! I'm Frederico Machuca, a Gameplay Designer living in Vancouver, Canada.
Currently, I'm working on Black Panther at Cliffhanger. Previously, I helped design creatures and encounters for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf at Bioware. Before that, I was a Gameplay Designer for FIFA Mobile at Electronic Arts. Before that, I was working as a Game Designer and Researcher at The Pain Studies Lab creating Lumapath, a VR game to motivate aging adults to be physically active. During that time I also got my Master in Arts in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at SFU. Over the years I have released multiple games under the oophok name; 4 Months of You in 2021, Zone of Lacryma in 2017 and The Guilt and the Shadow in 2015.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Gameplay Design | Encounter Design | Creature Design
Visual Scripting | C# | Prototyping | Unity3D
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Cliffhanger, Remote, Canada [September 2023 – present]
Senior Game Designer for Black Panther
Bioware, Remote, Canada [August 2021 – September 2023]
Gameplay Designer II for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
- Design and Implementation of dozens of encounters in the game, including several Mini Bosses.
- Owned multiple creatures. Collaborated with animators, artists and engineers to get each creature from prototype to presentable.
- Owned the creature Translation System and the creature Pressure System, designing and implementing a set of tools for creature designers.
Electronic Arts, Burnaby, BC, Canada [January 2019 – June 2021]
Gameplay Designer for FIFA Mobile
- Owned and prioritized new gameplay features that added value to the already existing systems in the game.
- Design of new skill games used between regular football matches, adding variety and teaching opportunities to players.
- Tuning of live gameplay features to promote a wider range of strategic possibilities.
- Visual Scripting used to create each skill game’s logic and refactor of older skill games, freeing engineers to work on more complicated tasks.
- Collaborated with adidas on GMR, creating and maintaining the campaign in-game, and tuning designs to adapt to the physical restrictions of 2020.
The Pain Studies Lab, Surrey, BC, Canada [2016 – 2018]
Game Designer & Creative Director
- Designed and developed Lumapath, a VR game to motivate aging adults to be physically active in a safe and controlled environment. User centered design and a collaboration with healthcare providers kept track of the target audience’s needs in mind.
- Led and managed a development team of 3 undergrads; 1 programmer and 2 concept artists, creating a successful game prototype in under 6 months.
oophok [2011 – forever]
Game Designer & Creative Director
- Released 4 Months of You (2021) on Steam. A first-person psychological horror game where you explore a slow-paced atmospheric world with graphics inspired by the PS1 era.
- Released Zone of Lacryma (2017) on Steam as an Early Access title. Retro shmup with a combat system heavily influenced by risk-reward mechanics. Upgrade system and level progression balance to keep players challenged. Combat system with positive and negative feedback loops to afford a personalized play style.
- Released The Guilt and The Shadow (2015) on Steam. Short story exploration game. Game design had to serve the main purpose of the experience: tell the character’s story. Mechanics, Puzzles and Level Design to create an engaging mysterious world.
PUCPR & BCIT, Curitiba, Brazil [2012 – 2016]
Instructor
- Created courses for both a Game Development and a 3D Animation post graduate program with classes of 15+ students. Topics varied from Prototyping in Unity to 3D Modeling and Texturing in Maya.
- Supervised the final projects of some teams, helping them reach their goals.
