Before Closure

Rapid-prototyping

• Prototyped 6 playable narratives in 6 months and explored the possibilities of eye-controlled interactions, eventually landing on the right mechanic and story that shaped the experience goals of Before Closure.

Interactive narrative design

• Collaborated closely with a talented core team of writer, lead artist, composer, and voice director to design both the overall narrative arc and the detailed interactive narrative beats under tight resource and time constraints.

Creative direction

• Aligned the team behind a single creative vision through open communication, succinct documentation (e.g., Game Design Macro), and playable prototypes, which kept the production well-scoped and the team on the same page while working with a relatively experimental and unconventional form.

Eye detection

• Researched and experimented with various technical solutions, building a lightweight, real-time, webcam-based eye detection system in Unity as the technical foundation of the project.

Project architecture

• Designed and implemented project architecture across systems like scene management, input, interaction, and audio, establishing boundaries and standards that empower the engineering team to collaborate on and contribute to the codebase in a modular way.

Team management

• Managed two engineers throughout preproduction and full production: assigning tasks, tracking progress, and leading code reviews.

Implementation

• Authored in-engine narrative and gameplay sequences of a 4500-word script, owning the execution of the second-to-second experience while keeping it aligned with the larger project goals.

Debugging

• Debugged across internal and third-party open-source code using IDE debugging and Unity profiling tools; shipped 40+ versioned stable builds for Windows and macOS to support weekly playtests and major milestones.

Team recruitment

• Recruited a 7-person core team and coordinated a total of 23 contributors across graphic design, voiceover, audio production, localization, and other disciplines over the course of development.

Project management

• Maintained the project's scope and made sure deadlines were met across two years of production, delivering a 40-minute narrative game plus an additional “Epilogue Mode” at release.

Voiceover production

• Worked closely with the voice director and casting team to schedule, cast, and produce a fully voice-acted 4500-word script with 2 voice actors.

Localization production

• Organized and produced localization across 5 languages, including full voice localization for English and Mandarin.

Playtesting

• Conducted 51+ official playtest sessions across different stages of development, analyzing both quantitative survey data and qualitative feedback to inform design iteration.

Publisher relationship

• Collaborated with publisher Dopoco Games on milestone deliveries, driving 1000+ new wishlists from Steam Next Fest and hitting 1300% of the crowdfunding goal on Modian.