Meet Your Instructor ...
Hi my name is Kirthi and I created LEVELN Academy to introduce kids to the world of game development. For college I attended Digipen Institute of Technology where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Game Design. Here I learned a lot about game design from instructors actively in the field and learned to sharpen my design senses through a lot of game projects.
After I graduated from Digipen I worked at White Elk Studios (virtual reality startup) as a game designer and made a game in 6 months. The development team was 4 people and I got to focus on a lot of areas including level design, puzzle design, asset management, sound implementation, user experience design, and overall optimization (for loading levels).
Since then I have worked as a Systems Engineer while continuing my exploration into sound design. Last year (2023) I received my Pro Tools certification in Dolby Atmos and am looking forward to continue my work on immersive projects.
Professional Experience
Eclipse is a first-person exploration game set on a sentient planet with a dark past. At its core is a mysterious story of a world filled with discovery and wonder.
My responsibilities included management of asset lists (particle effects, music stems, sound effects, 3D models), audio scripting, gameplay scripting, level design, puzzle design, usability, and scene management to increase performance for mobile virtual reality
The game received the following recognitions and was eventually ported to other devices like the Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
Student Game Design Portfolio
This was my student game design portfolio video when I graduated Digipen Institute of Techology.
I’m including it because game design is a process that can only be learned through multiple projects.
What helped me land my first job as a game designer was my final senior project called “FIELDS”. It was a first person puzzle game that I developed as a solo project.
It demonstrated my level design and puzzle design skills enough for me to get the opportunity to work on Eclipse: Edge of Light.
