/ VIDEO GAME DESIGNER
Professional Projects from Jeromie Williams
“In Boogie SuperStar, you don’t just play along, you create the show and you are its star. Be “discovered” and whisked away to a secret, tropical island where you learn what it takes to be a star. Customize your character to create a performer who represents your unique style. Build your singing and dancing skills by performing in posh environments fit for a star.
Have a blast playing with or against your friends, belting your favorite tunes into the microphone, and performing real dance moves that are captured on screen using the Wii’s motion-sensing technology. Once your skills are perfected, perform for the judges in the ultimate competition, the Boogie Star Show.”
Boogie SuperStar was Jeromie Williams‘ first step out of the Game Tester pool and into the role of Game Designer at Electronic Arts Montreal. He was hand selected for this role by producers of the title because of his dedication and creative input while testing the original version of the game titled Boogie Wii.
Jeromie Williams was responsible for the vast majority of the story writing, cut scene generation and direction as well as having an integral role in developing the dance moves and choreographies that were created for use in the game. His ability to seamlessly collaborate with the various departments working on the game earned him a great deal of recognition from engineers, programmers, artist and animators alike.
“Laura’s life is turned upside-down when she hits the big lottery jackpot. With her newfound fortune she decides to fulfill her dream of starting a new restaurant. But first she must travel the world solving culinary puzzles in order to learn the cooking secrets of accomplished master chefs. Once armed with this knowledge, she’s ready to start her career. The only thing Laura hasn’t prepared for is a hidden rival who’ll do anything possible to ruin her shot at success.”
Continental Cafe was Jeromie Williams‘ first stand alone role as a Game Designer on a project that saw him travel down to Ecuador to work with a team of budding new developers with a passion for learning the gaming industry. From concept, to functionality, to story writing, to level design, Jeromie was the hub of all things design related on the project.
Continental Cafe incorporated a unique system designed by Jeromie Williams that rewarded players by unlocking a printable soup, salad, appetizer, main course and dessert recipe in every level themed around the country the main character was visiting, with a martini recipe as an added bonus for making it through to the next destination. These recipes were hand picked and tested by Jeromie and photographed professionally to allow players to have a creative added value with the purchase of their game.
“Dance on Broadway” is the dance game that puts YOU center stage performing some of the biggest Broadway hits right at home! Dance, sing, and act to hit songs from your favorite musical performances, like ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’, ‘Fame’, and ‘Luck Be A Lady’- just to name a few! Challenge up to four friends for the starring role. Get your jazz hands ready for “Dance on Broadway!”
When Jeromie Williams was hired to work on a new dance game that was described to him as “using a technology we cannot disclose until you are hired,” it was a Game Designer’s dream to find out that he was going to be developing a Kinect for Xbox and Wii version of Dance on Broadway. Having gained significant experience working on two dance and rhythm games at Electronic Arts, Jeromie was not only brought on to help design major components of the game, but he was sent numerous times to New York in order to work with the Chase Brock Experience and a team of professional broadway dancers.
Jeromie Williams‘ efforts as a Game Designer quickly grew into that of a Game Director and were utilized on both the Wii and the Kinect version of the game as his passion and dedication to creating a true Broadway experience for players was both inspiring and infectious to those in the creative process.
Personal Projects
In 2009, Jeromie Williams was lucky enough to enter into the Bivouac Urbain 48 hour video game competition with a skilled team of colleagues who were tasked with creating a video game from scratch within a two day period following a theme only disclosed at the onset of the competition.
Once the theme of “antithesis” was revealed, Jeromie and his three teammates had to decide on a game concept and quickly put together art assets, programming and design aspects into place at a rapid and tiring pace.
What was born from the effort, was Match Null, a game that required players to end in a tie on each round in order to proceed to the next by manoeuvring a circle and a square around a playing area that launched multiple projectiles tasked with forcing players to score points if touched. In order to beat each level, players were required to keep their coloured bars inside the safe zone to end it in a tie.
The hard work and dedication earned Jeromie Williams and his team a 2nd place finish in their category, but more importantly their game was recognized by peers within their profession as the crowd favourite and labelled the “sleeper hit” of the entire competition.
What a great story. That’s my goal when I get into the industry. I want to make games with clever and not so “inside the box” goals. “To win you have to keep a score of 0″ or “Win by getting the 13th kill.” You know what i mean. :)