Rafi James
About Me.

I'm a design-minded, Game Designer that has been a part of the Game indsutry for 8+ years. Join me on a journey through the art I’ve done to the games I’ve created.



I’m Rafi James and I love games, from board games to videogames. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been into games, most of my childhood memories are of playing games. Also, I have a passion for tech and my curiosity about how things work got me into taking everything around me apart. Eventually, I started disassembling the tech that I used and modifying it to work better for me. My love of games and modifying tech lead me down the road of customizing and creating my own games.

What I do.
Game designer

I pursued my Bachelor’s Degree in Game Design from Full Sail University where I was recognized as one of the top students in my program and salutatorian of my graduating class. Upon graduation, I launched into my career as a game designer starting at Fireshark, an indie game studio based in my hometown. As a primary designer at Fireshark, I gained professional experience in building design docs, prototyping, level design and content development. Through this experience, I’ve successfully shipped 3 video games spanning across multiple genres including, battle arena, racing and fighting.

Game Tester

My game testing experience spans across many facets in the game industry from AAA to indie and volunteering as an alpha/beta tester. In the AAA arena I’ve worked at Nintendo of America as a tester for Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Smash Bros DLC. At Microsoft I was involved in game hardware testing such as stress and compatibility testing the Xbox Series X and S.

Developer

I’ve taken initiative in learning basics of programming across multiple languages such as C#, JavaScript and Python. I’ve applied the concepts I’ve learned in hobby projects by using such devices as a Raspberry Pi and Arduino. In a professional setting at Fireshark Studios I assisted developers with modifying code within Unity.

QA Engineer

As a QA Engineer I’ve worked alongside designers and developers to prototype and test game features before being implemented in-game. Oftentimes my feedback about a feature results in an open conversation with designers and developers about what could be improved or different features that could be added to enhance the players’ experience.

Skills.
Development
Tools
Unity
UNITY
Photoshop
PHOTOSHOP
3DS Max
3DS MAX
TortoiseSVN
TORTOISE SVN
Unreal Engine
UNREAL
C#
C#
Aesprite
Aesprite
UNITY
PHOTOSHOP
3DS MAX
PERLENSPIEL
UNREAL
C#
AESPRITE
TORTOISE
knowledge
  • Creativity
  • Storytelling ability
  • Knowledge of multimedia development software
  • Programming knowledge
Design
  • A passion for video games
  • Strong analytical frame of mind
  • Ability to work as part of a team
  • Artistic vision
  • Wide-ranging knowledge of gaming trends
Professional Experience.
supersmash

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

I served as a system debug tester for the 5th and final downloadable character, Byleth, from the Fighters Pass Vol. 1. My primary responsibilities included identifying and troubleshooting issues related to Byleth and their stage. Additionally, I took on the critical task of performing system checks for each new build we received, ensuring system stability and verifying that all characters behaved as expected.

zelda

Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

A remake of the original gameboy game, released on the Nintendo Switch. I worked as a system debug tester, looking for any kind of issue that could hinder gameplay or cause the system to crash.

fireemblem

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

The first entry of the Fire Emblem series on the Nintendo Switch. I was a game tester that specialized in text check. This included searching for spelling and grammatical errors, as well as context and story inconsistencies.

Rift Heroes

Rift Heroes

Rift Heroes is a fighting game that was released on the Fireshark Theater version 2. I was in charge of finalizing the all the characters, their movesets, and balancing. Once the game was near release, I set up play test sessions, gathered data and made any changes that were needed.

wrecked3d

Wreck3d

This is second game to be released on the Fireshark Theater. This is a racing game that allowed the players to race on the floor and walls and had multiple game modes. I selected all the vehicles and tuned their stats. I assisted in finalizing the different game modes and stages.

mech mayhem

Mech Mayhem

The flagship game that was released on the Fireshark Theater. This is a battle arena game that included 7 different mechs with 3 different game styles. I helped in balancing the mechs and overall quality assurance of the game.

Forza Motorsport

Forza Motorsport

The newest entry in the Forza motorsport series. I was in charge of validating new features before they were implemented in-game. This included creating and running test cases, logging bugs and giving my overall end user experience of the new feature.

Experience.
Start

Bachelor of Science in Game Design

Graduated from Full Sail University, Winter Park, FL as Salutatorian and with a 3.9 GPA.

Primary Designer @ Fireshark Labs

  • Shipped titles:
    • “Rift Heroes”
    • “Wreck3d”
    • “Mech Mayhem”

Game Debug Tester @ Nintendo of America

  • Shipped titles:
    • “Super Smash Bros. Unlimited”, 5th DLC
    • “Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening”
    • “Fire Emblem: Three Houses”

Game Tester @ Microsoft

  • Hardware:
    • Xbox Series X
    • Xbox Series S

Software Test Engineer @ Turn 10 Studios

  • Shipped titles:
    • “Forza Motorsport”
Some of my work.
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More Projects.
BOB GO HOME
Falling for Putin
Note Shredder
ShooterX
Escape the

Rock

Uprising
Contact Me.
Contact Me.
Interested in collaborating or have questions on what I've done? Send me an email and I'd be happy to connect.
MADE WITH ❤️ BY TEAMLUMPIA