NIYAZ BADAR / PORTFOLIO
Niyaz Badar
TECHNICAL GAME DESIGNER
Hello
Passionate and pragmatic technical game designer. I'm eager to immerse myself in the industry and showcase my knowledge of game design principles. With a foundational skill set and experience in level design, environment design, and gameplay design, as well as a strong technical backbone from my educational background in computer science engineering, I'm looking for an opportunity to contribute to the magical process of game development by designing and developing tools for my fellow game designers and artists to help make their workflow simpler and faster.
PERSONAL PROJECTS
Table Top Rally is an arcade driving sandbox showcasing my technical capabilities of designing and refining complex systems into a simple and intuitive player experience. The project’s technical design excellence was recognised by industry professionals who visited the event as judges, and I was awarded second place in the Master’s Game Design category at GradEx 2026
Project Sift is a case study of Unreal Engine's level design toolkit. It showcases the design and creation of thematically fitting assets. The colour palette is crafted to work with any lighting direction and hue, depending on the time of day, whether it be silvery moonlight or a golden sunrise. It presents a highly optimised product with complex lighting and advanced custom post-process shaders specially designed and programmed in HLSL.
Ride n' Chill, a top-down casual driving game, prioritises intuitive player experience within its cartoonish 3D city. The city's design emphasises clear navigation through distinct landmarks and intuitive road layouts, minimising the need for tutorials. Core mechanics are designed to be inherently understandable through visual cues and simple controls, fostering a learn-by-playing approach. This focus on clear visual communication and thoughtful spatial design aims to create an immediately accessible and engaging experience for a casual audience.
LifeQuest: A Lifestyle Gamification App To Enhance Personal Productivity
LifeQuest, my final-year student project, introduces gamification to task management, transforming mundane activities into an engaging RPG experience. By completing real-life tasks, users are rewarded with in-game currency to purchase and upgrade equipment, experience points to level up their characters, and keys to unlock further story chapters. This interconnected system motivates users to stay productive and experience a sense of accomplishment as they progress both in the game and in their daily lives.
WORK PROJECTS
Nayak
As a part of a development team at Nomadicriti, I utilised my expertise in level design and environment art to guide the team through game development challenges. Leveraging my expertise in Unreal Engine 5, I optimised levels to feature exceptionally dense scenes with minimal performance impact. Through this experience, I honed my collaboration, communication, QA, and team management skills. My design capabilities were improved by learning from industry veterans and forming a strong bond with the team.
Skate Nation XL
As an Environment Artist Intern at MBS Studios for SkateNationXL, I leveraged my creative intuition to design and decorate real-life inspired locations, and implemented specific game elements in these levels, such as skate ramps and rails, which were necessary for our arcade skating game. I maintained robust communication with my team of developers to make sure the levels I designed and produced suited our game mechanics.