Matthew McCord

GAME DESIGN

Video games are the reason I started building computers at a very young age. I was blown away by the fact that some people had the ability to create entire worlds for others to explore. I was inspired by the creative genius of the teams that made games like Doom, Half-Life, and System Shock 2, and I wanted to experience maximum immersion which could only be achieved by building computers with the most advanced hardware available. Nowadays, high performance computers are much more accessible, but I remain fascinated by the creative potential of virtual worlds.

First UE5 Game

Unreal Engine 5 FPS Game

More UE5 Projects

Unreal Engine 5 Projects

Unity Physics Simulator

War Room Public Trailer

HUD UI Design

So many amazing games captured my imagination and inspired creativity

Modding

I created a Half-Life mod news website called Modification Nation and also released my own mod for Counter-Strike called Tactical Assault that greatly improved the graphics and audio experience

I also worked on a Matrix mod for Max Payne that looked like the images below

Scene from 3D Mark 2001

Level Design

I made dozens of creative levels for Half-Life and Counter-Strike using Worldcraft. Before that, I made custom levels in Starcraft and Warcraft.

Old Sketches

I drew many game design sketches like this one in the 90’s and 2000’s. While playing games like Counter-Strike, I imagined features like ADS, weapon progression, attachments, mods, communication systems, tactical commands, gestures, pings, etc. These features did not exist at the time but many of them were explored by various developers and have become standard in AAA titles 10 to 20 years later.

The thing I like about comedians is that they are actually very analytical. To dig down and figure out what’s funny about a particular phrase or story is not so different from isolating what makes a gameplay experience compelling. Both are trying to engage the audience with a sharpened version of reality, and both require an appreciation for humanity’s flaws in order to know where the hook fits best. Humor also has the counter intuitive ability to make serious moments more potent, which is why most of Shakespeare’s tragedies are peppered with comedic interludes. Especially when your materials are limited, humor can acknowledge the lack of grit in a way that ends up drawing the audience further into the fantasy, where the grit can be supplied by their imagination instead.Sid Meier

Great Game Design Books

In my quest to learn the stories of some of the world’s most prolific and influential game designers, I read books about Cliff Bleszinski, Roberta Williams, Sid Meier, Ken Levine, John Romero, and more