Andrei-Laurentiu Datcu
Game / Level Designer
Hello! Thank you for checking out my portfolio. I've been working in the games industry for 6 and a half years, the first 3 as a QA Tester and the latter 3 and a half as a Level Designer.
Professional Projects
Angry Birds Friends
While working at Amber Studio, I have delivered more than 500 levels for Angry Birds Friends over 3 years. Here is a small sample:
Responsibilities:
Working with a team to consistently deliver levels that meet performance, player retention, and enjoyment requirements.
Making levels feel fresh and exciting while adhering to guidelines.
Attending daily meetings to provide feedback on levels, sharing updates, and exchanging important information.
Adapting quickly to new features and tools as they are introduced.
Designing levels for special events that incorporate fresh elements and new mechanics.
Attending weekly meetings with the client to review completed work and gain insights for improvement.
Helping train new teammates.
Personal Projects
Ruins of the Old Ones:
A Wizordum custom adventure
1. Overview
Ruins of the Old Ones is a fully playable level for the retro-inspired FPS Wizordum, emphasizing both combat and exploration.
Players venture deep beneath the town of Cresthaven, pursuing a cult that has stolen a powerful and dangerous relic.
The level was featured by the developer on their social media.
Mod.io link here.
Screenshot of the level in the editor:
2. Guiding the player
Navigational aids seamlessly integrated into the level, such as lighting, blood trails, breakable objects, and score items, were used to help guide the players toward points of interest and objectives.
3. Focus on combat
Combat encounters are crafted with thoughtful layout and enemy placement, ensuring they feel dynamic and engaging.
Players must stay on the move to dodge incoming projectiles, all while unleashing firepower from a carefully curated arsenal of weapons.
4. Focus on exploration
As is typical for the genre, the level is filled with secret areas containing extra ammo, armor, health, and score bonuses.
To uncover these hidden spots, players must look for subtle clues like handprints, wall cracks, irregular wall patterns, or unusual floor tiles.
5. Balance
The level is playable across all four difficulties, with harder and more numerous enemies as difficulty rises.
Rewards are balanced to encourage exploration.
Combat and exploration are thoughtfully designed for smooth, engaging pacing.
6. Circular Design
Drawing inspiration from Dark Souls, I designed many areas in a circular layout, allowing players to revisit key locations with minimal backtracking.
Boss Design: Moldara, the Fungal Sage
The boss was designed for a top-down/isometric RPG with an action combat system, similar to Path of Exile 2 or No Rest for the Wicked.With its well-telegraphed abilities, the boss is designed to test the player’s positioning and dodging skills.His signature mechanic consists of releasing Spores that poison the player, dealing additional damage over time. Spores disappear after a short duration.
The Boss Arena is a clearing inside a dark forest, with thick trees and shrubbery around the edges. The floor consists of dark moss, dirt, and tree roots, designed to make the boss's abilities more visible by contrast.
Abilities:
Basic Attack – The boss strikes with his right hand, inflicting physical damage.
Mushroom Patch – Spore-releasing mushrooms grow inside the arena, damaging and slowing players who step on them.
Spore Cloud (Close Range) – The boss channels by raising his cap, then slams it down, releasing a big spore cloud that deals damage over time.
Spore Bomb (Ranged) - The boss detaches a spore bomb from his left arm and throws it at the player’s location, creating a small spore cloud on impact.
Mycelium Prison – The boss slams his leg, sending forth a trail of mycelia that damages and roots the player in place.
Reinforcements – The boss summons small mushroom monsters. If they come into contact with spores, their attacks gain the ability to poison the player.
Spiral Growth – The boss slams his left hand into the ground, sending forth a growing spiral of mushrooms, gradually releasing spores before disappearing.
Photo references:
*the boss drawings were created by my wife
About
Hello! My name is Andrei. I'm a passionate Game / Level Designer based in Bucharest, Romania. My journey in the games industry began in 2018. I spent the first 3 years working as a QA Tester. In time, I was presented with the opportunity to transition into Level Design—a role I had always aspired to.Outside of making and playing games, I like to restore and repair game consoles, which I also collect. I love reading fantasy novels—some of my favorite series are: "The Wheel of Time", "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" and "The Stormlight Archive".Other interests: traveling, storytelling, writing, gemmology, archeology, history.My favorite video games are Path of Exile, Dragon Age: Origins, Skyrim, Witcher 3, Sacred, Terraria, Civilization 5, and Uncharted 2.