After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the fall of 2009, I was hired on full time at Volition as a member of the Missions, Activities, and Diversions (MAD) team to work on Saints Row: The Third.

Since I had previously worked on UI systems for Red Faction Armageddon, gameplay was a new world for me. I hit the ground running and began porting over an existing Activity from Saints Row 2 and got it working in the new game. This provided a sound foundation and a great opportunity to learn some of the gameplay systems before the madness of mission development began.

I was tasked with the implementation of five missions which contained the majority of the game's pivotal boss battles. Due to these missions' increased complexity, I learned very quickly the importance of being able to effectively coordinate efforts between all the different disciplines. At any given time, my work might depend on assets or input from animation, art, audio, or design.

During my time on Saints Row: The Third, I also implemented weapons, added additional features to existing QTE, mission, scripting, and other gameplay systems, and was responsible for maintaining the single player critical path. Once work on the main game wrapped up, I shifted over and worked on the Ganstas In Space DLC as a mission scripter and gameplay programmer. The vast majority of this work was done C/C++ and Lua.

Missions that I worked directly on include:

http://deckers.die
Murderbrawl XXXI
Three Way
Ganstas In Space
That's Not In The Script!

Best Mission/Level 2011 - http://deckers.die

"As anyone who has played the game knows, this is the level where you play, at various times, a sentient toilet/sex doll/gun-armed TRON man trudging through a virtual reality world filled with giant murderous avatars, ancient arcade game references, and a straight-up text adventure sequence. Did you get all of that? Good, because even typing all of that was kind of exhausting. http://deckers.die/ is easily the most ludicrously insane mission of a game predicated entirely on the concept of ludicrous insanity. We're not sure how much better we can sum it up than that."

Runners-Up: Gears of War 3 - Cole Train Flashback, Uncharted 3 - Lost In the Sands

"As the Third Street Saints take on the tech-savvy Deckers gang, they find themselves inhabiting hostile virtual space. This Tron-like environment features homages from gaming's early days to contemporary tropes. It being Saints Row, there's also a toilet."

"The http://deckers.die mission in particular is what skyrockets this game above any other. In a single mission you become a toilet, a sex doll, use the Mega Buster, participate in a text adventure, and fight a boss that simulates lag. I truly hope that when future generations talk about the best levels in video games, deckers.die is sitting alongside the classics."

“-the Tron section, for example, has more different types of game in it in than the vast majority of major releases these days. [SR3 has] the genuine swerves you don't expect, from wrestling the world champion to controlling a toilet (no, really)...”

– Ian Dransfield PLAY issue 211

“Volition really manages to break the mold with some of their later missions, notably "http://decker.die", a mission so insanely creative and funny that it single handedly makes the game worth playing. We won’t spoil it, but it takes place inside a computer, so be prepared for anything.”

- Michael Grimm, Games Radar

“We wouldn’t dream of spoiling any missions in their entirety, as they really do take the cake and will have you rubbing your eyeballs in disbelief, but one of the final Deckers missions demands it. The only way to truly take the Deckers out of the picture was to upload your consciousness to their usernet and destroy their leader’s avatar. Stay with us now…”

– Dave Kozicki, Hyper Magazine

"This game could have consisted of nothing more than the "deckers.die" mission and the last mission in the game, and it would still be one of my favorite games of the year."

-Anthony Burch, Gearbox Software - Writer

"If you’re wondering about the core story missions, well, they’re great! …Whether you’re jacked into a Tron like digital world to combat the world's ultimate emo cyber-nerd, or slugging it out with a pro-wrestler in a wrestling ring, there’s always something different which makes each mission so fun, and memorable.”

– Ohm Wrecker, Voodoo Extreme

“An inspiring wrestling boss battle -- complete with ten-count corner punches and affected pain selling -- is priceless”

– Jim Sterling, Destructoid

[Saints Row the Third] specializ[es] in levels that range from TRON-esque cyberspace battles to a straight-up pay-per-view wrestling match that's...well, again, it's better if you discover it for yourself.”

– Alex Navarro, Giant Bomb