Mars Balisacan

Instructional Assistant at Centre for Digital Media
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Contact Information
us****@****om
(386) 825-5501
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, CA

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5.0

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Stanly Jeong

Mars and I worked at The Centre for Digital Media during our venture project. He is a seasoned Unity developer and took charge of all the technical aspects of our project. A few words that portray his character are positive, proactive, hardworking, and intelligent. Additionally, he takes a project management role when needed and drives all the development schedules smoother. It was an honor to have worked with him.

Jisoo Shin

Mars and I were on the same team for a project with the French Consulate at the Centre for Digital Media. Mars is always fully present, checking in to make sure everyone is doing ok and reaching for extra wins. When I was trying out project management for the first time and struggling, he was extremely generous to share tips and advice that he learned over the years. As a Unity expert he also graced us with his knowledge for those who weren't familiar with the program and really brought our project up to speed. We were truly lucky to have someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Mars. Plus he knows how to have fun as a board game connoisseur :) I highly recommend Mars as a wonderful developer, producer, and teammate!

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Credentials

  • UI/UX for Gaming
    ELVTR
    Aug, 2022
    - Oct, 2024
  • The Inclusive Speaker Orientation
    The Linux Foundation
    Jun, 2021
    - Oct, 2024
  • Story and Narrative Development for Video Games
    Coursera
    Aug, 2016
    - Oct, 2024
  • Introduction to Game Design
    Coursera
    Jul, 2016
    - Oct, 2024

Experience

    • Canada
    • Higher Education
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Instructional Assistant
      • Sep 2022 - Present

      ★ Instructional Assistant for Foundations of Game Design: • Contributed in the management and organization of class documents, announcements, and reference materials for the course • Helped monitor and moderate classroom activities • Assisted in coaching and running Unity workshops for student-led projects and digital prototypes

    • Game Programmer / Design Generalist
      • Sep 2021 - Aug 2022

      ★ Provided systems design and technical direction on several projects, to support programmers with design tools using Unity engine.★ Responsible for project version control, release planning, and build management, for deployment platforms including WebGL, Windows, Mac, and VR.★ Supported and collaborated with other managers and producers for Scrum, Sprint planning, retrospectives, and asset management using Notion, ClickUp, and Miro.

    • United States
    • Computer Games
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Director Of Development
      • Mar 2022 - Present

      ★ Providing mentoring and performance metrics while identifying resourcing needs, challenges, and developmental opportunities to ensure that team managers reach their full potential.★ Fostering an engaging, fulfilling, and fun work culture to lead a high performing team with a strong culture of trust and collaboration. ★ Providing mentoring and performance metrics while identifying resourcing needs, challenges, and developmental opportunities to ensure that team managers reach their full potential.★ Fostering an engaging, fulfilling, and fun work culture to lead a high performing team with a strong culture of trust and collaboration.

    • Producer
      • Oct 2017 - Aug 2021

      ★ Managing, leading, recruiting, and supporting a senior cross-discipline development team in the production of the studio’s IP projects.★ Working, collaborating, and communicating with executive director and discipline leads for business strategy, resource planning, marketing, and studio management. ★ Managing, leading, recruiting, and supporting a senior cross-discipline development team in the production of the studio’s IP projects.★ Working, collaborating, and communicating with executive director and discipline leads for business strategy, resource planning, marketing, and studio management.

    • Real Estate
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Independent Game Developer
      • Mar 2002 - Aug 2019

      I can be a versatile designer and developer, having contributed to more than 40 games as a systems designer, story writer, C# programmer, or audio engineer. I can be a versatile designer and developer, having contributed to more than 40 games as a systems designer, story writer, C# programmer, or audio engineer.

    • United States
    • Retail Office Equipment
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Director for Games and Apps
      • Nov 2016 - Oct 2017

      ★ Redeveloped the design and production process which reduced the time spent for project reviews and concept pitching from 2 months to 1 week.★ Directed a proper pre-production workflow for design and development teams that saved the company 50% of the time spent on reworking projects.★ Directed the creation of 8 document templates, which handled the automation of updates to graphical data, charts, and maps of huge data sets to streamline the design and production process.★ Managed and mentored 6 design team members and 4 producers on design and production processes, methodologies, and mindset by giving direct feedback and conducting training programs.★ Pitched and aligned more than 30 project concepts and requirements to organization management and business stakeholders.★ Created project reports, financial records, and studio-wide operational data, for more than 10 projects and aligned requirements to organization management and business stakeholders.★ Directed production and growth of a 26-man development team, consisting of various disciplines and roles.★ Proposed and implemented key strategies for the growth of the development team’s knowledge in Unreal, the VR rendering pipeline, and interdisciplinary skills.

    • Philippines
    • Animation and Post-production
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Lead Game Engineer
      • Aug 2014 - Nov 2016

      ★ Directed the design and production of the company’s 1st IP on Steam, covering the designs for story, combat systems, animation systems, environment, missions and objectives. The game was Greenlit on Steam in under 12 days, got accepted to Square-Enix Collective, and earned 3000 Likes on its Facebook page while following a $0 budget marketing plan. The game was also accepted in the Indie Prize Arena of Casual Connect 2017 in Singapore.★ Directed the pre-production process with 3 character concept artists, 2 environment concept artists, 1 video editor, and 1 3D character modeler, as they worked simultaneously from remote locations in different timezones.★ Lead a development team in the design and development of VR, and games made in Unreal, which led to the acceptance of the company’s products as a finalist to the Indie Prize Arena at Casual Connect 2015 in Singapore.★ Single-handedly revised the level design of a VR horror game in the span of 2 weeks, to make the VR experience publicly playable at an event which landed a business partnership deal with an arcade operator.★ Trained a 15-man team on mobile game design and development using Unity which led to the company’s first 3 monetizable 3D mobile games.

    • Computer Games
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Game Director
      • Mar 2013 - Sep 2015

      ★ Designed and produced free to play mobile games that were sold to a mobile publisher for more than its production cost, allowing the company to profit from its first 2 products.★ Made executive decisions for the design and development of 5 mobile free to play games, while managing the operations for production of a small development team of 5 people.★ Co-designed an action adventure MMO, handling character movement systems, and general combat design, as part of the company’s design and development services.

    • Lead Game Designer
      • Apr 2012 - Mar 2013

      Lead and managed development team through development operations.Collaborated with remote team for development resources.Directly involved in executive decisions, design, and art direction. Lead and managed development team through development operations.Collaborated with remote team for development resources.Directly involved in executive decisions, design, and art direction.

    • E-Learning Providers
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Game Development Team Manager
      • Oct 2010 - Mar 2012

      Led, trained, and managed development team over several Unity projects.Responsible for project and resource management, research, and software architectural decisions. Led, trained, and managed development team over several Unity projects.Responsible for project and resource management, research, and software architectural decisions.

    • Game Producer
      • Feb 2010 - Oct 2010

      Led in production, design, and development for games targeted for iPad, PSP, and Facebook.Responsible for keeping development within schedule. Led in production, design, and development for games targeted for iPad, PSP, and Facebook.Responsible for keeping development within schedule.

    • Computer Games
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Unity3D Game Developer
      • Feb 2008 - Jan 2010

      Designed and developed online games using Shockwave and Unity.Applied project management and research for 3D on 1st gen iPhoneHad a key role in company’s knowledge sharing as a trainer and lecturer on 3D games. Designed and developed online games using Shockwave and Unity.Applied project management and research for 3D on 1st gen iPhoneHad a key role in company’s knowledge sharing as a trainer and lecturer on 3D games.

    • Director for Multimedia Development
      • May 2007 - Feb 2008

    • Philippines
    • Information Technology & Services
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Multimedia Developer
      • Mar 2004 - Feb 2007

    • Software Engineer
      • Jun 2002 - Feb 2004

Education

  • Centre for Digital Media
    Master's degree, Digital Media
    2021 -
  • Ateneo de Manila University
    Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science
    1998 - 2002

Community

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