Hi! My name is Joshua Oeltjendiers and I make games.
I have always been passionate about games and fascinated by the possibility of telling stories and creating emotional experiences through interactive media.
Below you can find my portfolio highlighting some my game development work.
I'm currently studying Game Design in the 6th semester @ DE:HIVE at HTW Berlin. During my studies, I learned the basics of game design and specialized in several areas, including game system design, level design, and narrative design. Furthermore, I explored sound design, QA testing and tech art. I’m always interested in creating innovative and entertaining game experiences that push the boundaries of the medium.
An important aspect of my creative process is putting players at the center of everything I do. I strive to understand their needs and desires in order to create games that engage and excite them. Through careful analysis of gameplay mechanics, storytelling elements, and aesthetics, I am able to create unique and immersive game experiences.
I have worked on a variety of projects, including prototyping both digital and analogue games, creating digital environments & interactive levels, vertical slices and collaborating on interdisciplinary teams on various game projects of different size. These experiences have helped me improve my technical knowledge and collaboration skills. I am dedicated, willing to learn, and always ready to take on new challenges to develop my skills and live out my passion for game design.
Aside from my studies, I enjoy spending time playing video games (duh), reading books, going to the gym and watching entertainment media related content such as reasonable lenghty video essays. These activities keep me inspired and allow me to keep up with the latest trends and developments in the gaming- and entertainment-industry.
I'm open to new opportunities and always look forward to working with talented people, whether on indie projects or AAA titles in the games industry.
If you are interested in my work & want to get in touch, don't hesitate to contact me! =)
I’m experienced in:
Game System Design
Level Design
Narrative Design
Sound Design
Tech-Art
Organization and Project management
QA Testing
Usability Design and Testing
C# & UE Blueprints programming
I’ve worked with:
Unity Game Engine
Unreal Engine
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premiere Pro
Maya 3D
Blender
Substance Painter
FMOD
REAPER
Logic Pro
Hammer Editor
I’m able to communicate in:
German (C2)
English (B2)
My Projects
In order of appearance (newest to oldest)
CHRONOS RECALL
CHRONOS RECALL was the second, three-week gamejam project I actively worked on. Unlike our first gamejam project under pressure, this gamejam was much more do-able, as we as a group now had a better understanding of time management and scope and were able to adapt our workflow to the challenges accordingly.
Chronos Recall is a 3D shooter experience that invites the player to fight through hordes of mutants. With the help of the time-effect revolver, the player can retrieve bullets that have already been shot, to use them again against new enemies. Upgrades and Power-ups also allow the player to better traverse the dark tunnels of the underground bunker.
FEATURES
6 bullets in the chamber: you have 6 bullets in the chamber, and you can only reload when your chamber is empty! Accordingly, the resource ammo must once again be used wisely. You can either run across the bullets or use your special ability.
With great power comes great responsibility: players have the possibility to recall their bullets. Like a boomerang, the bullets fly from their position back to the player and immediately reload the weapon! On their way back, the bullets act as normal projectiles and cause damage to anything in their path. In addition, players can slow down time to fire more accurately at enemies.
A steadily increasing challenge: with each wave the level of difficulty increases for the players. The enemies become more and more numerous and demand not only precision but also a foresighted understanding of the level architecture from the players.
Level up: each enemy killed gives players experience points. With enough points, the players level up and can choose one of three so-called wildcards, which either improve the player's stats, offer a short-term invulnerability or even the possibility to spot enemies through walls.
DETAILS
Genre: First Person Shooter
Engine: Unreal Engine
Platform: Windows PC
Controls: Mouse + Keyboard
Developer: Student project at HTW Berlin
Team Size: 4
Development time: 3 weeks
CHRONOS RECALL was created by:
Dominik Mauterer, Jeremiah Freund, Fil Borgmann & Joshua Oeltjendiers
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Animations: a special challenge was to create appealing animations for our "unique selling point" - the magic revolver - as this is the main focus and should be a lot of fun to look at. For this endeavor, I agreed to look into the topic of "3D animations", as no one in our group had worked in this field before. The first few days were very tiring and frustrating, as this subject area is more complex than anticipated. With a lot of hard work and tears it was finally possible to establish a certain workflow and to create various animations for the player. The weapon and the 3D hands were rigged and then brought into certain poses with the help of keyframes. Then these poses were exported as animations and brought into Unreal. These animations were further put into the game with the help of animation blueprints and animation montages. Later sounds and particle effects were added to the animations for final touches.
Programming: once again, together with my dear fellow students I worked with Unreal Engine's powerful Blueprint System and realized various game mechanics.
Sound Design: the sound design in our game is instrumental in immersing players in a compelling game world. The atmospheric soundscape we create puts players in an immersive environment. The use of freesound libraries to create the epic soundtrack demonstrates our talent and ability to skillfully combine and customize high-quality sounds from various sources. The orchestral accompaniment enhances the emotions of the game and captures the attention of the players. From triumphant fanfares to mysterious and somber melodies, the soundtrack is perfectly suited to each game scene, immersing players even deeper into the world of our game.
Game System Design: I was mainly responsible for the idea with the "six bullets in the chamber". This idea was then developed in cooperation with my team and further developed into an exciting game loop, which gains in complexity and difficulty as the number of opponents increases.
Tech-Art: since we only had three weeks, we helped ourselves with freely available Particle Effect Packs, which are offered on the Epic Games Store Marketplace, among other places. Among them was a package from the game series "Infinity Blade". With these assets we processed some VFX effects and adapted them to our needs.
Level Design: I supported the level design with my notes and sketches. In the design of the level, it was important that the player is able to orientate himself in the level using clear landmarks. Since the level is somewhat built as a circle, the player can always put space between himself and the enemies, without often ending up at dead ends. A second floor was not implemented due to a lack of time, which would have allowed for more vertical movement.
LINKS
MEDIEVAL MEMENTOS
MEDIEVAL MEMENTOS was a challenging but rewarding project. Not only was it the first game I created from start to finish in the Unreal Engine, but it was also made as part of a three-week game jam. Accordingly, my group and I had to consider and apply a particularly effective way of working.
Medieval Mementos is a 3D narrative game that invites players to embark on a journey through our main protagonist perspective, as he recalls fragments of his life in his hometown village. Since our goal was to develop a game featuring environmental storytelling, we agreed to focus primarily on narration and visuals. That also went well with our time budget of three weeks, since we could prioritize our main focus points. Eventually, we decided to make it a narrative walking simulator with small puzzle elements.
FEATURES
Relive waning memories, wandering through memories: Medieval Mementos is a first person narrative focused game experience set in a fictional medieval village in the 15th century. In it, the player relives certain moments in the life of the protagonist Johan, from his earliest memory to his inevitable death as a grown man.
An authentic story, fully dubbed: the story unfolds via dialogues he remembers and the inner monologue of Johan that slowly evolves from a disconnected narration of his memories to active comments on the aspects of his life, as the timeline creeps upon his last moments.
Not so romanticized: an important narrative aspect we tried to achieve was to deliver a critical examination of the romanticized middle ages. Thus, our narrative emphazises the harsh and cruel living conditions that peasants endured, without going so far as to deliver a purely cynical image of the times.
Classic puzzle gameplay: the gameplay consists of a given path on which story events trigger one after another and small hub areas in which the player has to find and slot in a missing item that is indicated by an outline of where the item is supposed to be.
DETAILS
Genre: Walking simulator adventure game focused on narrative
Engine: Unreal Engine
Platform: Windows PC
Controls: Mouse + Keyboard
Developer: Student project at HTW Berlin
Team Size: 5
Development time: 3 weeks
MEDIEVAL MEMENTOS was created by:
Darius Bergmann, Lotti Nowak, Jeremiah Freund, Fil Borgmann & Joshua Oeltjendiers
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Tech-Art: I worked mostly on shaders and VFX effects in this project. For this I was privileged to work with Unreal Engine's Niagara visual effects system for the first time.
Programming: together with my dear fellow students I worked with Unreal Engine's Blueprint System and realized various game mechanics.
Sound Design: Except for the menu, there is no music in the game, to create a more authentic experience. All ambient sounds were created and mixed using sound libraries and custom sound recordings. All dialogs in the game were recorded in the sound studio. The recording sessions were coordinated and managed by me and my group. I myself also did some voice acting!
Narrative Design: I was responsible for an early draft of our story for the game. This was very positively received by my group and further elaborated. Thereupon, dialogs and ingame scenarios were developed and described by me and my group.
LINKS
SUBWAY STATION SCHILLINGSTRAßE
The task for the submission in the subject “3D technology” was to create a modular 3D construction system on the topic of " train station". With this I should then create an interactive scene using the Unreal Engine, which should consist of at least 12 combinations of and/or individual different 3D models with textures.
The subway station Schillingstraße in Berlin was the optimal solution for me, as it was both aesthetically pleasing and relatively simple in terms of its basic forms, which made it feasible for me and my level of knowledge at that time. Also, the station has a group of various wooden figures. These should represent a conscious challenge for me, beside the subway station.
WORKFLOW
Research: for the research material, I decided to visit the subway station Schillingstraße several times and took a total of over 300 photos. I made sure to use my hand as well as my foot (or shoe size) as a measure and comparison for the proportions in order to be able to work better later in Maya 3D. Furthermore, I made several "walkthroughs" for the research, i.e. videos from the "first person perspective", in which I walked up and down the station.
From Blockout .. : I started the blockout for the individual "building blocks" of the subway station with very simple shapes, which increased in complexity as I progressed. So I promptly began to provide the blockout with the tile pattern, so that the same later - when the "building blocks" are plugged together - further flow into each other. The same principle I have subsequently adopted for the tracks, so that they lie on the individual "building blocks", but plugged together without any problems. The ceiling lamps also work according to the same principle.
.. to Unreal Engine: I was able to realize the blockout from Maya 3D as different blueprint actors in the Unreal Engine within a few days using the described work process. I was then able to use these Blueprint Actors as a 3D modular system in the scene to finalize the basic layout of the subway station. I deliberately left out the ceiling and the associated elements (such as ceiling struts, lamps, ..) in order to be able to move freely in the scene. I would then "finally" put the ceiling and its associated elements like a "lid" on top of my subway station.
Asset production: the production of each asset was the work that took me the longest. Also, the work was always held up because both Substance Painter and Unreal Engine were both programs for me that I was still learning at the time. Though, this circumstance was also a nice learning experience, because I was repeatedly confronted with problems like emissions, for example, which I then had to solve. In this way, I shimmied from one challenge to the next. I especially enjoyed the detailed texturing of the objects.
Scene building: after I had assembled my subway station using the modular system and the asset production was finished, I started to fill the scene in Unreal Engine and to place the assets according to the research material. However, I also left myself a certain amount of artistic freedom, i.e. if I felt that an asset looked better in a different place, I acted accordingly. Since the emission of the lamps was not sufficient to illuminate the station enough, additional lightsources - in this case point lights - had to be placed.
DETAILS
Genre / Type: 3D Environment
Engine: Unreal Engine
Additional programs used: Maya 3D, Substance Painter, Blender, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro
Platform: Windows PC
Developer: solo
Team Size: 1
Development time: approx. 6 weeks
SUBWAY STATION SCHILLINGSTRAßE was created by:
Joshua Oeltjendiers & a very serious amount of coffee
LINKS
AIRCROBAT
3D twinstick flying action (very thrilling, very fast)
AIRCROBAT wasn’t only the first 3D game I made as a team effort, it was also the first game in which I tried my hand at an exciting, innovative new control mechanic (pun intended). The result was a challenging arcade "flying racer", which is easy to learn but hard to master.
In AIRCROBAT, you'll take control of a flying machine and navigate through an atmospheric world, earning points by performing risky maneuver, such as flying close to obstacles and challenge yourself in various races. With intuitive controls, you'll feel the rush of speed and the thrill of danger as you soar through the air. With every successful maneuver, you'll feel the satisfaction of being the ultimate aerial ace. Join AIRCROBAT and experience the thrill of flight like never before!
FEATURES
Innovative control concept: unlike in comparable titles, in our game the players actually control the wings of the mechanical flying machine. Each controller stick functions as a wing, i.e. the left stick moves the left wing and vice versa. In combination, this results in a varied control system that allows particularly fast and tricky maneuvers, but also requires some practice.
A vast open world: players have the opportunity to explore the vast open world, earning points both in the vertical and in narrow cave systems.
Challenging races: in AIRCROBAT there are 11 challenges in which the players compete against the environment and the clock.
Highscore system: every maneuver, every race won and various elements in the world provide points. Enthusiastic players can immortalize themselves in our highscore list afterwards.
DETAILS
Genre: Arcade Open World Racer
Engine: Unity Game Engine
Platform: Windows PC
Controls: Controller
Developer: Student project at HTW Berlin
Team Size: 5
Development time: approx. 20 weeks
AIRCROBAT was created by:
Leonie Straßer, Lotti Nowak, Jeremiah Freund, Deborah Mayer, Joshua Oeltjendiers & “Mango” (our office-dog)
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Game System Design: together with my team, I developed a game loop, which should entice the players to not want to put the game down. Once the players are in the air, they should want to stay there as long as possible. For this, I designed a recompense point system that rewards players with risky maneuvers.
Level Design: I was partially responsible for the level design of the open world as well as the design of various races, our obstacle courses. Unlike in comparable titles, the latter were not intended to be a straightforward route, but rather to tempt players to find their own way, to find the perfect route, so to speak, and thus to keep the races exciting even with multiple attempts. Accordingly, many paths lead to the goal, which is also reflected in the level and race designs.
Sound Design: I particularly wanted to devote increased attention to the sound design in this project. For this I not only spent a lot of time in the recording studio, but was also able to get to know and love industry-typical programs and tools like FMOD and REAPER for the first time. All sounds and background music were mixed using Freesound libraries.
QA Testing / Balancing: in this project, too, I had a lively exchange with a large number of playtesters. I organized and coordinated various playtests of different prototypes of our project. This was especially important to achieve a perfect balancing for our rather complex controls and to reach a middle ground for a wide range of skill levels to reach most of players.
LINKS
STAY
2D Sidecroller ghosthunting / hotelmanagement game (very spooky)
STAY was the first digital game I’ve ever made with a great team of 3 talented fellow students in a time frame of 1 semester.
In a gloomy hotel, the player takes on the role of the manager of a "haunted hotel" and have the task of taking care of the guests and guaranteeing their safety. The player have to prevent the haunting ghosts from meeting the wandering guests, scaring them to death, as frightened guests will ruin your reputation and thus your business. The player have to take care of guests, assign them to their rooms and make sure that they are satisfied. The happier a guest leaves your hotel, the better it is for your reputation and your finances. But while you're keeping the hotel running, you have to make sure that the pesky ghosts that haunt your hotel don't mess with your daily business ..
STAY participated in the "Deutscher Multimediapreis 2022".
FEATURES
Room assignment: you can assign free rooms to new guests so that they can stay there for a certain period of time. Different rooms have different prices. In general, more dangerous rooms generate higher sales.
Hunting ghosts: you have to walk around the hotel and catch ghosts before they can encounter guests. In this way you makes sure that it is no longer possible for the ghosts to roam around.
Locking ghosts up: you have to lock up ghosts so that they can't wander around for a certain amount of time. But no ghost stays in a prison forever. You’ll have to roam the hotel again and again to catch escaped ghosts.
Avoiding bad press (by any means necessary): guests who are frightened by ghosts flee the hotel. This damages the reputation of your hotel! You can stop escaping guests by, well, killing them. But be careful! The souls of the murdered guests will fly around the hotel and eventually turn into a new ghost if you don’t destroy them in time.
DETAILS
Genre: Action-Hotelmanager
Engine: Unity Game Engine
Platform: Windows PC
Controls: Controller
Developer: Student project at HTW Berlin
Team Size: 4
Development time: approx. 16 weeks
STAY was created by:
Fil Borgmann, Leonie Straßer, Serafina Sontag & Joshua Oeltjendiers
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Game System Design: working closely with my fellow students, I was primarily responsible for the game system. Accordingly, I took care of the game loop and the triangular relationship between player, guest and ghost.
Co-Programing: to support our main programmer, I developed certain features in C#.
Tech-Art: furthermore I was able to deal with the particle system of Unity for the first time and created various effects for the final game, respectively collaborated with my fellow students on other VFX.
Level Design: I was able to provide good support to the main artists of the project in the placement of assets and (greybox) spaces. At the same time, I was instrumental in the layout of the horror hotel, as well as the strategic and gameplay relevant placement of ghost prisons and stairs to change floors.
Sound Design: I recorded loud moaning noises (to mimic some ghosts, of course) in the sound studio myself and accompanied the same recordings as a director. I was also able to show myself responsible in the general sound design of the project to support the eerie atmosphere with the correct soundscape.
QA Testing / Balancing: in the project I led and coordinated various playtests, created surveys and interviewed testers. Afterwards, the notes, experiences and impressions were evaluated by the team and myself, and appropriate changes were implemented.
LINKS
Game download (via itch.io) | Making of (PDF) [soon]
GET IN TOUCH
Whether you have a job offer for me, would like to request information or give feedback - the contact form is the ideal way to get in touch with me. Simply fill out the required fields, click "Send" and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
I look forward to hearing from you.