Valentin Capitaine


GAME DESIGNER


I'm Valentin Capitaine

Currently Game Designer (Combat & Navigation) at Ubisoft Montpellier.

Previously, I was Co-Founder, Gameplay Designer and Playtest Coordinator at Fireplace Games, on En Garde! (2023).

Graduated with a Master's Degree in Game Design & Management from Supinfogame Rubika.


Resume - English

I to design games & worlds that provide fun, innovative and memorable experiences for players all around the world.

Taking inspiration from many games & genres, I always try to play recent releases as much as possible to discover new things.

However, my favorite games are Action-RPGs and MMORPGs (especially World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV Online).

Contact Details

Experience

  1. Beyond Good & Evil 2

    • Working within the core team of Montpellier, mainly as a Combat Designer.
    • Designing new game systems for characters, and working on the melee combat system.
    • Implementing combat animations, gameplay markers and hitboxes alongside the Animators.
    • Working closely with the AI Designers on enemy behaviors, attacks, archetypes and bosses.
    • Iterating on the gamefeel through many aspects — animations, hitstop, haptics, VFX, SFX.
    • Writing the technical documentation of all the features and topics I have ownership of.
    • Gameplay tweaking and balancing on a daily basis, directly in the Game Engine.
  2. Calame

    • Production of a new in-house Tactical RPG, based on a fantasy book duology.
    • Designing the 3Cs, the game systems, the combat system and the gameplay elements.
    • Designing playable characters, enemy archetypes and bosses, and their AI behaviors.
    • Implementing units, spells, combat animations, gameplay elements and achievements.
    • Prototyping gameplay maps and working on the overall Level Design processes.
    • Working with the author of the source novels, ensuring the collaboration with the dev team.
    • Managing all the Design Interns throughout production — Game, Level and Narrative.
    • Gameplay tweaking and balancing on a daily basis, directly in the Game Engine.
  3. En Garde!

    • Designing the 3Cs, the game systems, the combat system and the gameplay elements.
    • Designing AI behaviors, archetypes and boss fights, and writing the documentation for the Programmers.
    • Implementing combat animations, gameplay notifies and hitboxes alongside the Animators.
    • Prototyping environmental interactions and testing maps — “zoos” — for all the game features.
    • Designing and implementing game achievements, level challenges and arena mode modifiers.
    • Gameplay tweaking and balancing on a daily basis, directly in the Game Engine.
    • Coordination, supervision and analysis of the playtest sessions at Halle Tropisme, Montpellier.
    • Development of the Fireplace Games and En Garde! websites, as Webmaster.
  4. Beyond Good & Evil 2

    • Working within the core team of Montpellier, as a Junior Game Designer (3C).
    • Designing new game systems for characters, and working on the melee combat system.
    • Implementing combat animations, gameplay markers and hitboxes alongside the Animators.
    • Iterating on the gamefeel through many aspects — animations, hitstop, VFX, SFX.
    • Writing the technical documentation of all the features and topics I have ownership of.
    • Gameplay tweaking and balancing on a daily basis, directly in the Game Engine.
  5. Ghost Recon Breakpoint — Raid 01: Project Titan

    • More than a year of development, from production through to debug and post-launch phases.
    • Working within the team of Montpellier to create a unique Raid — the end-game experience.
    • Designing all the gameplay elements and Level Design ingredients dedicated to the Raid.
    • Prototyping and implementing those gameplay elements alongside Programmers and Artists.
    • Designing and implementing new game modes for the Raid alongside the Programmers.
    • Writing the technical documentation of all the features and topics I have ownership of.
    • Gameplay tweaking and balancing on a daily basis, directly in the Game Engine.
    • Participation in the weekly internal Raid sessions and the official playtest reports.
  6. Ghost Recon Breakpoint

    • Six-month internship as a Junior Game Designer on Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
    • A production involving more than one thousand developers.
  7. En Garde! — graduation project

    • Nine months of development, from pre-production through to polish and debug.
    • Designing the 3Cs, the game systems, the combat system and the gameplay elements.
    • Designing AI behaviors and archetypes, and writing the documentation for the Programmers.
    • Prototyping environmental interactions and an endless combat arena for testing.
    • Gameplay tweaking and balancing on a daily basis, directly in the Game Engine.
    • Coordination, supervision and analysis of the playtest sessions at the GameLab, Serre Numérique.
  8. GreedFall

    • Four-month internship as a Development Tester, working directly inside the Silk Engine.
    • Bug tracking directly from the Silk Engine.
    • Bug reporting and documentation on the MantisBT database.
    • Follow-up, validation and confirmation of bug fixes.
    • Creation of test suites and cases, and a complete Main Story Quest roadmap.
    • Feedback on Game Design, Level Design and Quest Design.

Featured Games & Projects

I've already worked with many designers, programmers and artists, from small indie to AAA sized teams and projects — and I regularly take part in closed playtest sessions to help other studios:

Skills & Expertise

Gameplay Design

I design the moment-to-moment experience: core loop, mechanics and 3Cs. I take a feature end to end — concept, prototype, implementation, then tuning and balancing directly in the Game Engine.

Combat Design

My specialty. Combat systems from the ground up, melee or ranged — player abilities, weapons, enemy encounters. Hitboxes, animation timing, hitstop, haptics — the gamefeel is won frame by frame with the Animators.

Game Systems & AI

Progression, abilities, rewards and difficulty curves — the systems that hold a game together. I design enemy archetypes, boss fights and their AI behaviors alongside the AI Designers and Programmers.

Level Design

Blockouts, gameplay maps and scripting, encounter setup and pacing, with a strong interest in player guidance and environmental storytelling. I adapt quickly to an in-house Game Engine or Level Editor.

Playtesting

I organize, supervise and analyze playtest sessions, on site or remotely. I turn raw sessions into readable reports, and reports into design decisions — that's where a feature stops being a hypothesis.

Documentation

I write the technical documentation Programmers and Animators actually build from, and keep it alive throughout production. Coordinating design across disciplines is what keeps everyone building the same feature.