Hi, I'm Nabeeha Ali
I’m a Technical Game Designer focused on crafting intuitive and enjoyable mechanics that enhance the player experience.
📍Ontario, Canada
Software Experience
Unity
Unreal Engine
Git
Machinations
Maya
Adobe Creative Suite
Figma
What I can do...
Asset Optimization
Tool Development
Game Economies
Rapid Prototyping
Experience & Projects
Mechanic Viewer - Tool to Visualize Definitions of "Game Mechanics"
As a Research Assistant in the Reasoning for Interactive Systems and Experiences (RISE) Group, my research focuses on creating tools and processes to enhance the visualization and understanding of game mechanics for designers and researchers.
I developed an innovative tool to visualize game mechanics, coupled with a dynamic onboarding experience to ensure ease of use. To streamline the workflow for creating the onboarding process, I designed a Unity UI prefab system that empowers designers to define each step's content efficiently.
Key features of the system include:
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Dynamic Sizing: The UI pop-ups automatically adjust their size based on the text required for each step, ensuring clear and consistent presentation.
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Automated Step Management: A custom script organizes the sequence of onboarding steps based on the hierarchy of prefabs, simplifying setup and reducing manual errors.
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Intuitive Navigation: "Next" and "Back" buttons are pre-configured to seamlessly navigate between steps, enhancing the user experience.
This project not only supports game designers in visualizing mechanics effectively but also optimizes the onboarding workflow, saving time and ensuring usability.
3D Garden Model - Procedural Modelling for Asset Creation
I developed a procedural 3D garden generation tool using Maya and MEL Python, designed to empower designers with a customizable and efficient workflow for environment creation. The tool features an intuitive GUI that allows users to adjust parameters such as garden length, width, inclusion of flowers, and fencing.
Key technical highlights include:
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Parametric Design: Each ground component was procedurally modelled and distributed randomly within the user-defined dimensions, ensuring a natural and varied layout.
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L-System Integration: Vines for the gazebo were generated using an L-system algorithm, producing organic and diverse lengths to enhance visual complexity.
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Streamlined Workflow: The GUI interface was tailored to simplify designer interaction, allowing rapid iteration without the need for manual adjustments.
This project demonstrates the blend of technical art and procedural generation techniques, showing how algorithm-driven design can streamline environment creation while maintaining artistic flexibility.
Bouncing Ball - In-Editor Unity UI Tool
I developed a customizable bouncing ball simulator in Unity, providing designers with a no-code tool to experiment with and refine the mechanical feel and visual style of a bouncing ball. This project combines manual physics programming and animation customization to create an intuitive and flexible design environment.
Key features include:
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Physics Simulation: The ball's movement was programmed using manual physics in Unity C#, allowing for precise control over velocity and behaviour during collisions.
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Dynamic Animations: The simulator incorporates customizable animations that adjust the ball's appearance upon collision, enhancing feedback and aesthetic flexibility.
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Unity UI Toolkit Integration: Leveraging the Unity UI Toolkit, I created a user-friendly interface enabling designers to modify parameters such as velocity, elasticity, and visual effects, simulating different bouncing behaviours without coding knowledge.
This project highlights the integration of technical art and game mechanics design, showcasing a robust system that allows designers to prototype and refine gameplay elements efficiently.
Capy Island - Local Multiplayer Party Game
As a Co-Founder and Designer of Sawfish Studios, I collaborated with a team of six (three artists and three programmers/designers) to create a local multiplayer party game featuring capybara in Unity. My contributions focused on creating visually engaging effects, optimizing shaders, and integrating artistic and mechanical elements to enhance the overall player experience.
Key contributions include:
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Visual Effects for Abilities: Designed and implemented particle effects to visually represent special abilities, such as fog effects to obscure items, dynamic fire effects for torches, and splashes for water-based interactions. These effects provided players with clear, immersive feedback while enhancing gameplay.
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Spline Path Animation Tool: Created a custom Unity tool that allows users to define and manipulate spline-based anchor points to generate smooth, customizable animation paths for sprites. This tool streamlined the animation workflow by enabling intuitive path editing directly in the editor, making it easier for designers to implement unique and complex animations without additional coding.
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Gameplay-Integrated Art: Collaborated closely with designers and programmers to align VFX with core mechanics, such as ability-based advantages and high-stakes final showdowns, ensuring that visual and gameplay elements were seamlessly integrated.
These technical art contributions complemented other gameplay systems I implemented, including controller haptics, combat mechanics, score progression, and player animations. Together, these efforts resulted in a polished, visually rich party game that balanced fairness, fun, and replayability.
Akwesasne Mohawk Canoe Journey - VR Game and Experience
I contributed to the development of a virtual reality canoe adventure that takes players on a time-traveling journey through pre-contact, post-contact, and present-day environments. The experience was created in collaboration with Indigenous Algonquin College students to amplify Indigenous representation in modern media and is accessible on both the Web and Oculus Quest 2.
Key contributions include:
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Player Inventory System: Designed and implemented an interactive system to track collected artifacts, allowing players to engage deeply with the narrative and cultural elements of the experience.
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Asset Optimization: Utilized Level of Detail (LOD) techniques in A-Frame to optimize 3D assets, ensuring smooth performance across platforms while maintaining visual quality.
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Data Management for Collectibles: Structured and managed data for artifact collection, enabling seamless integration of multilingual artifact naming in English and Mohawk to foster cultural appreciation.
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Immersive Spatial Audio: Programmed spatial audio effects to enhance the sense of presence in the richly detailed environments, creating a more engaging player experience.
Developed using HTML, CSS, Node.js, WebXR, A-Frame, and Maya, this project exemplifies the blend of technical expertise and cultural storytelling, delivering an immersive and meaningful VR experience.
