Xenus: White Gold · Precursors

Two large open-world action-RPGs on the same engine — and my first job in games.

Eastern European studios in 2006 worked differently. There was no game design documentation: design happened directly inside the in-house editor, by setting values on the assets the team produced. By modern definitions I was doing content design — placing things, tuning parameters. With nothing written down to follow, those values were the design.

What I worked on

• Physics balancing for environment and dynamic objects.
• Vehicle physics. Cars, ships, and planes — driving and handling, plus destructible parts (breakage thresholds and forces).
• Particle and effect setup — explosions, debris, smoke, dust, hits.
• Technical animation scripting for characters and vehicles.
• Mission creation across the open world.
• Bug and task management for a small group of three game designers.

Mentoring new hires

The studio hired junior designers loosely — students came in if they spoke coherently. I wasn’t formally a lead, but I taught them how the editor worked: where things lived, what parameters meant, how to change a system without breaking the next one. On Precursors, the teaching role was most of my involvement — the toolchain was the same, and the new designers needed someone to walk them through it.

What I took from it

Working without documentation was a flaw, not a feature. But also: a lot of what makes a game is decided in the editor, by whoever is setting the numbers. Both lessons stayed.