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

Game Designer with 8+ years of professional experience specializing in Gameplay Systems and Combat Design.

I design gameplay systems that are readable, engaging and satisfying to master, with a strong focus on combat, player abilities, enemy behaviors and moment-to-moment gameplay. Throughout my career, I've worked across both indie and AAA productions, collaborating closely with designers, programmers, artists and animators to prototype, iterate and ship polished gameplay experiences.

My experience spans Action games, Tactical-RPGs and Open-World productions, always driven by the same goal: creating mechanics that are intuitive to learn, rewarding to master and memorable for players. I regularly play and analyze recent releases to benchmark mechanics, explore new design approaches and stay informed about evolving gameplay trends.

Outside of work, I enjoy exploring a wide variety of genres, although Action RPGs and MMORPGs remain my biggest source of inspiration. I'm particularly drawn to games that combine deep combat systems with meaningful character progression and long-term player engagement, such as those developed by FromSoftware, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV.

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. June 2018

    Master's Degree in Game Design & Management, Supinfogame Rubika

  8. 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.
  9. 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.