{ "author": "Jim Ling", "portfolio": "https://dreadjim.tech/", "updated": "2026-10-29", "projects": [ { "title": "ReForged: Eden’s Fall — Tactical RPG & Gacha Game Design", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/reforged-tactical-rpg-gacha-design", "summary": "Build a squad. Read the opposing formation. Decide when to intervene. ReForged connects a post-apocalyptic original world with tactical team-building and a longer-term character-collection vision.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The player idea", "text": "A champion should offer a reason to care and a reason to choose them. ReForged connects faction identity, combat roles, signature abilities and the relationships within a squad. The aim is a roster whose personalities create different tactical possibilities." }, { "heading": "From roster to battlefield", "text": "The inspected Unity build presents 27 champion choices, commander selection, faction filters, team bonuses, formation placement and live squad combat. Basic attacks run automatically while the player can time ready abilities and ultimates. The screenshots show that loop in the running prototype." }, { "heading": "The mobile and gacha direction", "text": "The design explores character acquisition, faction collection, artifacts and class evolution around a shared battle foundation. Personality and emotional-state behaviour are part of the design ambition. The mobile/gacha product and its long-term progression are development plans, rather than a released service." }, { "heading": "My role", "text": "Original concept, game and product design, character and world direction, and AI-assisted prototype iteration. I connect the collection fantasy with team composition, combat readability and the practical decisions needed to develop the game." }, { "heading": "What this work demonstrates", "text": "Game design beyond a single format: original IP, tactical systems, character appeal, player choices and a product roadmap connected to a working Unity prototype." } ], "developmentStatus": "Prototype in development", "media": [ { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/reforged-roster.webp", "alt": "ReForged Unity prototype roster with faction filters, champion roles and five selected heroes", "caption": "Actual prototype / roster, faction identity and team bonuses" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/reforged-formation.webp", "alt": "ReForged Unity prototype showing tactical formation placement before combat", "caption": "Actual prototype / formation and battlefield deployment" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/reforged-commander.webp", "alt": "ReForged Unity prototype commander selection and ability descriptions", "caption": "Actual prototype / commander identity and ability design" } ] }, { "title": "Sons of Heaven — Forbidden Codex Strategy Game Design", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/sons-of-heaven-strategy-game", "summary": "Choose a Watcher. Muster a host. Bind the Rites you will bring into battle. Sons of Heaven turns the Forbidden Codex’s dark-mythic world into an army-building strategy prototype.", "sections": [ { "heading": "World-building that becomes a system", "text": "The Forbidden Codex archive gives Watchers, giants and creatures distinct identities. For the game, that material becomes a design question: what does each commander teach, what can its host do, and what must the player give up to use forbidden power? Myth supplies rules, relationships and consequences." }, { "heading": "The playable loop", "text": "The War Council connects Watcher selection, a limited army budget and a hand of Rite cards. On the battlefield, hosts fight in real time while the player gives orders, chooses where to intervene and uses a Watcher’s ultimate. Favor, Omens and Heaven’s Wrath add competing pressures." }, { "heading": "A world that supports more than one game", "text": "Mortals, giants, beasts and Watchers have different roles in the same setting. The campaign and wider design explore a reign before the Flood, with conquest, difficult choices and a lasting ledger. The inspected prototype contains battle and campaign work; the full roguelite vision remains in development." }, { "heading": "My role", "text": "Original IP, creative and game direction, mythic research, product framing and AI-assisted prototyping. My focus is translating the identity of the world into army composition, resource choices, readable characters and decisions the player can make." }, { "heading": "What this work demonstrates", "text": "The connection between narrative and mechanics: a codex can become commanders, armies, spells and a strategy loop, while retaining a coherent visual and fictional identity." } ], "developmentStatus": "Prototype in development", "media": [ { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/sons-of-heaven-council.webp", "alt": "Sons of Heaven War Council showing Azazel’s commander identity and army budget", "caption": "Actual prototype / Watcher identity and the War Council" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/sons-of-heaven-host.webp", "alt": "Sons of Heaven army roster with mortals, beasts, giants and recruitment costs", "caption": "Actual prototype / army composition and a limited host budget" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/sons-of-heaven-rites.webp", "alt": "Sons of Heaven Rite cards including Forge-Fire and Rain of Blades", "caption": "Actual prototype / binding a Rite deck before battle" } ] }, { "title": "Ronin Nights — Mobile Pachinko Game Design", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/ronin-nights-pachinko-game-design", "summary": "A neon Japanese night becomes an interactive pachinko cabinet: charge the plunger, follow the balls and watch the characters become part of the board.", "sections": [ { "heading": "A cabinet with a cast", "text": "The ronin’s katana, the parasol and the torii gate give the ball’s journey recognisable visual beats. The concept connects a compact interaction with a world that has characters, atmosphere and a visual identity beyond its peg layout." }, { "heading": "Different beats within a session", "text": "The supplied prototype material describes Ki building toward Fantasy rounds, a choice of Spirit Gates, and Oni raids leading to a treasure selection. Those systems give the experience distinct phases: the pull, the build-up, the encounter and the reveal." }, { "heading": "A product family, not one skin", "text": "Night seals and cosmetic dojo rank frame longer-term identity. The supplied Lunar Jade example explores a second visual theme on the same foundation. These are prototype and product-design explorations, with no commercial performance claim." }, { "heading": "My role", "text": "Concept and product direction, visual identity, interaction framing and AI-assisted prototype iteration. I connect the cabinet’s characters with the player loop and the wider product presentation." }, { "heading": "What the images show", "text": "The main capture comes from the supplied build running locally. The additional game panels are cropped from Jim’s supplied showcase. They document prototype screens; no certified RTP, audited fairness or improved-odds claim is made here." } ], "developmentStatus": "Prototype in development", "media": [ { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/ronin-nights-katana.webp", "alt": "Supplied Ronin Nights prototype capture showing the katana interaction on its neon board", "caption": "Supplied prototype capture / the katana and interactive cabinet" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/ronin-nights-gates.webp", "alt": "Ronin Nights Spirit Gate selection with Calm, Balanced and Storm options", "caption": "Supplied prototype capture / Spirit Gate selection" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/ronin-nights-raid.webp", "alt": "Ronin Nights prototype Oni Raid interface above the board", "caption": "Supplied prototype capture / Oni Raid progression" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/ronin-nights-treasure.webp", "alt": "Ronin Nights prototype treasure-chest selection after an Oni encounter", "caption": "Supplied prototype capture / treasure selection" } ] }, { "title": "Lionheart Studio: Founder & Studio Leadership", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/lionheart-studio-leadership", "summary": "Building a studio means taking responsibility for more than the work. It means building the conditions in which people can do that work consistently.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The recognition behind the studio", "text": "In 2017, I earned the Ultimate Wacom Master Artist Singapore recognition and won the Taiwan showdown as part of a team with two Taiwanese artists. That recognition helped me build credibility and momentum for Lionheart Studio—turning an established creative practice into a platform for clients, artists and education." }, { "heading": "The role", "text": "I founded Lionheart Studio Asia Pacific in 2017. My responsibility connected creative direction with studio operations, client relationships, education partnerships and APAC delivery systems." }, { "heading": "The leadership challenge", "text": "A growing studio needs a shared quality bar, clear responsibilities and reliable communication. Creative ambition has to meet the practical realities of scope, schedules and client expectations." }, { "heading": "The outcome", "text": "Scaled Lionheart to acquisition by EASB (East Asia Institute of Management) within five years. Delivered 200+ projects for clients including Facebook, Google, Lenovo, Wacom, Tudor and Genting." }, { "heading": "What I bring forward", "text": "A founder’s perspective on team building, stakeholder alignment and delivery, informed by direct experience in the craft." } ], "media": [] }, { "title": "Superbull: Game IP & Creative Product Direction", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/superbull-game-ip", "summary": "Building a new game brand through character contrast, cultural observation and a deliberately varied portfolio.", "sections": [ { "heading": "My remit", "text": "At Vanguard Software, my Head of Creative & Product Direction / Lead Creative Director remit covered brand identity, original IP, portfolio planning and cross-functional delivery. I led a 20+ person multinational team across Singapore and Vietnam, including China-based members, directing work through creative and technical leads. I shaped recommendations and secured management approval; final portfolio and commercial decisions were shared with product management and senior leadership." }, { "heading": "A portfolio with a reason to exist", "text": "Give an unfamiliar studio brand an identity and a lineup worth remembering. Working with my creative lead and team, I shaped a distinctive bull mascot and a connected product world spanning games, operator pitches and marketing materials. Depending on the opportunity and constraints, the creative route could be a fresh treatment of an existing foundation, a complementary series or a contrasting new direction within the brand family." }, { "heading": "Naming the product experience", "text": "I coined Spectator Play and Active Resolution as part of Superbull’s product and brand language. Spectator Play describes characters participating in the visible action; Active Resolution describes outcomes presented through movement, timing and feedback. These names connect creative direction with a clear story for the team and operator partners. The presentation follows the game’s rules and outcome model." }, { "heading": "Character contrast as product direction", "text": "For Zappin Zeus, I pushed beyond a uniformly stern god: a playful character celebrates with the player, then becomes a fierce, lightning-charged presence in the bonus presentation. Lucky Panda Chef uses a different contrast—a tattooed former gangster who has retired into cooking. Personality informs animation, presentation and the way each game is remembered." }, { "heading": "Making a mechanic feel like a world", "text": "For the released Money Tree title, I connected the tree’s changing appearance with scenery, sound, coin effects and win celebrations. My focus was the relationship between the game rules and the experience players could see and hear. The growing tree was visual presentation, not a measure of an approaching bonus or a change in the probability of winning. This was a creative and product-direction contribution developed with the team." }, { "heading": "Range within the brand", "text": "Super Nima uses cheeky cross-cultural humour and a street-to-superstar DJ progression. Chaos Runner brought a post-apocalyptic direction into the lineup. Latin America and Turkey were among the intended audiences. Contemporary games and film informed the different kinds of appeal we wanted to explore." }, { "heading": "From concept to cross-functional delivery", "text": "I shaped and rewrote concepts, assessed their fit in the lineup, and presented recommendations for approval. I then translated approved directions into priorities for creative leads, programmers and Vietnam-based delivery teams. My work included stakeholder presentations, production alignment and resolving cross-team friction, alongside selected hands-on execution." }, { "heading": "Using live evidence to propose the next step", "text": "I reviewed internal title reports alongside partner-catalogue and competitor information, then advocated variants of established titles that already had an audience. Working with the PM and creative lead, I built support and directed advance preparation of website and social assets. Some variants, including a Zeus variant, launched before I left. I did not review their subsequent commercial results." }, { "heading": "What reached players", "text": "Across the three-year ALIZE-to-Superbull period, the first year focused on prototyping. In year three, the team released 23 Superbull titles before my departure. The live Superbull catalogue includes Zappin Zeus, Super Nima, Lucky Panda Chef and Chaos Runner. Public demo captures on this site show the character direction in running game states. A documented Zeus repeat-play case study also connected our work to live product review. My role covered brand and portfolio direction through leads and the team; commercial reporting remains private." }, { "heading": "Building a team that can sustain delivery", "text": "I helped hire and develop the team, working through leads while staying close to delivery. My planning goal was to avoid dependence on routine overtime: anticipate scope and capacity, resolve problems early and give people opportunities to grow into responsibility." } ], "media": [ { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/superbull-yaya-base-demo.webp", "alt": "Bounty Hunter Yaya actual public play-money demo", "caption": "Bounty Hunter Yaya / Neon Western / character and Wanted-board identity" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/superbull-night-base-demo.webp", "alt": "Night Slicer actual public play-money demo", "caption": "Night Slicer / Undead fantasy / heroine and graveyard setting" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/superbull-zeus-base-demo.webp", "alt": "Zappin Zeus actual public play-money demo", "caption": "Zappin Zeus / Character contrast / base-game presentation" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/superbull-nima-base-demo.webp", "alt": "Super Nima actual public play-money demo", "caption": "Super Nima / Street DJ / base-game identity" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/superbull-panda-base-demo.webp", "alt": "Lucky Panda Chef actual public play-money demo", "caption": "Lucky Panda Chef / Tattooed chef / character and culinary world" }, { "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/assets/superbull-chaos-base-demo.webp", "alt": "Chaos Runner actual public play-money demo", "caption": "Chaos Runner / Wasteland setting / reel and multiplier presentation" } ] }, { "title": "ALIZE: Game IP, Narrative & Product Strategy", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/alize-ip-product-strategy", "summary": "Hands-on creative execution, product strategy and team development behind an original world and a connected family of games.", "sections": [ { "heading": "My remit", "text": "As Lead Creative Director & Product Strategist at New Future Holdings, I connected concepts, gameplay framing, portfolio priorities and production alignment. Before dedicated project-management roles were in place, I also coordinated creative, programming and Vietnam-based teams, alongside hiring and developing the core creative team." }, { "heading": "Hands-on execution and delegation", "text": "I created many of the initial concepts and personally executed substantial creative work. My creative director brought lead-level UI/UX expertise and led much of that execution; I retained creative review and approval. Artists also proposed directions for delegated projects, with coaching through concept selection and development." }, { "heading": "The creative decision", "text": "The ALIZE brief began as a themed retelling. I developed an original world and cast, with narrative beats that could unfold through play. The product family made room for a flagship story, familiar formats and separate fictional worlds, each with a clear identity." }, { "heading": "Shared foundations, distinct games", "text": "A lean team faced a first batch of four to six titles on a short schedule. We developed a unified UI/UX foundation and reusable engine elements, with my creative director leading UI/UX execution under my review. Each game still needed its own characters, scenery, framing and visual treatment. The decision was to reuse the production foundation while investing creative effort in the identity players would notice." }, { "heading": "Dark Reels: an RPG journey inside a slot", "text": "I asked what a Diablo-inspired RPG experience could feel like inside a slot. The challenge was to make the math, gameplay and visuals work as one. With the team, we connected creature encounters to bonus spins, larger monsters to a progression toward the boss-stage free-spin feature, and defeated creatures to a bestiary with their own details. All progression and rewards still followed the slot’s probability-driven rules. Story, collection and nostalgia gave players a reason to look beyond the next spin. My contribution was concept, product and creative direction, alongside hands-on work with the team—bringing an ambitious experience into a buildable game." }, { "heading": "The product family", "text": "The flagship connects story and cinematic progression; Originals carries earlier concepts and first-wave games; Multiverse provides room for other inspirations; LITE connects seven compact formats. Shared foundations could support several directions without making those worlds interchangeable." }, { "heading": "From one coordinator to project pods", "text": "As the team grew across ALIZE and later Superbull, I organised small project pods and gave emerging leads responsibility for direct coordination with Vietnam-based artists and developers. That reduced reliance on me as the communication point for every project and gave team members opportunities to practise leadership. I stayed involved in creative direction, review and stakeholder approval." }, { "heading": "Building leadership capacity", "text": "Through one-to-one coaching, shadowing and opportunities to lead presentations and team discussions, I helped develop broader leadership capability within the creative team. Over roughly three years, I prepared a successor to take over creative direction after my departure." }, { "heading": "What the team delivered", "text": "Across the three-year ALIZE-to-Superbull period, the first year focused on prototyping. In year two, the team released 40+ ALIZE titles, including ALIZE LITE. The original game world extended into the flagship narrative slot, Originals, Multiverse and seven LITE formats. My contribution combined hands-on creative execution, product framing and final creative approval, with UI/UX and delegated execution supported by my creative director and team. The ALIZE work is associated with the organisational SiGMA Asia 2024 Best Slot Provider Newcomer award." } ], "media": [] }, { "title": "Dark Reels: RPG-Inspired Slot Design", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/dark-reels-slot-design", "summary": "What could a Diablo-inspired RPG experience feel like inside a slot? Dark Reels grew from that question: connect monsters, collection and boss encounters with a reel-based game, and make the math, gameplay and visuals work as one.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The creative ambition", "text": "I wanted the nostalgia and sense of discovery of a dark-fantasy RPG to carry into the slot experience. The ambition went beyond a fantasy skin: give players a world to move through, creatures to encounter and a boss to work toward. It was a demanding step for our team, requiring creative direction and product thinking together." }, { "heading": "Making the math part of the journey", "text": "Working with the team, we allocated part of the reward structure to creature-linked bonus spins, with larger encounters building toward the boss-stage free-spin feature. The challenge was to balance the math, game flow and visual storytelling so those rewards belonged to the same experience. Progression and rewards remained probability-driven within the slot’s rules." }, { "heading": "A bestiary with a reason to explore", "text": "Defeated monsters entered a bestiary with their own details, turning encounters into a collection players could follow. Story, creature identity and visual progression gave the repeated spin a wider context: another monster to discover, a collection to develop and a larger encounter ahead." }, { "heading": "The player motivation", "text": "The intended pull was anticipation: what comes next, which monster will I encounter, and what awaits at the boss? More substantial free-spin rewards gave that journey a clear destination. My aim was to encourage continued exploration and return play through character, progression and nostalgia." }, { "heading": "My contribution and the delivered experience", "text": "I shaped the concept, product and creative direction, with hands-on execution and delivery shared across the team. Dark Reels brought RPG-inspired encounters, a monster bestiary and a boss-led reward journey into a slot. The achievement was making these elements work together within the available mechanics, math and production capabilities." }, { "heading": "A distinct world within Multiverse", "text": "I branded Dark Reels under Multiverse to make room for inspirations beyond ALIZE’s own fictional universe. The product family could share foundations while each world retained its identity. Diablo informed the dark-fantasy RPG reference point." } ], "media": [] }, { "title": "Knife’s Battlefield: Reusable Systems & Game Design", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/knife-battlefield-game-design", "summary": "A conquest-led game in the ALIZE world, adapted from the separate Multiverse Dark Reels foundation.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The product decision", "text": "Reuse the Dark Reels engine and reinterpret the experience through Knave from the ALIZE world. The reusable engine crossed product lines; the fictional worlds remained distinct. Dark Reels was branded under Multiverse to allow other inspirations, while ALIZE retained its own universe." }, { "heading": "The experience", "text": "Knave becomes a conqueror fighting armies, with progression into slot bonuses and extras. These project details are supplied by Jim Ling; the cover is titled Knife’s Battlefield." }, { "heading": "The leadership challenge", "text": "Advocate for a more ambitious direction and work to secure approval within the available mechanics, math and production capabilities. The aim was a differentiated experience and a clear distinction between a reusable product foundation and the identity of each fictional world." } ], "media": [] }, { "title": "ALIZE Originals: Character-Led Mini-Game Concepts", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/alize-originals-mini-games", "summary": "The earlier concepts and first batch of games, including formats reinterpreted through characters already in the ALIZE IP.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The distinction", "text": "Originals describes the earlier concepts and first-wave games. Some used existing ALIZE characters. It is distinct from the flagship narrative slot, the Multiverse umbrella for other inspirations, and the compact LITE family." }, { "heading": "HiLo as an example", "text": "HiLo brought a Witcher-inspired fantasy treatment into a familiar higher-or-lower game. The reference describes a creative influence, not an official affiliation or licensed Witcher product." }, { "heading": "The product thinking", "text": "Use recognisable formats as a foundation, then give each experience a considered character, setting and identity. Reusing an underlying format does not require every product to feel the same." } ], "media": [] }, { "title": "The Siren Signal: AI Entertainment & Original IP", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/siren-signal-ai-entertainment", "summary": "A personal AI K-pop and entertainment project exploring fictional characters, music, visual storytelling and short-form audience response.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The creative work", "text": "An expanding virtual cast with different personalities and musical styles, supported by narrative content, music releases, visual concepts and social experiments." }, { "heading": "One measurable experiment", "text": "A single cross-posted parody clip reached 500.7K views on TikTok and a creator-reported 372K views on Instagram: approximately 872.7K combined platform views. The creator also reports 20K Instagram likes and 3,120 saves. These are content views and interactions, measured in October 2026." }, { "heading": "What it demonstrates", "text": "Hands-on entertainment IP development, cultural observation and testing creative work with an audience. This is an independent experiment; the example does not imply a commercial partnership with the real artists referenced in parody content." } ], "media": [] }, { "title": "Illustration, Concept Art & Creative Direction", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/illustration-concept-art", "summary": "Years of hands-on visual work inform how I read a brief, set a creative direction and understand audience appeal.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The foundation", "text": "Illustration, concept art and entertainment assets across client-led creative production. Listening to what a client needs, finding the visual idea and making it communicate remain central to my work." }, { "heading": "From individual craft to studio delivery", "text": "I founded Lionheart Studio and developed the team, client relationships and production systems behind 200+ studio client projects. The milestones shown document studio delivery; the broader personal illustration and entertainment archive will be expanded with selected original samples." } ], "media": [] }, { "title": "AI-Assisted Game Production & Creative Leadership", "url": "https://dreadjim.tech/ai-game-production", "summary": "Introducing AI was a team-development challenge as well as a production decision: help artists explore more options while building the judgement to select and execute them.", "sections": [ { "heading": "The delivery context", "text": "Across New Future Holdings and Vanguard, I led creative and product direction for 60+ titles released into market over three years. The first year focused on prototyping different games. In year two, the team released 40+ ALIZE titles, including ALIZE LITE; in year three, 23 Superbull titles were released before my departure. These are combined team-delivery figures. My work connected creative execution, product priorities, hiring and cross-functional coordination." }, { "heading": "Teach the judgement alongside the tools", "text": "Some artists were initially reluctant to use AI. I coached them through regular discussion, hands-on guidance and review of their own concept variations. The goal was to develop their ability to curate, compare and defend a direction, with increasing ownership of the work." }, { "heading": "Explore, review and secure approval", "text": "I created many starting concepts and invited artists to propose directions on delegated projects. We explored mockups, reviewed what worked and refined the chosen direction. I then presented the selected concept to stakeholders and incorporated feedback before the team developed production assets." }, { "heading": "Run art and development in parallel", "text": "Small teams developed assets from the approved concept, followed by the required animation work. Developers worked alongside that process, making direct communication with Vietnam-based counterparts essential. Reusable UI/UX and engine foundations supported multiple titles while each game retained its own visual identity." }, { "heading": "Remove the communication bottleneck", "text": "I organised small project pods and gave emerging leads direct responsibility for coordination with artists and developers. This spread delivery responsibility and gave people practical opportunities to develop leadership, while I retained creative review and direction." }, { "heading": "Build leadership capacity", "text": "Through one-to-one coaching, shadowing and opportunities to lead presentations and team discussions, I helped develop broader leadership capability within the creative team and prepared a successor to take over creative direction. This complemented the project pods: people gained responsibility alongside practical support to lead." }, { "heading": "Evaluate the work that matters", "text": "AI output still had to survive concept review, stakeholder feedback, asset production, animation and integration. My approach connects the creative idea, the player experience and the production system. In games and iGaming, presentation must remain faithful to the actual rules and outcome model." } ], "media": [] } ] }