Nicholas H. H. Lance

Lead Game Designer @ Naughty Dog
Technical game designer known for crafting jaw-dropping set pieces, cinematic gameplay systems, and emotionally driven interactive moments
Expert Designer
Fog of War
Set up the forest vehicle synced attack beat
Scripted the trainyard entrance with post white phosphorus scenes
Scripted the buddy and enemy combat for the Machine Gun trainyard combat
Developed the final vehicle ambush scene
The Embassy
Scripted the large crowd opening
Scripted the interactive helicopter crash
Scripted and Laid out the Embassy building
Planned and implemented the overrun vignettes and Butcher Scene
Scripted the Truck Crash combat with bullet proof glass gameplay
Scripted the escort from embassy exit to the mansion
Game Designer
End Of The Line
Created layout for all driveable portions with lots of art support on the main loop section
Created layout for all train cars except the engine car and bomb car Scripted all gameplay moments and progression excluding Asav melee fight and with team support to reach the finish line for jeep wreck onto train and final runout train into chasm
Developed trainvoy (train + convoy) system for combat wave spawning and wave tracking of the player's train car progression
Developed systems for buddy car hijacking and returning to train
Developed turret truck enemy and commandeering the turret truck beats
Game Designer
The Malaysia Job
Finished layout from blockmesh to final
Choreographed underwater and above water scenes, directing on Motion Capture stage
Scripted gameplay progression
Added "flappy bird" crate carry mechanic
Solidified swimming control scheme and mechanics that would be used game wide
A Normal Life
Owned layout direction with Art
Scripted progression and flow for the level
Developed unique interactable system that would become the gamewide system for inspectables
Developed Uncharted 1 callback nerf gun shootout scene
Recreated Crash Bandicoot in a hidden underground level beneath the main level, then used a second camera to project that gameplay onto the living room TV
Developed a reactive dialogue system to track behavior in Crash Bandicoot and have Nate and Elena respond accordingly
Hector Alcazar
Reworked level scripting from start to finish in about a month in the 11th hour
Scripted progression for all beats except the Turret Tower beat
Scripting focused on multi buddy progression, combat, and choreography through the prison escape
The Twelve Towers
Scripted the level progression and flow
Owned 4x4 driveable vehicle design from initial prototype to coordinating with programming to achieve final shippable vehicle
Scripted buddy bump leans and reactions to vehicle forces and player leap throughs
Scripted rickety bridge animation system and beat
Implemented interruptible dialogue system in order to keep conversations going after leaving the vehicle
Scripted omni directional multi-entry point co-operative buddy pirate sigil interactions
Scripted the winch system, including winch pull down bridge, winch pull up muddy hill, and winch slide over mountain side sequences
For Better Or Worse
Developed the 4x4 bridge collapse to grapple rope sequence
New Devon
Scripted co-op box puzzle climb out allowing buddy to enter from either side of the box
Scripted roof collapse that allows the player to enter from any position on the roof
Scripted post roof collapse slide with breakables
Avery's Descent
Scripted swinging net trap sequence
Epilogue
Blocked out layout with Art
Scripted early passes of level flow, but unfortunately had to hand off the final scripting for ship
Developed fetch mini-game with the dog that was ultimately cut and re-implemented for TLOU Part II
Game Designer
Mallrats
Scripted the progression and buddy flow for the Halloween Store including systems for making the buddy explore near interesting points for the player to seamlessly transition into interactions
Finished out scripting for the Brick Throw Contest to dynamically adjust AI difficulty depending on the player's progress
Scripted branching dialogue system at the end of the brick throw
Fun And Games
Scripted the Water Gun Fight including a complicated play scene anywhere system for the emotional scenes between rounds
Scripted Riley AI behavior for the water gun fight
Game Designer
Bill's Town
Scripted the upside down snare sequence
Scripted the progression, combat, and buddies from the snare sequence to the high school
Scripted the Truck Push sequence combat and progression
Suburbs
Scripted the aim logic for the sniper shooting at the player
Scripted the progression, enemies, and buddies when the player acquires the sniper rifle
Scripted complicated level swaps in order to allow infected to load into memory for final overrun beat
Tommy's Dam
Scripted the enemy and buddies for the Dam ambush combat
Scripted Buddy horse AI lead and follow
Scripted tiered combat on the way to the farmhouse
Scripted farmhouse combat handling stealth and loud enemy behavior differences, including enemies deploying smoke bombs if you go loud
Bus Depot
Scripted the sinking bus sequence and swim out to save Ellie
The Firefly Lab
Scripted progression and combat for the level
Scripted the final run out with Ellie and unique enemy AI requirements for that





















