Heya! Thanks for dropping by.

I’m Ray, I’ve been working in the games industry a long time. I’ve worked on over fifteen shipped titles and have been lucky enough to work on several of the more recognizable franchises in gaming. I take pride in the work I do and I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with so many zany, fun, talented people over the years.

I’m afraid I don’t have ‘blockout mesh’ or ‘before/after layout’ examples for a lot of the games I’ve worked on. I’ll try to make sure to describe my design contributions as much as I can, but you are welcome to ask me questions if you’d like to know more about something I missed - although that doesn’t seem likely, since I seem to have written a hell of a lot about the work I’ve done over the past 25 years. (You have my permission to skim if it gets too overwhelming.)

Why ‘Zanzibar’, do you ask? I dunno, I’ve always liked the sound of it. It’s been my online handle since, well, since online handles existed.

Feel free to browse around, if you’ve got feedback or just want to nerd out over games/toys/sci-fi, find my contact info below!

Projects

  • Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

    Lead Level Designer, Toys For Bob

    Activision (2020)

    Click Here

  • Spyro Reignited Trilogy

    Lead Level Designer, Toys For Bob

    Activision (2018)

    Click Here

  • Skylanders Series

    Senior Game Designer, Toys For Bob

    Publisher: Activision
    Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (2011)
    Skylanders: Giants (2012)
    Skylanders: Trap Team (2014)
    Skylanders: Imaginators (2016)

    Click Here

  • Other TFB Efforts

    Level Designer

    Publisher: Activision
    Madagascar (2005)
    Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam (2006)
    Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
    Guitar Hero: Van Halen (w/Underground, 2009)
    Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (w/Vicarious Visions, 2017)
    Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific (w/Raven, 2021-2022)
    Crash Team Rumble (2023)
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (w/Sledgehammer, 2023)

    Click Here

  • Big Ape Productions

    3D Modeler/Animator
    Technical Art Director

    Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Lucasarts, 1999)
    Simpsons Wrestling (Fox Interactive, 2000)
    Celebrity Deathmatch (Gotham Games, 2002)

    Click Here

Proficiencies

  • Emphasis on speedy prototyping to find the fun

  • Strong communication / interpersonal skills

  • Fast learning of new tool packages, able to train others

  • Breadth of knowledge of different dev disciplines and how design decisions affect them

  • Familiarity with balancing IP stakeholders’ demands with gameplay

  • Training/mentoring junior designers/interns

  • Experienced eye for cinematics/camera placements

SOFTWARE

  • Unreal Engine, Unity, Gaea

  • Max, Maya, Blender

  • Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, GIMP

  • Parsec, Slack, Teams, JIRA, OpenProject, Perforce

  • Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint

Contact Info

Drop me a line, and I’ll get back to you!