Nick Donaldson

Nick Donaldson
Name	Nick Donaldson
Laboral info
Birth details	August 14, 1987, at Brisbane, Australia.
Works at	Epic Games
Occupation	Lead designer
Worked in	Unreal Tournament 4

Nick Donaldson (also called Neoduck) is a lead designer for Epic Games.

Bio

Nick was born in Brisbane, Australia, on August 14, 1987. He completed high school education at Kelvin Grove State College and attended Griffirth University doing a Bachelorate of Fine Arts.

Nick is a longtime member of the Unreal community. He started mapping at 13 years of age, just experimenting with the editor, and released his first map that year. Among his community works are contributions for the Cogworks' BeyondUnreal Bonus Pack, the Community Bonus Packs for Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Tournament 2004, (the latter pack even received the "Ownage" award from Cliff Bleszinski himself, and one of Nick's contributions, DM-CBP-AugustNoon, even won Stage 2 of the first edition of MSUC's "Best Level" award) and DM-1on1-Nagem (another map which received the aforementioned award, although very late to make it for the "Ownage" section of UT2004).

From 2004 onwards, he did contract work with Perception Studios in Sydney, Australia. In 2014, he was hired by Epic Games for the development of Unreal Tournament 4.

Works

Unofficial maps are those recognized by its author on an official website.

Unreal Tournament

Unofficial

BuF Bonus Pack: DM-1on1-AugustMoon DM-Abberant (with Sam 'Mambo' Sutton and Yoeri 'Cursed Soul' Vleer) DM-Knell (with Sam 'Mambo' Sutton)

Unreal Tournament 2003

Unofficial

DM-1on1-AugustNoon

Unreal Tournament 2004

Unofficial

Community Bonus Pack 2 Volume 1: DM-CBP2-Khrono Community Bonus Pack 2 Volume 2: DM-CBP2-Meitak DM-1on1-Nagem

Unreal Tournament 3

Unofficial

Community Bonus Pack 3 Volume 1: DM-CBP3-August WAR-Tropico

Unreal Tournament 4

Official

CTF-Blank DM-NickTest1

Trivia

Accolades

• DM-1on1-AugustMoon:
  • Was the Featured Map in NaliCity on the week of November 1, 2003.
  • Entered the NaliCity Hotlist on the week of November 1, 2003.
• DM-1on1-AugustNoon:
  • Won the Best Level award on Phase 1 of the 2003/04 edition of the Make Something Unreal Contest.
  • Entered the NaliCity Hotlist on the week of April 2, 2004.
• DM-1on1-Nagem: Earned the Ownage award.

"After a brief hiatus from the realm of level design, Nick "Neoduck" Donaldson returns in prime form with DM-1on1-Nagem. He has put an extraordinary effort into making sure that every aspect of his design was polished, and his attention to detail has really paid off. The new models and textures compliment the existing set seamlessly, and push them in a whole new direction. Gameplay is solid, item placement makes sense, and (most importantly) the map is just a blast to play. Nick has become a mainstay of the Unreal Mapping community, and professional quality maps like this make us hope that he sticks around for even more designs to come."

– CliffyB

• DM-Abberant: Entered the NaliCity Hotlist on the week of July 1, 2005.
• DM-CBP2-Khrono:
  • Won 2º place in Phase 3 of the 2003/04 edition of the Make Something Unreal Contest.
  • Got a special mention by Cliff Bleszinski himself during CliffyB's argument about why both volumes of the Community Bonus Pack 2 earned the Ownage Award.

"The first Community Bonus Pack was top-notch and the second pack continues the tradition. Nearly every map in this wonderful collection is close to commercial quality. The best of the bunch would have to be DM-CBP2-KHRONO, however. This stellar one on one map plays as well as it looks. The map flows well, the lighting is gorgeous, and the attention to detail is astonishing. This pack will keep tournament fans busy until the wee hours of the morning!"

– UT2004 Ownage Maps tab

• DM-CBP2-Meitak:
  • Won 2º place in Phase 3 of the 2003/04 edition of the Make Something Unreal Contest.
  • Also earned the Ownage award.

"[DM-CBP2-Meitak] will teach you about control points, or smack you down in the process. Neoduck has proven that you can create a fun and complex map using clean and simple architecture, and do it without having to sacrifice visual quality. Meitak's item placement and game flow are incredibly refined, and the extra paths and tricks that you can pull off with the various lift jumps make this map truly unforgettable."

– UT2004 Ownage Maps tab

External links and references

• Nick's website at BeyondUnreal
• Nick's Deviantart gallery