Lead Combat Director

3 Months ago • All levels

Combat Design

Job Description

As the Combat Director for Age of Bharat, you will be responsible for envisioning, directing, and executing a world-class combat experience. You will lead a team of 4-7 combat/system designers and collaborate with animation, AI, narrative, and gameplay programming to develop a satisfying and mechanically rich combat system. Key responsibilities include designing core combat mechanics, ensuring combat feel and responsiveness, guiding enemy design, overseeing player progression in combat, collaborating on motion capture for combat animations, leading the design team, and driving balance and tuning. The role aims to embed thematic meaning into combat, reflecting Indian mythology, and support player expression through weapons and abilities.

Good To Have:

Familiarity with Deel for global hiring
Experience with game development tools

Must Have:

Envision, direct, and execute world-class combat experience
Lead a team of combat/system designers
Design core combat mechanics
Ensure combat feel and responsiveness
Guide enemy design philosophy
Oversee player growth and progression
Collaborate on motion capture for combat animations
Lead and mentor the combat design team
Drive balance and tuning
Embed thematic meaning into combat

Perks:

Competitive compensation packages
Seamless onboarding
Enhanced employment experience
Full remote from Europe possible

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Context

Why do we need a Lead Combat Director ?

As the Combat Director for Age of Bharat, you will be responsible for envisioning, directing, and executing a world-class combat experience that is grounded, skill-based, and deeply aligned with the game’s themes of myth, spiritual power, and resistance. You will lead a focused team of 4–7 combat/system designers and work closely with animation, AI, narrative, and gameplay programming to develop a cohesive, satisfying, and mechanically rich combat system.

Key Objectives

1. Combat System Architecture

Design and iterate on core combat mechanics, including melee, ranged, mobility, block/dodge systems, stamina/resource management, and combat-specific UI.
Establish and maintain a high-level combat design document and modular systems that scale from 1v1 duels to group encounters.

2. Combat Feel and Responsiveness

Work with animators and programmers to define the feel of attacks, hit reactions, timing windows, hit-stop, invincibility frames, and enemy feedback.
Playtest regularly to dial in fluidity, challenge, and player satisfaction.

3. Enemy Design Philosophy

Collaborate with AI and encounter designers to ensure enemy behavior, telegraphing, and attack patterns fit the core combat loops and player toolkit.
Guide creation of a diverse enemy roster that emphasizes readability, counterplay, and mastery.

4. Player Growth and Progression

Oversee the development of combat-related progression systems such as weapon types, upgrades, skills/techniques, and passive systems (e.g. Traits, Skill Tree, Blessings).
Ensure player growth supports multiple viable playstyles and encourages experimentation.

5. Motion Capture Collaboration

Interface with the animation teams while defining combat animation needs and direct mocap requirements in close collaboration with the creative and design director.
Serve as the key design stakeholder during mocap planning, sessions, and reviews — ensuring choreography, pacing, and transitions align with gameplay needs.
Work with animators to implement and iterate on mocap data for all combat interactions, including attack loops, special moves, finishers, reactions, and cinematic combat moments.
Ensure mocap content enhances mechanical clarity and emotional impact in combat.

6. Team Leadership & Collaboration

Provide clear direction, feedback, and mentorship to your combat design team.
Foster alignment across narrative, art, and systems to ensure that combat remains in sync with worldbuilding, story, and tone.
Work closely with production to scope and prioritize features effectively as well as define what additional staffing is required to achieve scope and vision.

7. Balance and Tuning

Drive balance across all player abilities and enemy types, ensuring combat is fair, challenging, and rewarding at all difficulty levels.
Define metrics and tools for combat tuning and iterate based on internal playtests and user feedback.

8. Combat as Expression

Embed thematic meaning into combat — ensure that systems reflect key cultural and philosophical aspects of Indian mythology (e.g., karma, dharma, inner balance).
Support player expression through weapons, stances, or abilities that reinforce character identity and playstyle.

Success Criteria

The combat experience is praised for its clarity, depth, responsiveness, and emotional impact.
The design team delivers consistently and is empowered under your leadership.
Combat mechanics scale across the full game without falling into repetition or imbalance.
Players feel that combat is not only mechanically rich but also meaningful within the world of Age of Bharat.Success Criteria

Key information

Accepting permanent staff and freelance candidates
Availability: May (if available later, do not hesitate to apply!)
Location: Paris (Full remote from Europe possible!)
Compensation and Benefits:
We partner with Deel to facilitate hiring globally, ensuring compliance with local labor laws and providing tailored benefits for each country. This collaboration allows us to offer competitive packages and seamless onboarding for our international team members, enhancing their employment experience no matter where they are located.