Technical Game Designer
Inspired. Creative. Adventurous. Dedicated.
About Me
My name is Karel Terra, and I'm a Technical Game Designer driven by the belief that games are the “soundtrack” of life, anchoring us in time and space. The memories I've forged through them will last a lifetime.
I draw inspiration from my quilted upbringing—living in Germany, New Zealand, and Australia—performing as a teenage rocker, and backpacking across the globe.
Now residing in Louisville, Kentucky, I work at EA Tiburon, where my contributions have had a significant impact on College Football 25. As a Technical Designer, I played a pivotal role in shaping the mechanically rich Dynasty Mode, designing and documenting innovative features while collaborating with audio, art, and UX teams to deliver deep, engaging, and enjoyable content.
Building on that success, I now take on a larger role leading the design of Road To Glory mode in College Football 26, crafting an experience that promises to captivate players in new and exciting ways.
AAA
EA College Football
Joining the team as a Technical Designer II during the early stages of development, I’ve had the privilege of being a part of this project for over four years, leaving a meaningful mark on both College Football 25 and the upcoming College Football 26.
From the outset, I contributed to rapid prototypes, brainstorming sessions, and group discussions, always seeking "the fun" in every feature while keeping the high expectations of our passionate fan base in mind. I thrive on the challenge of delivering quality and functionality that exceeds these expectations.
Throughout development, I’ve continued to take on increasing responsibilities—actively creating detailed documentation for key game features, collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams, and ensuring that every aspect of my work aligns with the broader experience we’re crafting. This holistic approach has driven me to constantly innovate, finding new and novel ways to optimize tools and pipelines to support content creation efficiently and effectively.
As the project has evolved, I’ve overseen the rollout of features like the News System, delivering compelling commentary on the in-game events that breathe life into the game world. My journey with this project has been one of growth, discovery, and an unrelenting commitment to creating immersive and engaging experiences.
Mortal Kombat: Onslaught
As a Game Integration Engineer on this project, I work with the Online Team as well as other game teams, to efficiently and seamlessly connect the projects online features to the backend services.
Working with a team of incredible engineers and creative thinkers, I feel right at home and enjoy the collaborative and supportive atmosphere of this studio. Though I have never worked within the physical walls of the studio itself, I feel just as connected to my teams mates as in any previous studio.
Getting to wire up online features that will bring genuine pleasure and enjoyment of the game to players is part of this role that I really enjoy. As well as creating tools for the designers so that they can effectively add their craft to the project.
Mobile
Malice
Malice was part of a game development incubator program founded by Alex Carlyle in Sydney, Australia. Its mission was to create a space to nurture up-and-coming talent so that they could get experience and bolster the Australian games industry.
I had the immense privilege of working on this project and learning under the expert hands of the rest of the team. I came in initially to help optimize the game to run on mobile devices like iPhone and iPad as well as the Sony PSVita, but quickly found myself contributing to the project on many fronts. From creating UI systems to scripting the main flow of the game.
I worked directly with the designers and artists to empower them by building tools for them to get their creations into the game quickly.
VR
Wentworth VR
As the Development Lead, I guided the creation of the technical elements of this Interactive Cinematic VR experience that is the cornerstone of StartBeyond, formally Start VR.
Their vision of interactive entertainment is simple and intuitive. Intriguing storytelling interspersed with consequential decisions that the viewer makes as they explore their surroundings with a simple click or sustained gaze,
This was one of many such projects that I had the pleasure of working on while I was with Start VR. Our efforts did not go unnoticed as this project not only delighted fans of the Wentworth IP but also won critical acclaim from the Screen Producers Awards, Australia.
2018 Winner SPA Awards: Interactive or Game Production of the year.
Prototyping
wAv
I was tired of being overstimulated with flashy lights and animations by some of the mobile games that I was playing at the time. I wanted to explore something that was still engaging but the core attraction of the experience would be its serenity.
wAv is a simple puzzle game where you push objects to their safe zones by creating rippling waves on the playing surface, clearing all the object to progress to the next level. The objects react differently when they come into contact with the various surfaces in the game.
I made this prototype with a feel first approach, taking time to craft the basic interaction to be pleasing and calming, thinking about it as being a toy as much as it was a game. I was overjoyed when my friends, and strangers that I could convince to play, would happily tap away at the screen even with very little else going on or would hone in on a challenging level until they conquered it.
I think there is still much to explore here and it was a successful delve into the serene space that I was exploring.
Frontlines
I had explored a simple hold to aim mechanic in the last months of studying at AIE, Sydney, Australia, and wanted to expand it.
For this prototype, I wanted to raise the player's awareness of humanity and the tragedy of war. For this, I experimented with a backstory generator that would create a history for each solder that was in your company. As the groups Capitan, it was your choice to continue to deploy your troops or to risk your own skin by falsifying documents to send them home from the frontlines.
The gameplay expanded upon the hold to aim mechanic and players competed for territory on a shared global map. These battles were facilitated across mobile networks of mobile devices with real-time connections between players.