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Highstreet Calamity VR

My Roles

Game Designer

(Focused on Systems)

Developed in

Unity Engine VR

Duration

December, 2023 - August, 2024

Platform

VR Meta Quest

Release

TBD

Professional Full-Time
Intro

Highstreet Calamity is a multiplayer rogue-like VR game, where the players fight waves of mobs to reach the end with the boss, earning currency to build their character and enjoy with friends.

 

During my time working on Highstreet Game VR, I contributed across multiple areas of game systems design, balance, and progression. My work spanned core combat loops, progression frameworks, economy structures, and other systems, always grounded in testing, iteration, and collaboration with the wider team.

PC

November 2023

Calamity_png.png

Core Systems

DifficultyScoreAnalysis.png

Difficulty Score Analysis on Waves for Balancing

EoWR Flow.png

End of Wave Rewards Flow

Class Stats_edited.jpg

Class Stat Scaling

Some visuals have numbers hidden for confidentiality, but they illustrate the underlying design systems and approach.

Progression and Meta Systems

EstimatedAverageXP.png

Estimated Average XP based on Premises to each level of difficulty

XP To LevelUp.png

Amount of XP needed to level up based on estimated amount of runs

Some visuals have numbers hidden for confidentiality, but they illustrate the underlying design systems and approach.

Wave System Design & Balancing

  • Defined the wave structures across arena modes, including pacing, enemy mix, and difficulty progression.

  • Balanced waves by adjusting enemy stats, spawn counts, and encounter modifiers, ensuring each run felt challenging yet fair.

  • Created internal balancing spreadsheets to model expected player performance against different enemy archetypes.

 

End of Wave Rewards

  • Designed the End of Wave reward system, core to the roguelike loop.

  • Rewards included consumables, and power-ups, giving players meaningful mid-run progression.

  • Aligned rewards with progression systems (Class Level, Calamity Level, Season Pass) to create short- and long-term incentives.

 

Player & Enemy Stats

  • Designed and iterated on core player stats (HP, Adrenaline, Resistances, etc.) to support class variety.

  • Worked on stat scaling formulas for both player progression and enemy waves, ensuring long-term replayability.

Progression Framework

  • Established design premises for player progression:

    • How many waves an average player should survive at each level of play.

    • How difficulty should scale between game modes and player levels.

  • Structured a 3-path progression system:

    • Class Level – unlocking weapons & stat bonuses.

    • Calamity Level – global progression unlocking consumables and modes.

 

Game Economy

  • Designed the scrap currency loop, earned in arenas and spent in gacha systems.

  • Balanced economy pacing to support short-term rewards (consumables) and long-term goals (skins, tickets, progression boosts).

  • Worked on reward distribution tables for wave completions, season pass, and gacha machines.

Iteration and Feedback

  • Hands-on playtesting in engine and build to validate combat feel, progression pacing, and dungeon flow.

  • Logged QA-style tickets with design-driven feedback, covering gameplay balance, bugs, and player experience.

  • Directly tweaked engine values (stats, spawns, prefabs) for rapid iteration and balancing.​

Key Skills Applied

Word from Highstreet

  • Systems Design – combat waves, roguelike reward systems, progression structures, economies.

  • VR Design - Establishing VR design for combat and other features.

  • Balancing & Tuning – spreadsheets, in-engine iteration, difficulty curves.

  • Playtesting & Feedback – structured feedback loops, ticket creation.

  • Collaboration – worked across design, programming, and art to align features.

"It is my pleasure to recommend Renee Pollet, who served as a Game Designer at RETINAD VIRTUAL REALITY INC. from December 4, 2023, to September 5, 2025. During his time with us, Renee consistently demonstrated professionalism, creativity, and a strong commitment to his role, making a positive impact on our team.


Renee demonstrated strong design and production skills, making significant contributions to gameplay systems, content design, and project coordination. He demonstrated creativity in developing engaging player experiences, while also balancing technical and operational constraints. Renee collaborated effectively with cross-functional teams, supporting smooth workflows and ensuring deliverables were completed on time.


In addition to his technical contributions, Renee was a collaborative and approachable colleague, respected by peers and supervisors alike. I am confident he will make a valuable contribution to any organization he joins.

 

Please feel free to contact me at jack@highstreet.market should you require additional information.​" - Jack Qiao, RETINAD's CTO

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