Professional Projects
Games I've created as part of a professional development team
Xadia is a cooperative multiplayer game based on the Emmy® Award-winning series set in an epic fantasy world full of wonder, danger, and limitless adventure.
Xadia is in development for a PC release in 2025. It was also temporarily available in the Netflix mobile app in December 2024.
What I did:
... • Closely collaborated with artists and designers on new abilities, bosses and playable characters • Created the data-driven VFX and SFX systems and pipelines for contextual runtime effects • Authored tools for ability and NPC targeting logic/awareness, including the underlying maths, networked visual debugging tools, designer interfaces, and example/directed implementations • Implemented precise and tuneable aim assistance • Developed highly customisable projectile authoring logic, with visual trajectory calculation and prediction • Overhauled the "Gameplay Ability System" ability cooldowns and costs to work with client-authoritative ability instigation, including remote client prediction and rollback • Added several new features to our in-house scripting language, to empower designers and artists, and improve workflows • Provided visual tools wherever possible to help design, document, test and debug new features • Investigated obscure bugs through the murky depths of Unreal Engine
What I used:
... • C++ & Unreal Engine • "Gameplay Ability System" (an Unreal Engine plugin) • A proprietary Racket-based scripting language • Devops: Github, Perforce • Production: JIRA, Confluence
Funomena
Wattam is a Bafta-nominated game about the joys of friendship and discovery, from the imagination of Keita Takahashi (creator of Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy) and developer Funomena.
What I did:
... • Worked on visual scripted tools for design • Implemented layered, dynamic music system • Iterated on the complex custom physics that Wattam gameplay depended on • Worked on profiling and optimisation for both PC and console releases • Invextigated and fixed a huge number of bugs, all the way up to the game's eventual release in December 2019 • Automated and maintained the cross-platform build processes
What I used:
... • C# & Unity • Devops: Perforce, Github • Production: Monday
Experimental R&D
Funomena
Several R&D projects/prototypes over the course of ~1 year at Funomena, following the release of Wattam.
1. Social games for Meta Portal hardware
(in a team of 5)
What I did:
... • Investigated, extended and reported on the client's existing platform, Spark AR Studio • Constructed 2 complete multiplayer games using an engine that was not intended for game development
2. Collaborative card game prototypes in C#/Unity
(in a team of 2)
What I did:
... • A deep dive into asynchronous collaborative multiplayer mechanics • Used infrastructure I had previously created for Party Antix in order to rapidly prototype and test new ideas • Implemented systems and game rules to be swappable or modifiable at runtime, during playtests • This project lead to a larger future studio production (see [3] below)
3. An unannounced MMO in Unreal Engine
(in a team of 2-10)
What I did:
... • I was the sole engineer on a small team, prototyping an unannounced community-focused liveops game • Acted as both engineer and designer to iterate on both the overall game direction and tech decisions • Used my own prototypes from [2] and integrated finalised designs into the Unreal Engine project • Helped kickstart the project that grew to become the next major studio focus
What I used:
... • C# & Unity • C++ & Unreal Engine • JavaScript/TypeScript & Spark AR Studio • Normcore (Unity networking plugin) • Hardware: Meta Portal, Oculus Rift and Quest • Devops: Perforce, Github, Jenkins • Production: Monday
Party Antix
Funomena
An unreleased online social VR party game, that gained full funding before I left the company in 2021.
Players meet up with friends or match up with strangers, to try out casual minigames and share their customised characters and spaces, in a safe and playful environment.
The studio, Funomena, closed before the project was completed.
What I did:
... • Started as the sole developer of the prototype over a 3-month period • Implemented networked VR controls, matchmaking, and the multiplayer architecture for future development • Designed and created 6 different playable minigames, each using different expressive interfaces and interactions • Invested time into making the environment feel safe, with extra protections for personal space and player identity • Pitched the project to partners with Funomena, gaining enough funding for a team of 6 to move onto the project and continue development • Alongside this larger team, I helped create new minigames and experiences, added art and music, and gained further funding • I also created a large number of custom debugging and playtesting tools This project created the most challenging testing/debugging environments I've worked on to-date: How can I rigorously test an expressive, asymmetrical multiplayer VR game, when I can only wear one headset at a time? The only viable approach was to ask for help from a partner when testing. In retrospect, I wouldn't have it any other way - you can't expect to find the "fun" in an expressive multiplayer game without company.
What I used:
... • C# & Unity • Normcore (Unity networking plugin) • Hardware: Oculus Rift and Quest • Devops: Perforce, Github • Production: Monday
Yacht Club Games
"Shovel Knight: Showdown" is an expansion to the acclaimed platform game "Shovel Knight", introducing a multiplayer platform-fighter minigame with a roster of 20 playable characters.
What I did:
... • Ported and redesigned existing NPC mechanics into playable and balanced abilities • Designed and implemented the playable character "Reize" from their appearance as an NPC in a previous title • Iterated on character design and balance using playtest data
What I used:
... • C++ & a custom proprietary game engine • SVN
Yacht Club Games
"Shovel Knight: King of Cards" is an expansion to the acclaimed platform game "Shovel Knight", introducing new mechanics and a new story.
What I did:
... • Iterated on new and existing gameplay features • Worked on physics for new mechanics • Fixed engine bugs reported in previous projects
What I used:
... • C++ & a custom proprietary game engine • SVN
