oliverneal.dev
Gameplay Programmer at Shiverbug Studios

Oliver Neal

Games Developer · Unity (C#)

I graduated from Teesside University with First Class Honours in Games Development, and my final year project won Best Games Programming and Development Artefact at ExpoTees 2026. I build gameplay systems in Unity: enemy AI, multiplayer netcode and simulations that stay fast under load.

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Portrait of Oliver Neal

About

A bit about me

I'm Oliver, a games developer working in Unity and C#. I graduated from Teesside University in July 2026 with First Class Honours in BSc (Hons) Games Development, and I've just started as a gameplay programmer at Shiverbug Studios.

The part of games I enjoy most is the systems layer: state machines driving enemy AI, multiplayer netcode, and the optimisation that lets thousands of entities simulate without dropping frames. My final year project, Cyber Station, scored 90 and won Best Games Programming and Development Artefact at ExpoTees 2026.

Everything below is playable, most of it on itch.io with source on GitHub. If you'd rather read about the engineering, the project breakdowns go deeper on six of them.

  • 1stBSc (Hons) Games Development
  • 90final year project grade
  • 8playable projects

Now

Gameplay Programmer at Shiverbug Studios

A ten week internship on an original IP, working in engine every day.

Out of Water in game screenshot: the seagull and turtle sitting on a pile of crates in an open beach level, surrounded by sand, palm trees and rocky cliffs

Internship · 13 Jul to 18 Sep 2026 · 10 weeks

Out of Water, an original IP

A 3D platformer collectathon built for two players on one sofa, in splitscreen. As a gameplay programmer on the team, I work in engine across:

  • State machines for gameplay behaviour
  • Refining and creating gameplay mechanics
  • Authoring and working with shaders in Shader Graph
  • Implementing visual effects (VFX)
  • Building a decoupled FMOD layer the audio team plugs into
  • Unity 6
  • C#
  • FSM / HSM
  • Shader Graph
  • VFX
  • FMOD

Skills

What I work with

Languages & engines
C#, Unity 2D / 3D, Shader Graph, Unreal Engine 5, Python
Gameplay & AI
Gameplay programming, systems design, finite & hierarchical state machines, AI navigation, Unity UI
Performance
Performance optimisation, time-sliced & multi-rate simulation, runtime NavMesh baking, profiling large entity counts
Multiplayer & services
Netcode for GameObjects, Unity Authentication, Relay, Lobbies, Cloud Save
Tools & workflow
Git, Visual Studio, JetBrains Rider, Figma, Trello, technical documentation

Projects

Solo projects

Newest first. Click a thumbnail to play the game; hover to see it in motion.

Cyber Station late game: cyan trains stretched along the platforms of a large neon station while crowds of passengers move through the concourse hover

Best Games Programming & Development Artefact · ExpoTees 2026

Cyber Station

Apr 2026

My final year project: a neon station management game where placement, passenger flow, ratings and progression all feed into each other. Passenger AI, train scheduling, staff, economy and save systems run together in one simulation. It scored 90 and won the games programming award at ExpoTees 2026.

  • Unity 3D
  • C#
  • AI Navigation
  • Simulation
Breakdown itch.io
Tile Turfer: blue and red teams battling to claim tiles across a pixel map, with a minimap and a fire rate power up

Tile Turfer

Jan 2026

A turf-war arena shooter where one territory percentage drives the difficulty, your fire rate and your attacks at once, across procedurally generated caves with runtime 2D navigation.

  • Unity 2D
  • C#
  • Procedural
  • Enemy AI
Breakdown itch.io GitHub Report
Minimalists: a stripped back 3D RTS map with blue and magenta bases, turrets and unit counts over each structure hover

Minimalists

Aug 2025

Minimalist 3D RTS with advanced enemy AI. Capture structures, commit forces by percentage and outthink opponents in anything from a duel to a four way free for all.

  • Unity 3D
  • C#
  • Enemy AI
  • RTS
Breakdown itch.io GitHub
Unicellular: thousands of glowing single celled organisms drifting across a dark field, running at 92 FPS hover

Unicellular

Feb 2025

Idle simulation stress-tested to 10,000 entities at once, kept smooth by finite state machines, a multi-rate tick and time-sliced proximity AI inside Unity's GameObject workflow.

  • Unity
  • C#
  • FSM
  • Optimisation
Breakdown itch.io GitHub
3D Netcode Tank Game: two Unity clients side by side, each showing the host and join lobby menu hover

3D Netcode Tank Game

Jan 2025

Server-authoritative multiplayer tank shooter on Unity Netcode for GameObjects: Relay-hosted sessions, cloud authentication and a 64-ray hitscan resolved on the server.

  • Unity 3D
  • C#
  • Netcode
  • Multiplayer
Breakdown GitHub
Pinnable: a metal bucket catching marbles fired from a cannon while dodging falling pins in a 2D arcade game hover

Pinnable

Mar 2024

A 2D arcade score-attack game: catch marbles from a moving cannon, dodge the pins, and survive a spawn director that ramps up the harder you play.

  • Unity 2D
  • C#
  • Arcade
  • Physics
Breakdown itch.io GitHub

Projects

Team projects

Group builds, with my individual contribution called out on each.

Space Bar Simulator: a retro futurist diner interior with checkerboard floors, red booths and neon strips

Space Bar Simulator

2025

A retro futurist bar simulator set on its own asteroid, a 1950s diner drifting through space.

Team project

  • University group build
Candy Corporate: pixel art top down view of the candy company storefront hover

Candy Corporate

Apr 2024

Pixel art candy company game built by a small team.

Team project
My role: level design, tile creation and pixel art integration.

itch.io

Case studies

Project breakdowns

Deeper technical write-ups of how six of these games actually work.

Cyber Station: a packed late game concourse with crowds of passengers moving between shops and platforms

Cyber Station

Placement, passenger flow and a six factor station rating system. Winner of Best Games Programming and Development Artefact at ExpoTees 2026.

 Minimalists: the Gridlock map with rows of capturable structures

Minimalists

A node conquest RTS pared back to essentials, and the enemy AI that plays it.

 Unicellular: a field of thousands of glowing cells

Unicellular

Keeping thousands of FSM driven organisms simulating smoothly in a single scene.

 Tile Turfer: blue and red teams fighting to claim tiles across a procedurally generated cave

Tile Turfer

A turf-war shooter where one territory percentage drives difficulty, fire rate and AI, over procedurally generated caves.

 Pinnable: a metal bucket catching marbles fired from a cannon while dodging pins

Pinnable

A 2D arcade catch game and the weighted spawn director, pin AI and physics loop underneath it.

 3D Netcode Tank Game: two clients connected in a hosted online session

3D Netcode Tank Game

Server-authoritative multiplayer on Unity Netcode for GameObjects, with a 64-ray hitscan and Relay sessions.

Education

Where I studied

  1. BSc (Hons) Games Development

    Teesside University

    Graduated July 2026 · First Class Honours

    My final year project scored 90 and won Best Games Programming and Development Artefact at ExpoTees 2026.

  2. FdSc Games Technologies

    Newcastle College University Centre

    Graduated July 2025 · 2:1 (Year 1 Distinction, Year 2 Merit)

  3. BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Creative Digital Media

    Newcastle College

    Distinction · View certificate (PDF)

Contact

Get in touch

I am open to gameplay and systems programming roles. If you think I would be a good fit for your team, I would be glad to hear from you.

Email me Download CV GitHub LinkedIn itch.io

[email protected]