Oliver Neal

Profile

Games developer specialising in Unity (C#) gameplay systems: state-machine-driven enemy AI, multiplayer netcode, and simulations that stay fast under load. First Class Honours graduate in Games Development from Teesside University, winner of Best Games Programming and Development Artefact at ExpoTees 2026, and currently a Gameplay Programmer at Shiverbug Studios. Eight playable projects, with source on GitHub and breakdowns at oliverneal.dev.

Experience

• Gameplay Programmer — Shiverbug Studios (Jul – Sep 2026)
  • Ten-week internship on Out of Water, an original-IP 3D split-screen platformer collectathon for two players, working in engine daily.
  • Building gameplay systems on finite and hierarchical state machines, refining core mechanics, and authoring Shader Graph shaders and VFX.
  • Implementing a decoupled FMOD audio layer that the audio team plugs into directly.
  • Unity 6 · C# · FSM/HSM · Shader Graph · VFX · FMOD

Technical Skills

• Languages & Engines: C#, Unity (2D/3D), Shader Graph, Unreal Engine 5, Python
• Gameplay & AI: Gameplay programming, systems design, finite & hierarchical state machines, AI navigation (NavMesh), Unity UI
• 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

Highlighted Projects

• Cyber Station (Apr 2026) · Unity 3D · C# · AI Navigation · Simulation
  • Neon station management game where passenger AI, train scheduling, staff, economy, and a six-factor rating system run together in a single simulation.
  • Final-year project artefact: scored 90 and won Best Games Programming and Development Artefact at ExpoTees 2026.
• Tile Turfer (Jan 2026) · Unity 2D · C# · Procedural Generation · Enemy AI
  • Turf-war arena shooter where one territory percentage drives difficulty, fire rate, and enemy attacks, across procedurally generated caves with runtime 2D navigation.
• Minimalists (Aug 2025) · Unity 3D · C# · Enemy AI · RTS
  • Minimalist 3D RTS with advanced enemy AI: capture structures and commit forces by percentage in modes from duels to four-way free-for-alls.
• Unicellular (Feb 2025) · Unity · C# · FSM · Optimisation
  • Idle simulation stress-tested to 10,000 concurrent entities, kept smooth with finite state machines, a multi-rate tick, and time-sliced proximity AI.
• 3D Netcode Tank Game (Jan 2025) · Unity 3D · C# · Netcode · Multiplayer
  • Server-authoritative multiplayer tank shooter with Relay-hosted sessions, cloud authentication, and a 64-ray hitscan resolved on the server.
• Pinnable (Mar 2024) · Unity 2D · C# · Arcade · Physics
  • 2D arcade score-attack game with a weighted spawn director that ramps difficulty dynamically the better you play.

Team Projects

• Space Bar Simulator (Jan 2026) · Unreal Engine 5 · Blueprints · Team of 10
  • Retro-futurist bar simulator built for Beta Arcade, Teesside's studio-simulation module. Owned the player controller, interface-driven interaction architecture, and camera-blended station systems.
• Candy Corporate (Apr 2024) · Small team · Pixel Art
  • Pixel-art candy company game; led level design, tileset creation, and pixel-art integration.

Education

• BSc (Hons) Games Development — Teesside University (Jul 2026) — First Class Honours (80% overall); final-year project scored 84%, its artefact 90
• FdSc Games Technologies — Newcastle College University Centre (Jul 2025) — 2:1