G'day!
I'm Josh, a hardworking, team-oriented programmer who strives to write clean, cache friendly code. I’m always eager to learn and leverage my skills to facilitate unforgettable gameplay and narrative driven experiences.
I love working in teams and keeping busy
Over the years I've worked on several shipped titles and major franchises:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [Support Engineering]
(XS|PS5|XB1|PS4|PC) - Call of Duty: Vanguard
(XS|PS5|XB1|PS4|PC) - Call of Duty: Warzone
(XB1|PS4|PC) - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
(XB1|PS4|PC) - Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War [Pre-Production]
(XB1|PS4|PC) - Call of Duty: WWII
(XB1|PS4|PC) - Rugby League Live 4
(XB1|PS4|PC) - Don Bradman Cricket 17
(XB1/PS4/PC) - Casey Powell Lacrosse 16
(XB1/PS4/PC) - Smog Game
(iPhone/iPad) - Rugby League Live 2
(XBOX 360/PS3)
I also concurrently studied a Bachelor of Computer Science at RMIT University, graduating with Distinction, while shipping four of the above AAA titles.
I'm an adept programmer and love learning
I love coding and game development with a passion, and solving challenging problems by working with others to hit deadlines. I realize that I don't know everything, but I recognize my weak points and add it to my learning.
Over the years though I've honed my experience with the following:
- Languages:
C/C++, LUA, C#, Python, GSC. - Version Control Software:
Perforce, Git, Subversion. - Project Management Tools:
JIRA, Trello, Hansoft. - Software:
Visual Studio, Havok, InstaLOD, FMOD Studio - Engines:
Unreal Engine 5 / 4 / 3 (Licencee Version) and other industry leading proprietary technologies.
I'm a STEM diversity advocate and enjoy speaking and presenting
I believe everyone should be able to make games and that having diverse people brings a plethora of benefits to not only the team but the project as well.
To help with this, I've co-created a STEM scholarship to promote and inspire people from diverse backgrounds into games development and tech.
I also regularly speak at conferences, conventions and to media and provide advice for students and buddying game developers on how they can start making their own games.
Portfolio Reviews
If you'd like a CV or portfolio review please send me an email! I love to pay it forward and I've helped over 50 buddying developers land their first game development role since 2019.
Note 22/06/2024:
Due to the influx of requests due to Video Games Industry Layoffs I have an extremely large backlog of these to get through. Please be patient as I get through them :)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [Support Engineering]
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
A brief summary of my professional work experience, if you would like to see some more detail check out my LinkedIn!
Gravity Well
Engineering Director Aug 2022 - Present
Engineering Lead Jun 2023 - Aug 2024
Senior Engineer Aug 2022 - Jun 2023
Titles:
- Unannounced Title
Platforms TBA
Release Date TBA
Creating a new AAA title alongside a veteran team which includes the founding members of Infinity Ward (Call of Duty) and Respawn Entertainment (Titanfall, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order)
For our first AAA title, we have partnered with a large Western publisher as we create an original IP. We aren't talking about the game yet, but we're excited to show it to you in the future
Find out more at gravitywell.games
Chess Plus
Digital Director / Part Owner May 2024 – Present
"It's Not Chess It's Better!"
I'm creating the digital version of the Australian board game touted as 'Chess 2.0'
Sledgehammer Games, an Activision Studio
Senior Software Engineer Mar 2022 – Jul 2022
Software Engineer Jun 2017 – Mar 2022Titles:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Core / Systems [Support Engineering]
Xbox Series | PlayStation 5 | Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped Late 2022
- Call of Duty: Vanguard | Core / Systems
Xbox Series | PlayStation 5 | Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped Late 2021
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Core [Pre-Production]
Xbox Series | PlayStation 5 | Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped Late 2020
- Call of Duty: Warzone | Core
Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped Early 2020
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Core
Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped Late 2019
- Call of Duty: WWII | Core / Live Ops
Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped Late 2017
As a Senior Software Engineer with Core Engineering, I predominately deal with core game engine and low-level system programming in both single and multi-player networked environments. I have worked on supporting marquee features for Call of Duty titles in the last several years such as Large Map Technology and Destruction.
Other responsibilities:
- As one of eight founding members, I helped plan and heavily contributed to onboarding for the Melbourne studio expansion to 150+ developers over two years.
- Author of a Slackbot Framework which is widely used across Activision for: JIRA task creation, anniversary and promotion celebrations and hosting “Ask Leadership” sessions
- Culture Committee Member, Fire Warden and First Aider
Big Ant Studios
Junior Programmer Jan 2016 – Jun 2017
Titles:
- Rugby League Live 4
Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped Mid 2017
- Don Bradman Cricket 17
Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped late 2016
- Casey Powell Lacrosse 16
Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PC
Shipped early 2016
As a Junior Programmer I work with an interdisciplinary agile team of artists, designers, sound engineers and programmers to design, prototype and implement new features within our existing proprietary engine technology. I ultimately strive to write clean, readable and maintainable code in C++ and LUA to meet deadlines on time and under memory budget.
Responsibilities include:
- Ownership of audio programming and meta-game systems such as match objectives and statistics, porting them from older projects and making improvements where possible.
- Implement in-game UI closely with art and related gameplay systems with design departments.
- Complete additional gameplay and core system tasks.
- Collaborating with the Senior Sound Designer, utilizing FMOD Studio as a middle-ware audio solution to implement new audio features as well as maintaining the existing sound code. Primarily focusing on sports title commentary and sound effect systems.
- Responsible for platform holder leaderboard implementation and in particular dealing with Microsoft's Xbox Developer Portal.
- Writing and maintaining engine plugins and external tools with the tech team to ensure productivity across numerous departments using C# and Python.
- General bug fixing and resolving Microsoft XR's and Sony TRC's to ensure our titles are submission compliant for the respective platform holders.
- Additional voice acting
Double Mercury Entertainment Pty Ltd
Founder/Programmer Jan 2015 – Jan 2016
Titles:
- Smog Game
iPhone / iPad
Shipped Late 2015
Founder at Double Mercury Entertainment where I was the sole programmer on Smog Game, an award winning eco-themed colour matching endless runner for the iPhone and iPad, which shows children the benefit of reducing their 'Smog' carbon footprint. www.smog-game.com
Responsibilities Include:
- Implementing game mechanics and core programming (ad network/analytics integration etc) in the licencee version of Unreal Engine 3 using UScript, C++, Obj-C and Kismet.
- Responsible for all business development related activities as company director:
Incorporating Double Mercury Entertainment as a company, signing/formulating contracts (e.g. UE3 licence), regular meetings with our awesome supporters (PwC/Epic Games/The Arcade/IGDA Melbourne/GDAA - thanks!), entering award and trade shows etc.
- Overall vision holder for the game and at some point I have touched every aspect of Smog Games' development, from: UI to Sound, Quality Assurance to VFX and PR/Marketing etc.
Speaker: Various Conferences and Conventions
Speaker Jul 2013 – Present
I've been invited to speak at various conferences and conventions, primarily talks focused on providing advice for students and budding game developers.
Keynotes:
- DigiCon (2016)
Panelist:
- Game Connect Asia Pacific (2022),
- Academy of Interactive Entertainment (2018, 2019, 2020),
- PAX Online (2020),
- PAX Australia (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019),
- Oz Comic-Con (2015)
Lectures:
- Tech Games Fest / Cause and Effect Gamers (2021),
- Swinburne University (2019),
- Game Connect Asia Pacific (2019),
- Happy Brain Education (2017),
- iiiConference (2016),
- ACMI ScreenFutures (2016),
- RMIT University Careers Advisers Seminar (2016),
- "Hop into the World of Crossy Road" - Apple Store, Sydney Event (2015),
- Victorian Education in Games Summit (2015),
- Computer Games Boot Camp - Monash University (2013)
(VOLUNTEER) Epic Games
User Group Founder March 2016 – Jun 2017
As the groups founder I organized and ran Unreal Engine community events on behalf of Epic Games in Melbourne, Australia one of the burgeoning capitals of game development in the world.
Unreal Engine Melbourne is Epic's largest user group in Australia with over 250+ members. The meetup provides events such as technical talks, networking events and launch parties:
meetup.com/unreal-engine-melbourne
Epic Games provides official sponsorship through event assistance and supplying promotional merchandise such as NVIDIA Shield consoles, signage and assistance with promotion on their social channels.
Epic Games also provides Skype / Hangouts talks to get feedback, to see how they can better support the group, or just chat in general.
- Unannounced Title
Personal Projects
Some commercial and non commercial personal projects I've worked on!
iPhone/iPad endless runner.
Smog Game is a color matching, eco-themed endless runner for the iPhone/iPad.
- Sole programmer and co-designer who implemented game mechanics in UnrealScript/Kismet and core programming (ad networks/analytics integration) with C++ and Obj-C in Unreal Engine 3 (licencee).
- Responsible for all business development related activities as company director (e.g. contract negotiation with Epic Games, Apple, PwC etc ).
- Overall vision holder for the game. As the Founder I have touched every aspect of Smog Game's development: from Design to Project Management to PR etc.
GLSL audio responsive desktop wallpaper
A small abstract audio responsive 'speaker' for your desktop created in HLSL for the Wallpaper Engine Steam Workshop. It now has over 6,000 downloads!
Crank up your favourite tunes, sit back and relax.
Popular Steam Workshop weapons for Garry's Mods 'Trouble in Terrorist Town' mode
For a weekend project, a friend and I co-created some custom Steam Workshop weapons for Garry's Mods.
The Silent AWP and Backstab Knife, which have custom gameplay mechanics and art assets, promote the "Vanilla" tenants of patience and stealth in the social deduction 'TTT" game mode.
The weapons are highly rated and now have over 10,000 downloads between them.
- Sole programmer and co-designer who implemented game mechanics in UnrealScript/Kismet and core programming (ad networks/analytics integration) with C++ and Obj-C in Unreal Engine 3 (licencee).
Contact me
