Hi there, my name’s Davey Wreden, I was the director of Stanley Parable and Beginner’s Guide, and I’m looking to fill two programming positions for a team on a new game I’m developing. I want to produce games that are beautiful, meditative, thoughtful, and sad; but more importantly, I want to create a development studio that feels warm and inviting, a place where talented people come together to challenge one another in a constructive way, support one another emotionally, and put their egos aside in service of making the game great.
Below are descriptions of the two roles I’m hiring for, and below each are instructions for how to apply. Right now we are in the early stages of the new game, the jobs would involve a lot of prototyping, experimentation, and autonomy.
We are committed to building a culturally diverse team and strongly encourage applications from people of diverse or marginalized genders, ethnicities and backgrounds. If you identify as such, I’d especially love to hear from you.
Gameplay Programmer
We are looking for a Gameplay Programmer / Game Feel Designer who can help us create a lively world that feels enjoyable and rewarding to interact with. The game is in 3D, played in third person, ala zelda or mario. We are looking for a designer who can prototype, implement, and polish various tiny mundane tasks such as watering a garden or pouring tea, to give them a sense of charm and whimsy. This role will be responsible for the moment-to-moment experience of playing the game, and should be self-directed in figuring out how to make the core gameplay loop feel enjoyable.
Specific Responsibilities + Experience:
- Rapidly prototype gameplay ideas
- Animation sync systems between character and environment
- Camera handoff between player controlled, dialog, cutscene
- Fine tune controls for a sense of playful ease and comfort
- Item / inventory management
- Experience/interest in developing UI is a plus
- Proficient in Unreal 4, including ample familiarity with the Blueprint system, or extensive knowledge of C++
- Capable of working independently, keeping on-task and motivated.
- Ability to breakdown tasks with accurate time estimates, from high-level components to smaller tasks.
This is a full time, salaried position with competitive compensation and benefits. The job can be done remotely, though we will have on-site offices in Austin and Vancouver BC.
Please include specific skills you would bring to a new project, as well as any links to current and/or past projects. Send your work to daveywreden@gmail.com with the subject line “Gameplay Programmer”
Systems Engineer
We are looking for a systems programmer who can help develop the framework for a lively world full of activity, to monitor and manage the various events of the world. This includes developing AI for characters in the world, to make the characters feel as natural and fun to be around as possible. This will also involve building tools to help designers/writers easily insert new content into the game.
Specific Responsibilities + Experience:
- Develop AI for characters, to determine when and where they should perform various actions
- Manage character movement/navigation in a 3D environment
- Build storage for the game’s vast amount of content and data, such as character dialogue. The game will pull from this data pool at random times to create a generative series of events.
- Making tools/nodes for unreal which can be used by the designer to translate the high-level data down into specific character behaviors.
- Proficient in Unreal 4, including ample familiarity with the Blueprint system, or extensive knowledge of C++
- Capable of working independently, keeping on-task and motivated.
- Ability to breakdown tasks with accurate time estimates, from high-level components to smaller tasks.
This is a full time, salaried position with competitive compensation and benefits. The job can be done remotely, though we will have on-site offices in Austin and Vancouver BC.
Please include specific skills you would bring to a new project, as well as any links to current and/or past projects. Send your work to daveywreden@gmail.com with the subject line “Systems Engineer”
