Gameplay Programmer · C++ · Unreal Engine 4 & 5

C++ Gameplay Programmer with 2+ years of professional experience shipping games in Unreal Engine 4 and 5. Generalist by nature — across my professional work I've covered GAS architecture, multiplayer networking, performance optimization, UI, and tooling depending on what the project needed.

Currently building low-level depth beyond the engine: custom memory allocators, a dynamic array with manual memory management, and a simplified ECS — driven by a genuine interest in understanding the systems underneath UE5's abstractions. I integrate AI-assisted development as a deliberate practice: using LLMs to accelerate iteration while critically reviewing and owning every line of generated code.

Targeting an entry-level role at an AA or AAA studio. Open to relocation.

Scubalight Studios — Junior Gameplay Programmer (2+ years, 2021–2023)

Shipped two titles across UE4 and UE5 in a 3-person programming team.

• Sole architect of the GAS foundation on Don't Kill Rumble: base character, attributes, ability pipeline, and ability examples from scratch
• Led multiplayer networking foundations, establishing replication patterns used across the project
• Promoted to lead programmer after demonstrating end-to-end project ownership
• Inherited a shipping game (Junior Solutions) running at 25–30 FPS; profiled and optimized CPU, GPU, and RAM usage to reach a stable 60 FPS
• Reduced Blueprint Tick calls by an estimated 80%+ through profiling, refactoring, and event-driven replacements
• Built an in-game developer menu for runtime testing and QA tooling

These projects exist to build understanding of systems that engines abstract away — not to reinvent them, but to reason about them clearly.

Simple-ECS A simplified Entity Component System implemented in C++. Built to understand data-oriented architecture and how component-based design works at the memory level.

Allocators Custom memory allocators in C++: linear/bump, pool, and stack. Built to understand allocation strategies, fragmentation tradeoffs, and manual memory management patterns used in game engines.

Custom-Vector A dynamic array container implemented in C++20 with manual memory management. Built to understand how contiguous storage, growth strategies, and move semantics work beneath STL abstractions.

Chester the Chest

• Decoupled reactive inventory system using Delegates, allowing multiple systems to respond to state changes without circular dependencies
• Dynamic attribute modifier architecture to alter Character Controller parameters in real time

Through His Eyes

• Interaction system using Constraints and Linear Drives for realistic player-controlled mechanical manipulation
• Async Level Streaming pipeline managing memory across secondary threads to eliminate transition latency
• Data-driven inspection pipeline using Data Assets, allowing designers to integrate objects without code changes
• Context-aware narrative system using a priority queue and Gameplay Tags to trigger dialogue based on player state

pablofvillanueva@outlook.com linkedin.com/in/pablofvillanueva pablyco.github.io/portfolio