Hi! I’m Ciarán.
I’m a Gameplay & Systems Programmer with 6+ years of experience working on shipped commercial games.
I’ve worked on everything from rhythm-based multiplayer combat to large-scale factory automation where players can issue natural-language commands to their machines.
I love tackling the technical challenges that sit between innovative design and juicy-feeling gameplay.
You can play and learn more about my work below.
See my other creations page that showcases my work as an audio engineer. filmmaker, and musician.
Brave New Wonders - Factory Automation
Gameplay & Systems Programmer
At City From Naught, I’m one of two engineers building a factory automation game where players command intelligent automatons using natural language instructions for complex tasks and logistics — live Steam Demo, full release planned for August 2026
What I Worked On
architected several large-scale gameplay and simulation systems using Unity DOTS/ECS, enabling performant factory simulation over thousands of active entities
extended and maintained a natural-language command system backed by an LLM, allowing players to write plain-text instructions that drive automaton and production behaviors
built and maintained an automated testing pipeline for gameplay systems across C# and TypeScript, supporting hot-reload regression testing and daily automated validation through GitHub Actions
designed and implemented a dynamic power grid system that intelligently connects entities based on contextual priority, with manual connection tools for player control
improved automaton pathfinding by implementing a priority-tilting system to naturally reduce congestion and traffic jams in large production layouts
built and maintained several in-game UI systems and menus, working closely with a designer to translate mockups and specs into functional in-game interfaces using OneJS and Unity UI Toolkit
developed a custom ECS-integrated audio system that links FMOD to simulation events for dynamic, spatialized factory soundscapes
A fold Apart: Recrafted - Emotional Folding paper puzzles
Gameplay & Systems Programmer
At Lightning Rod Games, I worked on a standalone rerelease of A Fold Apart (2020) featuring upgraded visuals for new platforms and a new story DLC chapter — release planned for March 2026
What I Worked On
implemented a visual transition system combining material swaps and rendering techniques to handle seamless character-aging transitions as they move through papers
developed a context-aware follower companion AI used in new content, supporting new narrative and gameplay moments
extended the cutscene system to handle smooth transitions between gameplay and cinematics while coordinating follower AI behaviours
designed and implemented sound effects for new content and integrated all audio using FMOD
Neon Override - survival roguelike shooter
Gameplay & Systems Programmer
At Lightning Rod Games, I worked on a survival roguelite shooter where you play as a synthetic consciousness trying to break free of your digital cyber-prison —released demo on Steam (2024)
What I Worked On
designed and programmed combat — shooting, dashing, secondary weapons, status effect system, auto-firing abilities, enemy AI and customizable spawn patterns/rules etc.
designed and programmed an extensive upgrade system — a combination of level up and shop-based progression that supports branching trees, a changing economy, dynamic tooltips, etc. Creating upgrades and trees is made easy for designers with a variety of custom editor tools.
designed and programmed a branching narrative system that serves the player a wide variety of story moments through video call conversations, text chat conversations and barks during gameplay — the system uses knock out lists sorted by priority (à la Hades).
designed and programmed a versatile player action system that allowed designers to customize state flow between actions and attacks using timelines, blending between root motion and scripted motion when desired
designed and programmed a dynamic metronome system that allowed several game elements to listen and react to any musical subdivisions
built and programmed UI for the shop, HUD, loadout selection and several other menus.
responsible for all sound design and implementation
Password: N30n!24
Cozy Harbour - Mystery/ Horror Soulslike RPG
Gameplay & Systems Programmer
At Lightning Rod Games, I worked on a prototype that combined a dense choice-matters adventure RPG (à la Disco Elysium) with isometric soulslike combat.
What I Worked On
designed and programmed an interactive dialogue system that supported branching conversations, dynamic pop-ups and custom commands (for animations, camera movement, cutscenes, gameplay moments etc.).
built and programmed all dialogue UI elements
designed and programmed a versatile player action system that allowed designers to customize state flow between actions and attack combos using timelines, blending between root motion and scripted motion when desired
designed and programmed combat — a seamless blend of melee and ranged combat, lock-on system, enemy AI, QTEs, stealth and perception systems etc.
designed and programmed fog of war mechanic using a combination of shader and rendering techniques to support various level design approaches
designed and surfaced enemy behaviour trees and cutscene system to use visual scripting, so that designers could more easily iterate
Rock Gods - Multiplayer Rhythm Brawler
Gameplay & Systems Programmer
At Lightning Rod Games, worked on a multiplayer prototype that merged free-flowing hack & slash combat with rhythm elements.
What I Worked On
designed and programmed rhythm combat that scaled, coordinated and queued enemy attacks to musical time while displaying and validating timed player parries — all easily tweaked and tuned from the editor using timelines
fully implemented online co-op gameplay across a network using Photon, syncing all rhythm gameplay to maintain immersion
designed and programmed a dynamic metronome system that allowed several game elements to listen and react to any musical subdivisions without losing synchronization over the internet
designed and programmed player controller and attack combo system
designed and surfaced enemy behaviour trees to use visual scripting, so that designers could more easily iterate
responsible for all sound design and implementation
Scot Free - Arcade Party Minigames
Lead Programmer & Game Designer
I teamed up with three other developers to enter a game jam which provided us with the theme Shortcuts.
Using Unity, we created a WarioWare-inspired game centered around a young student named Scot who is cheating on a test — taking shortcuts at school.
Scot Free earned 1st place of over 60 submissions. Not long after, we ported the game to mobile and shipped it to the Google Play Store.
What I Worked On
designed and programmed the core game loop and state flow
designed and programmed minigames
ported Scot Free to mobile, being mindful of performance and ensuring controls for movement and minigames felt juicy and intuitive
responsible for all sound design and implementation