Gameplay (and Creature) Programmer

1 Day ago • 4 Years + • Game Programmer

Job Summary

Job Description

Gameplay (and Creature) Programmer responsible for bringing creatures to life in a game about a field biologist interacting with a wide variety of mundane and fantastical creatures. The focus is on creating unsettlingly alive creatures using animation, physics, AI, and gameplay programming. Responsibilities include analyzing real animal movement, working with designers on gameplay prototypes (e.g., a prehensile tongue), creating robust systems responsive to player input, exploring Unreal's procedural VFX systems, and collaborating with artists and animators. The ideal candidate has 4+ years of professional game development experience, strong C++ skills, and comfort with vector math and basic physics. Experience with Unreal, science/biology, and procedural animation are beneficial.
Must have:
  • 4+ years professional game dev experience
  • Strong C++ background
  • Comfortable with vector math and basic physics
Good to have:
  • Unreal Engine experience
  • Interest in science and biology
  • Procedural animation experience

Job Details

Gameplay (and Creature) Programmer

We're looking for a programmer who can help us bring our creatures to life.

Our is about a field biologist interacting with a wide variety of mundane and fantastical creatures. We're trying to create moments that echo the mesmerizing strangeness and familiarity of real-life encounters with wild animals. Like a , a , or a but filtered through an aesthetic that includes classic fairytales, Jim Henson, and Junji Ito.

Your primary focus will be on finding programmatic ways to help our creatures feel unsettlingly alive. That's likely to include a mix of animation, physics, AI, and gameplay programming. It's OK if you don't have direct experience in all these areas but you should have a background that includes technically complex, player-facing systems.

Any experience with traditional gameplay programming would be helpful too. In this game creatures ARE gameplay so there's a lot of overlap between the various systems. The underlying goal for us is an experience that feels responsive which in this game is often synonymous with feeling alive.

This might be a good fit for you if you'd enjoy:

  • Analyzing real animal movement and behavior to figure out ways to improve our creatures' sense of liveliness.
  • Working with designers on gameplay prototypes, eg building a prehensile tongue that can "crawl" around the environment in a suitably stretchy, squishy way.
  • Creating robust that are responsive to player input, eg a belly being poked with a pencil.
  • Exploring Unreal's procedural VFX systems including and . Our goal is to create characters that can playfully respond to perturbation like .
  • Collaborating with character artists and animators on building and polishing our creatures.

Must haves

  • 4+ years of experience as a professional game developer
  • Strong background in C++
  • Comfortable with vector math and basic physics

Nice to haves

  • Experience with Unreal
  • An interest in science and biology
  • An interest in procedural animation

This role could be fully remote or you can join us in Los Angeles if you'd like.

If you think you'd be a good fit, please .

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About The Company

Giant Sparrow is a tiny video game company focused on creating surreal experiences people have never had before. Our dream is to make the world a stranger, more interesting place.

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

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