About

Who Am I?

Hey there! I'm Joscha Auwärter, Game Developer and Producer from Cologne, Germany.
During and after my M.Sc in Computer Science (Focus "Game Technology") I have been working in the Games Industry for roughly 3 years in various fields.
I am currently looking for new roles as an Engineer or Producer.

Expertise

Skills

Programming

C/C++ (incl. Unreal C++, Blueprints)

C#, Java
Python, bat, powershell

Review & Testing

Participate and hold reviews.
Give feedback on coding features.Set up CI/CD pipelines, and implement tests.
Certificed ISTQB Tester

Agile Project Management

Implementing SCRUM Frameworks. Providing owner- and leadership for a team. Creating roadmaps and planning deliverables.
Risk Management, holding 1on1s and team meetings

Tutoring

Explaining concepts to others. Holding workshops and mediating meeting culture

UI / UX Development

Implementing UI features. Reading up on Design Thinking and UI/UX methodology

Game Design

Implementing Gameplay always requires being able to think like a designer and from the players perspective

Tools

Game Engines

UE 4/5 - Gameplay Systems, UMG/Slate, Designer & Editor Tools
Unity Engine - Gameplay Systems, Mecanim, UI

Office Applications

MS Office, Google Suite, hacknplan, Asana, Miro, Trello, Spreadsheet Calculations

Version Control

Perforce, Git, Git LFS

Including setup of build pipelines for those tools with Jenkins or Gitlab CI/CD


Basic Multimedia Skills

Blender, FMOD Implementations, Audacity usage, GIMP

Miscellaneous

Web technologies (CSS, HTML, JS, SQL, PHP)
LaTeX
Android Development
Experience

Work Experience

You can find current work samples over on my GitHub sample project

Technical Producer - Farbspiel Interactive GmbH From 2021

Moderating planning the Development Process using the SCRUM Framework. Based on the framework presented in Clinton Keiths "Agile Game Development with Scrum
Authoring the product backlog and supervising milestone deliverables for a team of seven.
Developing features within Unreal Engine 4/5. Implementing supportive Gameplay Features. Implemented UI framework, and menu screens. Designed and set up the CI/CD Pipeline with Gitlab CI/CD.

Steam Page

Company Homepage

Game Developer at Rivers and Wine Studios GmbH 2020-2021

Prototyping and developing various gameplay and backend systems for Upside Drown.
Designing and implementing our CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins
Implementing interfaces for a FMOD integration.
Implementing a dialogue system based on the yarnspinner specification. Setting up the UI framework for menu screens with UMG.
The game is no longer in development.

Steam Page

Company Homepage

Academic Assistant at University of Applied Sciences 2017-2020

Tutoring (teaching and supporting) various bachelor's courses with a focus on game development related courses.

  • Game Programming - Vector math, algebra, Quaternions, simulations, memory management
  • Game Console Programming - Developing for PS Vita
  • Datastructures & Algorithms

Education

Education

Consecutive Master of Science Degree at Trier University of Applied Sciences.
Computer Science Masters degree with specialized modules for Games such as:

  • High Performance Computing
  • Advanced Game Technology
  • Interactive Physical Simulation

Thesis - "Creating Dynamic Behavior and Dialogue Responses Using a Rule-Based System" Developed as an Unreal Engine 4 Plugin
Grade: 1.6 - US GPA ~3.6 A-

Graduated with a Bachelor Degree from the Trier University of Applied Sciences in 2016.
The Digital Media and Games study starts off with a foundation of computer science courses, and provides numerous game specific courses in higher semesters.
Later on there is an emphasis on (teamfocused) projects, such as the interdisciplinary teamproject, where you collaborate with other students from the design and art department

Most notable courses attended:

  • Game Programming
  • Game Console Programming - Developing on a playstation vita
  • Computer Graphics (OpenGL)

Bachelor's thesis on Game AI - Behavior Trees
Grade: 1.9 - US GPA ~3.4 A-

My Work

Recent Work

Belonging

1st Person Detective Adventure with a strong narrative focus.I was the Technical Producer for this title, and responsible for planning deliverables, roadmaps, and the Sprint Process
I also worked within Unreal Engine 4/5, and was responsible for Gameplay Features, UI and Build Automation.

Steam Page

Upside Drown

Upside Drown confronts the player with the utmost depths of human personality. The player slips into the role of Nora, a young girl in search of her own identity. Responsible for Gameplay and System Programming using the Unreal Engine 4, C++ and Blueprints.
Winner Best Concept - German Dev Days Aways 2019
Winner Best Concept - GameUp! Contest 2019

Website

Follow the Vessel!

Game created in collaboration with the Psychology Faculty at Trier University. It was used to measure childrens' frustration levels, that are tasked to follow a spaceship while the surroundings are much more interesting and enjoyable. I was responsible for planning, AI, menu screens, and gameplay metrics.
Implemented in Unity with C#, working as a team of 5 over the course of about 6 months.

Website

Side Projects

Gamejams and Study Projects

GGJ20 - Disaster Date

You have great date, but around you, shit is going down! Make sure you fix all the problems, and make you're date feel good <3

Website

Pathtracer

A little Pathtracer I wrote as an assignment for the courses Advanced Game Technology and High Performance Computing.
It uses GPGPU with Nvidia CUDA as framework and supports diffuse, reflective and refractive materials. Written in C++ using OpenGL.

Squad-based AI

For my Bachelor's thesis i developed a Squad-based AI, using influence maps, blackboards and behavior trees, providing an AI in a turn-based strategy game with information, in order to make informed decisions.
Implemented in Unity with C#.

Rubik's Cube

Implemented a Rubik's Cube from scratch with a PS Vita DevKit. It has front- and backtouch controls, aswell as lighting and tangent-space normalmapping.
Implemented in the PSVita SDK using C++ and cg shader language.

Westerland Altis-Life

For 2 years I participated as scripter and later on as server owner and project lead of a 100+ community for a modded Arma III server. Held community meetings and meetings with other scripters. All in all a very community based developement style, focused on new gameplay features and the community aspects of the game.

Gameplay Prototyping and Metrics

Done as an assignment for a course called 'Gameplay Prototyping and Metrics'. Developed a small gameplay prototype, did playtests, gathered playerdata and did questionnaires to improved certain areas of the game.
Implemented in Unity with C#.

madworld

A little game about radicality. Made during a gamejam of The Federal Agency for Civic Education Germany. It's a sidescrolling beat-em-up where you play as one of many radials. Implemented character controls and a chainable combo system for combat.
Implemented in Unity with C#. Working in a team of 6 over a weekend.

Website

Xtreme Party Host

Global Game Jam 2019 Entry
Keep your party guests entertained. The guests have a sims like needs system, and you have to clean after them aswell as provide them with new drinks and snacks.

Website

Mushroom Forest

Global Game Jam 2018 Entry
Save the forest from the red infestation that's creeping and consuming everything in it's path. Place, organize and upgrade your mushrooms to save as much of the forest as you can. Worked in a team of 9 (+1 sound designer) over a weekend, implemented in Unity with C#.

Website

Turrdeturr

Nordic Game Jam 2017 Entry
Asymmetrical local multiplayer. Survive as a mouse or catch them as a cat.
Worked in a team of 4 over a weekend, implemented in Unity with C#.

Website

Rogg'n'Roll

Global Game Jam 2017 Entry
Navigate an unusual team consisting of a rat and a toast through a dark level. Use echolocation when throwing that bread to see properly. Worked in a team of 9 over a weekend, implemented in Unity with C#.

Website

Geh mir nicht auf die Nüsse

Rocket Beans Community GameJam 2016 Entry A little game about grocery shopping with a nut intolerant kid. Written in C# with Unity.

Website

Get in Touch

Contact

Feel free to contact me to offer jobs, request additional information, ask questions, send feedback or anything else!

joscha.auwaerter[at]outlook.com

@ShenToza

Joscha Auwärter

Code Samples