Brandon Garvin
Self-taught Senior Unreal Engine Engineer with a focus on Console Porting, Gameplay, and UI
Who Am I?
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Early On
My journey in game development didn’t start in an office, but with the level editors for games like Age of Mythology and making addons for Garry’s Mod. That early passion for modding quickly evolved into teaching myself C++ and C#, and I dove straight into challenging topics like building my own small game engines. I experimented with everything I could get my hands on—Irrlicht, Source, GameMaker, Unity, and more. When Unreal Engine 4 went live in 2014, it immediately became my engine of choice due to it’s code-base being fully available to modify in any way I wanted.
Professional Career
I began my professional career in 2016 at FarSight Studios as a QA Engineer, working on titles like Pinball Arcade and Stern Pinball Arcade. My significant programming experience quickly proved to be a powerful asset, blurring the lines between quality assurance and development as I began implementing features while still handling my QA duties. The real catalyst for my transition to a full-time engineer was the studio’s decision to adopt Unreal Engine. As the only employee with prior experience in the engine, I was tapped to lead the charge. My engineering work from that point on included contributions to .
As a key developer on the studio’s first Unreal Engine titles, my role naturally evolved into being the resident expert for the engine. It even says so in the credits for PBA Pro Bowling, Unreal Expert was literally my title. It wasn’t uncommon to have a line of colleagues at my door waiting to ask questions, and I effectively taught our team the ins-and-outs of UE4. This mentorship and deep knowledge of the engine paved the way for me to eventually become a Lead Programmer, working alongside a team of several engineers on multiple successful projects.
Over the years, I’ve developed a reputation for being the person you call for the really nasty bugs—the kind that feel impossible to solve. I enjoy the challenge of deciphering a convoluted save-game system to stop players from losing their data or fixing lighting that’s completely broken only in a final production build. But I don’t just fix things; I build them. I’ve had the opportunity to architect major gameplay systems from the ground up, including tournament frameworks, character customization systems, custom build tools, editor tools, and reusable UI components used across several titles.
Final Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of game creation and am constantly learning new tools, programming languages, and ways of thinking. This drive has led me to start many projects, from small experiments to more ambitious undertakings like my indie twin-stick shooter, Starwave Defender. I also enjoy sharing what I’ve learned when I have time. At the end of the day, from my first script mod to my latest project, I’m still that person who just loves figuring out how games work and then building them better.
Notable Skills
Overall Experience
- 8+ years of professional experience
- 12+ years of Unreal Engine experience
- 17+ years of programming experience
Languages
- C++ / C#
- Lua / Bash / Python
Development Skills
- Git / Perforce
- Building / Testing / Publishing for Console Platforms
- Performance Optimization (Unreal Insights, Pix, Razor, Etc.)
- Management of small, remote teams
- Multiplayer Gameplay
- Common UI / UMG / Slate
- Custom Unreal Editor tools
- Data-driven programming
- Physics-based gameplay
- Multi-threaded systems
Other Skills
- Classical Guitar
- Music Theory
- System Administration (Windows / Linux)
- Hardware Emulation