Written for Game Systems Engineer roles
Game systems engineering
Postings for this role usually ask for depth in a few named engineering domains rather than all of them. These are the five I can show work for, with the projects behind each. Most of it is public — open repos, or something deployed you can go and use, some are still work-in-progress.
01Gameplay
A C++ core with a Blueprint layer over it, so designers can tune behaviour without a compile cycle. The write-up covers the systems and the scoping decisions, including the ones that turned out wrong. Code is not public, but I would be happy to give a demonstration.
One Man's PoisonIn development
A solo-developed third-person survival-horror game in Unreal Engine 5, turning a missing-person case into a focused vertical slice built around investigation, scarcity, and systemic threat.
02Tools
Editor tooling in C++ and Slate, plus an engine plugin that adds a third-party service to a native editor menu. Tools work for other people to use, not scripts I ran once.
Physics Placement AssistIn development
An in-progress Unreal Engine 5.6 editor plugin that turns manual prop placement into an undoable physics-assisted workflow using the editor world's Chaos scene.
Crucible SCM2025
A self-hosted Git platform built for game teams — LFS with pluggable backends, file locking, engine-aware policies, and an Unreal Engine plugin that puts it in the editor's revision control menu.
UE Twitch NativeIn development
An in-progress Unreal Engine 5 runtime plugin that turns Twitch Channel Point redemptions into Blueprint-ready gameplay events and keeps game-owned rewards synchronized through the Helix API.
03Online services
Live third-party APIs consumed from inside the engine and from web services — auth, event subscriptions, and the failure handling.
UE Twitch NativeIn development
An in-progress Unreal Engine 5 runtime plugin that turns Twitch Channel Point redemptions into Blueprint-ready gameplay events and keeps game-owned rewards synchronized through the Helix API.
streamer.live2025
A self-hosted Laravel CMS for streamers and creator communities — a page builder, Twitch and Discord automation, Fourthwall merch, analytics, and moderation in one platform.
04UI
Slate and UMG on the engine side; on the web side a sandboxed live-preview editor. The Taniti project is the research end of the same discipline — wireframes and usability testing rather than implementation.
UE Twitch NativeIn development
An in-progress Unreal Engine 5 runtime plugin that turns Twitch Channel Point redemptions into Blueprint-ready gameplay events and keeps game-owned rewards synchronized through the Helix API.
Oshi Lab2026
A browser-based theme editor for MyOshi profiles. Lets you write Custom CSS and HTML against a realistic demo profile, preview it safely, and export only your own code.
Taniti Tourism Website (HJP1)2020
A research-led website mockup for a fictional island destination, developed from persona and information architecture through a nine-screen InVision prototype and remote usability testing.
05Web development
Laravel applications and static-site work, including passwordless email-link auth and a documentation platform with full-text search.
Forge2024
A Laravel 12 work platform that folds project planning, issue tracking, a support desk and feedback boards into one application instead of four subscriptions.
Codex2026
A Confluence-style documentation platform and the sister application to Forge — nested page trees, revision history, native diagrams and full-text search.
ompgame.com2026
The marketing and press site for One Man's Poison. It's an Astro build with a press kit, devlog, live roadmap and a feedback system.
patrickbarnhardt.info (2026 rebuild)2026
The current version of this portfolio: an Astro rebuild that turns years of static HTML, project media and resumé history into structured, maintainable content.
What I can't claim
- I have not shipped a commercial game. One Man's Poison is in development and unreleased; the project before it was cancelled before release due to cost. The closest things I have shipped to real users are mods, plugins and web applications.
- I have not shipped a C# project. What I have is a C# course during my Associate's Degree which was game-focused, Java through my Bachelor's Degree (mostly for Android) and since, regular Apex — which is a strongly typed C-family language and reads much like Java — and Unreal's own build tooling, which is C# though I don't generally have to change much there. Close enough that I would not be starting from zero and could get up-to-speed quickly, but I am not comfortable calling myself a C# developer.
- I have had the developer title since 2023. Before that the work was still programming without the title on it: VBScript automation for a document capture pipeline and custom PHP on a company site I maintained but did not build. If a posting means five years under a developer title specifically, I am short of it; if it means five years writing code that people depended on, I am not.
Everything above links to the archive, where each project lists the technologies it used. The tags are links too, so if you want every project that touched a particular thing, that is one click from any of them.
If it is easier to skim on paper, the printable resumé is two pages.