Cameron Hall

Junior Software and Game Developer
Otago, NZ.

About

Highly motivated Junior Software and Game Developer with 1.5+ years of specialized experience in user-generated content (UGC) game development and a decade of hands-on technical exploration. Leveraging a strong foundation in Computer Science and Information Science, I excel at optimizing complex systems, designing robust backend/frontend solutions, and collaborating to deliver innovative, high-performance user experiences. Eager to apply advanced technical expertise and rapid learning ability to contribute to cutting-edge projects and drive continuous growth in the software industry.

Work

SauceXL
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Core Game Plugin Developer - Kotlin Frontend

Summary

Developed and optimized a custom game plugin, focusing on realistic in-game effects and efficient performance for user-generated content.

Highlights

Engineered a custom meteor plugin by integrating computational physics modeling, particle simulations, and vector mechanics to deliver realistic in-game effects.

Structured and optimized code for efficient crater generation and effect batching, ensuring smooth game performance without overloading the game tickrate.

Starfury Studios
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Junior Game Software Developer - Java Frontend & Backend

Summary

Refactored and optimized a legacy Java codebase, significantly improving system performance, reliability, and scalability for enhanced user experience.

Highlights

Revamped configuration systems for enhanced speed and reliability by migrating non-essential code to Spring/Tomcat microservices.

Refactored and expanded in-game pickups system, adding scalability, configurability, and developing build tools for streamlined development.

Redesigned custom furniture placement and shopping systems, implementing robust backends, real-time caching, and event-driven messaging for improved user experience.

Developed reusable menu builder utilities, speeding up menu implementations across the entire project.

Participated in QA testing sessions to identify and debug issues in new features, collaborating with the team to ensure system stability and functionality.

Spellbrook
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Core Game Developer - Kotlin Frontend & Backend

Summary

Designed and implemented core game systems in Kotlin, including a comprehensive magic system and robust data management solutions for the Minecraft platform.

Highlights

Designed and implemented a comprehensive magic system from scratch in Kotlin, encompassing structure, configuration systems, and custom spell mechanics.

Collaborated closely with artists, game designers, and developers to ensure seamless integration of the magic system with questing and leveling elements.

Developed fine-grained inventory control and data management systems tailored for the Minecraft platform, leveraging Bukkit/Paper, MongoDB, and MariaDB.

Designed and implemented an extensive automated world reset system, incorporating configurable generation settings and S3 cloud storage for robust player handling.

Hideaway
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Junior Software Developer & Quality Assurance Lead

Summary

Managed project tasks and contributed to key software development initiatives, including refactoring legacy systems and leading quality assurance efforts for various minigames.

Highlights

Managed task organization and project flow by writing, assigning, and delegating development tasks, ensuring project milestones were met.

Refactored and built new systems upon legacy code, significantly improving performance and maintainability across multiple key projects.

Developed comprehensive frontend and backend systems for various minigames, enhancing user engagement and gameplay functionality.

Implemented the backend and core structure for a player queuing system, optimizing user flow and system efficiency.

Led QA efforts on a private testing server, coordinating a small team to identify, track, and resolve bugs, consolidating public reports and ensuring clear documentation for developers.

Education

University of Otago

Bachelor of Science

Computer Science

Courses

Data Structures and Algorithms

Software Engineering

Database Systems

Machine Learning

Advanced Mathematics

Linear Algebra

Physics

Awards

Otago Class Act Award

Awarded By

Otago Region

Recognized as a top-achieving student for academic excellence, leadership, and community contributions in the Otago region.

Head Prefect

Awarded By

University of Otago

Led the student body, organized events, represented student interests, and mentored peers, fostering a positive school environment.

Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship

Awarded By

University of Otago

Awarded for demonstrated leadership potential, academic achievement, and community involvement, supporting further education.

Skills

Frameworks

Spring, Tomcat, Bukkit/PaperMC, Hibernate, JUnit, AssertJ, Apache Camel, Coroutines, Koin, Guice, Jackson, Gson, JDBC, NodeJS, ElasticSearch.

Databases

MongoDB, MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, GraphQL.

Game Development

Minecraft Plugins, Particle Systems, Vector Mechanics, Computational Physics, Mesh Collisions, Concurrency, Map-Building Tools.

Optimization

Code Refactoring, Microservices, Effect Batching, System Performance, Configuration.

Tools

Git/Gitlab, Trello, Plane, Linear, JetBrains IntelliJ IDE Suite, Netbeans, Gradle, Maven, Sentry, BlockBench, Blender, Adobe Suite.

Cloud/DevOps

Portainer, Docker, Tailscale, Github Actions, Kubernetes, AWS.

Programming

JVM, Kotlin, Java, JavaScript, Python, C/C++, Web Stack, Linux Systems.