Ryan Jones

Concord, CA · ryanj@creaturetime.com

A Tools Programmer and Content Creator with a proven record of developing impactful tools and scripts that empower content creators. I leverage extensive experience with diverse DCCs (Digital Content Creation tools) to streamline workflows and deliver high-quality digital experiences.


Experience

Game Developer

CreatureTime LLC (Founder) - Remote

As Content Creation

Scaled Wyvern

Conceived and delivered a highly realistic, user-friendly wyvern avatar base for VRChat, successfully launched and sold on Gumroad.

Furality Promotion Video
Wyvern Gear Accessory Video

  • Engineered the avatar for intuitive use, making the end-result accessible to new users.
  • Provided direct customer support, resolving issues to maintain product quality and user satisfaction.
  • Managed end-to-end merchandising, driving sales and fostering direct customer engagement through promotion and communication.

As Game Developer

Unannounced Project

Game development for an unannounced multiplayer FPS game using Unreal Engine 5.

  • Research and development for the game prototype.
  • Writing internal documentation for the project (overview, scope, and vertical slices/milestones).
  • Planning iterative development for releases.
  • Recruit people to help with game development.
HyperCollider LLC (Contract Game Development)

Contracted game developer for an unannounced Unity game.

  • Given an abandoned project and extended the existing code to support the game deliverables.
  • Developed a Sequence Graph Editor to handle dialogue and other sequence triggers (such as sound, screen fades, and etc).
  • Converted existing Final Draft files into game data for dialogue.
  • Provided deliverables that allowed the client to play through the game during major milestones.
  • Designed mini-games ("Wordle" with numbers, memory game, and action timer game).
February 2024 - Present

Tools Programmer

Ready At Dawn - Irvine, CA / Remote

Worked at Ready At Dawn for a total of 7 years as a Tools Programmer. Wrote tools for various DCCs (Maya, Zbrush, Substance Painter, etc) and their proprietary game engine.

Lone Echo · Echo VR · Lone Echo 2 · Deformers

  • Worked with the tools team to come up with a solution for exception reporting and implemented it end-to-end using the Django API.
  • Set up a meeting to go over the history of the unit tests with the rest of the team and shared possible solutions and received feedback from the rest of the tools team. After changes were made, needed to inform the test team of the changes and new workflow for reporting results.
  • Discussed with a couple stakeholders from various teams to improve performance and contain necessary features for searching, thumbnails, and navigating the viewer. Improved the performance and optimized memory usage.
  • Pitched a solution to a concern with node graphs and implemented it end-to-end. Worked with and gathered feedback from other team members that had insights on improving the node graph data structure and allowed us to expand connections and nodes depending on their node types. Some compromises were made.
  • Took the initiative to take ownership of the Particle Graph and Particle Effect editors while replacing the back-end to fully deprecate and remove an obsolete back-end.
  • Given the task and a stakeholder to come up with solutions for the 8 hour ZBrush to Maya workflow that was costing artists time and the company money and reduced it to 5 minutes for a new hero model.
August 2016 - April 2023

Build Verification / Tools Tester

343 Industries - Kirkland, WA

Contracted by Microsoft as a Build Verification Tester. Our team ensured that other teams can work for that day per daily build and helped test any new features submitted to the pipeline.

  • Run daily BVT (build verification testing) for level editors, Maya tools, and in-game single and multiplayer testing.
  • Communication with developers and producers when debugging issues.
  • Handle requests for private BVT passes.
  • Creating/modifying test cases to fit current project needs.
  • Deal with Call Stacks to help identify issues to assist debugging.
  • Tested side BVTs such as weapon testing and multiplayer game mode testing.
August 2013 - July 2016

Personal

Turn-based RPG Game World - VRChat

Turn-based RPG game world for VRChat.

  • Used VRChat's proprietary scripting language U# (UdonSharp) that utilizes C#.
  • Keep both local and remote players synced due to online gameplay (including joining, leaving, and disconnections).

Development

  • First step was to proof the turn-based RPG mechanics and learn how VRChat's various networking systems worked.
    Battle Proof Of Concept Update Video
  • Started a testing hub and wanted to create interactive NPCs in VRChat that felt more alive using a custom head/eye look system and dialogue.
    Started Hub, NPC Interactions, & Dialogue System Update Video
  • Separated the RPG game logic from the game content and interfacing the game world into a sharable Package for Unity.
    com.creaturetime.vcc
  • Created editors for editing all the different types of game data and generates all the content for that RPG game.
    Game Data Editing Update
June 2024 - Current

Raptor Game Engine

Started to develop a game engine to learn about other non-tools related systems in game development.

  • Used Vuklan for rendering.
  • The engine supported shaders (some restrictions), materials, textures and geometry assets.
  • Qt was used for the editor UI.
  • Assimp and FreeImage were used for asset digestion to import 3D assets and textures.
  • SQLite was used for asset and asset reference tracking for fast lookup.

Raptor Game Editor Video

Project Closed

Skills

Programming Languages & Tools
  • C++
  • C#
  • Houdini API
  • PyCharm
  • Python
  • Qt
  • Rider
  • SQLite
Game Engines
  • Proprietary (Ready at Dawn)
  • Unity 2022.3.22f
  • Unreal Engine 5.2
Content Creation
  • Blender
  • Maya
  • Substance Painter
  • Zbrush
Workflow
  • Agile Development & Scrum
  • Async Communication
  • Cross Team Communication
  • Problem-Solving
  • Unit Testing & Debugging

Certifications

CompTIA - A+ Certification

Issued December 2010

Credential ID COMP001020214527

CompTIA - Net+ Certification

Issued December 2010

Credential ID COMP001020214527

Agile Project Management

Issued January 2025

Credential ID Q8DVOLPUF8JF

Foundations of Project Management

Issued January 2025

Credential ID PKZTQ7WIL33C

Project Execution: Running the Project

Issued January 2025

Credential ID WEHXW69DMKU6

Starting a Successful Project

Issued January 2025

Credential ID VJ8GESJH83DX

Project Planning: Putting It All Together

Issued January 2025

Credential ID GP8VEMV50LBW