Tool Programmer, Technical Artist
Legal name: Asher Pinson | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Portfolio: https://ritawattson.com | me@ritawattson.com | +1 (234) 564-0283 | GitHub: https://github.com/superspacehero | LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ritawattson
Tool programmer, UI designer/engineer, and technical artist with 5 years of professional experience in game development. Proven expertise in UI/web design, visual effects, and scripting. Demonstrated ability to optimize game performance and implement innovative features. Proficient in Jira and experienced with Agile development methodologies.
Willing to relocate: Anywhere worldwide
Englewood, Colorado | January 2023 - January 2025 | 2 years
DreadMoon:
Spearheaded technical transition from Unity's High Definition Render Pipeline to Universal Render Pipeline, achieving significant performance optimization while maintaining visual quality standards.
Architected and refactored modular menu system, preserving core functionality while enabling seamless implementation of advanced transitions and animations.
Optimized visual effects pipeline by reducing rendering passes, delivering 75% performance improvement that enabled implementation of enhanced environmental effects.
Technologies: C#, Unity (UGUI, Shader Graph, VFX Graph), Git, Jira
Unannounced Game:
Overhauled legacy AA codebase UI systems, redesigning menus and interface elements to align with game's atmospheric vision while improving functionality.
Developed character materials, gameplay-integral post-processing effects, and visual effects systems for in-game items.
Designed and implemented refreshed company logo with integrated visual effects, conducting comprehensive visual audit and updates across the project.
Technologies: C++, Unreal Engine (Blueprints, Niagara, Slate), Perforce, Jira
Manassas, Virginia | December 2020 - December 2022 | 2 years
Teacher Teacher:
Rewrote the existing systems for loading mini-games and their respective Story Modes to make them extensible and allow for easy expansion.
Created and implemented a English/Hinglish (Hindi-English) localization system that only requires the press of a button to toggle between languages.
Overhauled the UI positioning to allow it to scale to any resolution or aspect ratio.
Technologies: C#, Unity (UGUI), Git
Patrons:
Designed and wrote a modular menu system to allow for dynamic transitions and diegetic UI elements.
Implemented a camera system capable of seamlessly transitioning between following a single subject to following any number of additional subjects.
Wrote a profile-based input rebinding system for Unity's Input System to allow each player to have their own control schemes for different devices.
Technologies: C#, Unity (Input System, Rewired, UGUI, Shader Graph, VFX Graph), Git, Plastic SCM
Fairfax, Virginia | July 2020 - August 2021 | 3 months
Technologies: C#, Unity
Fairfax, Virginia | January 2017 - September 2017 | 8 months
Bedford, Virginia | August 2014 - May 2016 | 1 year, 6 months
A visual editor for creating and editing Ren'Py projects.
An editor plugin to upgrade Godot 3 projects to Godot 4.
Developed using Godot 4's new features and improvements.
Features:
Technologies: GDScript, Godot 4, RegEx, Git
A combination of a grid-based music format with a gamepad-friendly, note-chunk-based sequencer.
Developed in Godot 4 for a game project to make in-game music creation accessible and intuitive.
Notation Format: a simplification of the ABC notation system made to be more readable in multi-instrument pieces by only using 3 characters per note for letters, octaves, and accidentals
Sequencer: gamepad-friendly interface where users navigate up/down to cycle through four random note progression chunks, move right to add chunks, and move left to edit individual notes within selected chunks
Technologies: GDScript, Godot 4, Git
An offline, cross-platform music player that stores now-playing information in the root of each audio collection added to the library.
5 Years in Computer Game Design
George Mason University - Fairfax, VA | August 2016 – June 2022 | 3.08 GPA