Mael Vignaux

Principal AI Programmer at Drama Studios working on the video game Unrecord! Worked on all playable release leading to fundings. Principal mission included:

• Design and integration of a new scripting system to create discussions and complex interactions with AI.
• HTN Action Planning AI system fully multi threaded with a completely new perception system.
• Full custom voxel-based 3D navigation system, Fully multi threaded 100% self-coded, including a new pipeline to bake and query the data very efficiently (hierarchical Chebyshev-based A*).
• CPU Friendly systems for pooling, significance managers, actor spatial hashing, 3D sound propagation, integration of a more precise navigation system, and other architectures.
• Building CI/CD DotNet App and automated benchmark to evaluate every day the changes made by the team.
• Team support and mentoring of other gameplay programmers on all things C++ and optimization. Managing of the optimization support company.

Direction of the Elseware Experience 5-person studio created around the project Broken Pieces. I handled game/AI programming, sound design, music, actors' direction, recruitment, team leadership and managed the port to Xbox one and PlayStation4. Responsible for 95% of the code base in Unreal Engine; the game released in 2022, won the Unfold award for sound design excellence, and received great public reviews.

In 2023 created a 2-hour vertical slice for the second project of the studio, a third-person action adventure on UE5, responsible for all things game design and AI including:

• Creation of a new scripting system to empower level designers and streamline workflow.
• Goal Oriented Action Planning AI system for a robust and easy-to-scale fighting system.
• Multi-Threading system and data-oriented design principles for the team.

Development of virtual exhibitions using latest VR paradigms and improvements such as eye and hand tracking as well as gesture recognition. The virtual exhibitions showcased multiple areas in which European Union policies act for the conservation of pollinators/nature. In charge of:

• Unreal Engine gameplay programming and implementation.
• Team-leading, AI behavior, animation systems, optimization, sound design...

• Development of interactive systems highlighting architectural visits in virtual reality using Unreal Engine 4. Creation of innovative systems for user interactions at the beginning of the virtual reality emergence.
• Featuring latest progress in 3D audio using Steam Audio systems integrated with Unreal's audio framework.
• Team leader and mentor for a project developing virtual agent tools whose goal was to identify cognitive disorders caused by cranial trauma.

Responsible for the research and creation of diverse algorithms to help thin-film deposition engineers create more stable and reliable processes. Work that led to 2 publications, a thesis, and the release of a thin-film simulation and prediction software.

Management of a development team and lead game design for the creation of a real-time online virtual casino prototype on Unity 3D. Responsible for team coordination, code reviews, and developer mentoring. Prototype successfully sold at the end of development.