Valerie Blackpoole
Gameplay | Design | Unreal Engine | Leadership
Experienced gameplay developer and designer who excels in bridging the gaps between disciplines to deliver the best possible experience. Trusted to lead and cultivate a positive team culture that encourages growth and collaboration. A wide breadth of knowledge across many aspects of Unreal Engine enables me to rapidly prototype ideas and get answers to design questions. Always curious to learn more and passionate to further develop my craft.
Education
B.S in Software Engineering
Brigham Young University - Idaho | 2022
Software & Skills
Unreal Engine 4 + 5
Blueprints / C++
Network Replication / Multiplayer
UI / UMG
Gameplay Framework / Gameplay Ability System (GAS)
Animation Blueprints / Control Rigs
Optimization
Materials
Jira / Confluence
Miro Story Boarding
Perforce Source Control
Gameplay Design
Rapid Prototyping
Instructional Design
Virtual Reality
Blender
Work Experience
HTX Labs
2022 - 2026
Created virtual reality immersive training content across multiple industries with a primary focus working with the U.S. Air Force. I contributed to the continual improvement of the player’s experience and established new standards for content quality. While coordinating with artists, designers, engineers, and project managers, I lead the development of novel experiences that had the attention to detail required to create digital twins of real-world machines. I rapidly prototyped touch screen gameplay that set the direction for the game client. As lead gameplay engineer, I hired, trained, and mentored a team of engineers. With my team I built a culture of uplifting and encouraging each other. I worked as the primary stakeholder for the platform SDK and designed gameplay systems. I maintained CUI standards to prevent security breaches and leaks.
Lead Gameplay Engineer
January 2024 - August 2026
Worked as the lead technical and content designer to create tools and standards that enabled the team to deliver better content faster.
Oversaw the hiring of the gameplay team. Went on to develop a strong team community within a fully remote setting. Cultivated a culture of asking questions and sharing knowledge.
Mentored engineers on technical and soft skills.
Worked alongside our dedicated design and platform teams to create a new cross platform client with an emphasis on bridging the gap between the VR functionality to PC and tablets.
Lead the migration of multiple projects and features from Unreal Engine 4 to our new client in Unreal Engine 5.
Was the primary stakeholder for the developer UX.
Rapidly prototyped potential new product features and systems. Iterated on feedback from playtests to refine or redefine the direction.
Managed outsourced engineering efforts for scaling to contract demands.
Utilized Unreal Engine’s multiplayer replication systems to record replays from instructors.
Gameplay Engineer
January 2023 - December 2023
In conjunction with the tech artist I profiled, identified and coordinated large waves of optimization that saw performance gains up to 30%.
During this time I became the only gameplay engineer and was given responsibility for completing contract milestones on time.
Lead a push for improved gameplay quality and consistency. Established sound, haptics, and animation standards for the team.
Participated in ROM sessions for incoming contracts.
Using an in-house solution I lead the implementation of the company's first VR multiplayer procedure.
Participated in customer calls to elicit requirements and find solutions for their top pain points.
Designed and implemented UI elements that blended into our VR experience.
Jr. Gameplay Engineer
June 2022 - December 2022
Utilized Agile workflows and Jira task tracking.
Used Perforce Source Control.
The fully remote role required independent drive to deliver deadlines.
Using Unreal Engine 4, I designed gameplay interactions to reflect real world training scenarios and boost information retention.
The team was a cross-discipline mix of engineers, artists and tech artists which enabled me to practice and learn skills outside of my role.
Engaged in code reviews and developed skills in collaborating within the same code base.
Shipped projects on the Quest 2 and VF3
Acadian Ambulance Service
2020
Provided emergency medical care as an EMT-B. Learned to establish report with patients to ascertain the situation and provide a friendly presence during a time of crisis. I developed an attention to detail and maintained records for every patient encounter. Working on an ambulance taught me to stay focused in any environment and take personal ownership of my work.
Projects
Unreal Editor Tool Scripting
Hexagon Tile Editor
This is an example of extending the Unreal Editor to speed up content development. This is tile editor for a hexagon-based map. You can create a new grid and use brushes to expand or paint the tiles. Once you’re ready, the complete button hands off the tile map data to an actor that places the geometry. In this example I’m using a handful of instanced mesh components, but the data could drive any generator strategy you wanted, such as PCG.
Base Builder Tool
This tool allows a level designer to quickly snap together building blocks. The UI is data driven using data tables that can be extended as new variants are developed and is automatically updated. This demo uses actors, but the underlaying system can be adjusted to utilize PCG assemblies that would better enable procedural elements like support beams to be added.
Design & Rapid Prototyping
Survival Horror Revolver
This project is about a western gunslinger in the PNW facing supernatural monsters. It’s all about balancing the power fantasy of a skilled sharpshooter and the pressure of facing an entity far more powerful. The revolver is a main character and a primary way for the player to interact with their environment, as a result we want to have every moment with it contribute to the mood. With only 6 shots before you have to reload, you’ll be reloading a lot. This Figma design walks through how we got to a design ready to be fully implemented.
VR Orbit Tether
This is a recreation of design work done at HTX Labs. I’m unfortunately unable to show the original document due to security requirements. I’ve done my best to recreate it honestly and accurately while using placeholder assets from the Unreal Engine samples and marketplace.
The task was to address poor user experience in virtual reality around having to transport multiple objects around the environment. User’s reported difficulty in moving while holding objects, frustration in having to make multiple trips from a tool cart to the work site, and motion sickness from all the moving around.
This design walks through multiple ideas for solving the problem before settling and iterating on an abstract tether mechanic where the player can parent objects to them with the press of a button.
UI / UMG
Mil-Sim
I developed this HUD to communicate a lot of information to the player in a streamlined manner. In the bottom left you see a compass with color coded dots representing each of your AI squadmates. The compass has a wedge that matches the player’s FOV and direction.
To the right of the compass is the squad status element. The green square next to the name represents that unit’s health. The color border around the names indicate what group you are actively commanding. Yellow is the full team, red and blue are 2-man elements that can be commanded separately. At the bottom you see the current contextual command, in this case “Move to Location”. In this WIP the command menu that opens center screen is populated with placeholders instead of the various commands available.
In the center we have a cross hair and distance meter. In the bottom right a weapon status element that tells the player what type of ammo is currently loaded (FMJ), how many rounds are in the current magazine, how many spare magazines are in the player inventory and the rate of fire. The player can long press the reload button to open the center drop down to select what type of magazine they wish to load.
Gameplay
Hover Tanks
A multiplayer tank battle game made in unreal engine. I learned more about materials and sounds through the various effects I made. Created HUD elements that track the enemy tank and managed game flow.
Features
Networked Multiplayer
Physics Based Tank Movement
Procedurally Animated Tanks
Power Ups
Ammo Counter and Damage System