Ash Hipgrave

Personal Portfolio

About Me

I am a Senior Software Engineer currently working at The Multiplayer Group in Nottingham. I have over 10 years experience in software development, 4 of which have been within the games industry.

I have experience working with both Unreal Engine and Unity and am proficient in C++, C#, Java, Python and HTML/JS. I have experience working with numerous platforms including Windows, Linux, Android, iOS and current/past gen consoles: Playstation 4/5, Xbox One and Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.

Projects

Dying Light 1

Helped port to Epic Games Store and next-gen consoles (Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5). As part of the port we also developed support for cross platform multiplayer using Epic Online Services. This involved unifying all of the existing lobby, session, invite and friend code that was bespoke for each platform and storefront to instead use Epic Online Services.

Case study by Improbable

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

Assisted with the development of cross-platform multiplayer ahead of release on console and PC storefronts. My main task was to design and develop a custom backend solution that would handle the cross platform identity of players invisibly using Epic Online Services. Alongside this I assisted in the development of a custom Online Subsystem within Unreal Engine 4 to unify player identity, sessions and game invites across all of the different storefronts and platforms.

Case study by Improbable

Confidential Project (NDA)

Working within a team to develop a completely new and bespoke game mode within an existing AAA mobile title (Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS). The main USP of this mode was to increase the player count by up to 4x that of a regular game round from the base game. As a result my primary focus for this project was on performance profiling and optimisations, mainly the in-game UI and animation systems. I also worked on profiling and optimisations for the dedicated game servers to help support the increase in player count whilst keeping server hosting costs under control. Outside of profiling and optimisations I worked on adding new gameplay mechanics and abilities using Unreal Engine's Gameplay Ability System and setting up new matchmaking rules for the game mode using Amazon GameLift FlexMatch.

Improbable Labs

Working within a small team to rapidly prototype and build large scale live events using Improbable's upcoming "World Builder" and M2 platform. The idea behind the project was to "dogfood" the tools and platform in order to showcase to public how quickly and easily these tools can be leveraged to build real experiences within Improbable's Metaverse, whilst also providing valuable feedback on our experiences to Improbable's internal development teams. Over the course of 5 months we successfully ran 4 live events:

  • Chasing Alpha - In this mode an two host players (usually a streamer or influencer), would appear in the world as a large avatar. Their goal was to try to use the obstacles in the world to shake off the joining players which had to chase them around the map to score points. A "game director" could disrupt or help the players by dynamically changing the game environment, such as by adding in obstacles or hazards such as landmines for the players to avoid. Promo video: https://twitter.com/Improbableio/status/1702047029839434052

  • Shadowchaser - This was a Halloween themed event which played on a Light vs. Dark theme. In this mode almost all players would be assigned to the Light team and their goal was to collect items to power-up their streamer who would protect them from the Dark team. A small number of players would be assigned to the Dark team and their objective was to catch and convert all of the Light players into Dark players. The game would end when all Light players had been converted over to the Dark team, or if the Dark team failed to convert all of the Light players within a set time limit. Similar to the previous event, a game director could disrupt the gameplay with modifiers and could also grant or remove abilities from the players.

  • Bulldome - A spin on the classic British playground game of "Bulldog". In this mode players would attempt to cross an arena filled with obstacles to score points. Streamers would attempt to catch them and convert the players over to a "Defender" team. Once converted, Defenders join the streamers in attempting to convert other players. The game would end when only one player was left standing. In this mode players could collect pickups within the map which would either provide them with a buff (e.g. a speed boost), or an ability they could use of disrupt other players (e.g. a sticky liquid which slowed anyone who walked through it). Promo video: https://twitter.com/Improbableio/status/1734963809268216021

  • Ice Breaker - A "zorbing" style game mode where players would fly around the level in bubbles and would have to shoot at an enemy players bubble to "pop" it and eliminate them. This mode introduced weapons and more traditional PvP mechanics, aiming to provide a unique spin on a "battle royale" style mode. Promo video: https://twitter.com/Improbableio/status/1753083181165609409

Improbable Defence

Assisted with the development of a small scale AI simulation using Unreal Engine 4 and SpatialOS in preparation of the British Military's Advance Warfighter Experiment (AWE 2021). My responsibilities on the project involved developing a plugin to add support for the DIS protocol by integrating the OpenDIS library into UE4, followed by extending this to support the MUSIC protocol from Discovery Machine Inc.