Lead Game Programmer
The Lead Game Programmer oversees the overall programming aspects in a game development project. He/She manages the technical development of a game from start to finish. In conjunction with other key team leads, he develops the technical specifications for the game and delegates different aspects to a team of programmers. He oversees the development or customization of game engines to meet the development needs of the game. He integrates all the technical documentation for the code produced by the programming team and ensures quality, effectiveness and appropriateness of all the game code. He is also responsible for the project management of the code development process and ensures that team members deliver the requested codes on time and within budgets. He is often involved in project team meetings, reviewing project progress. The work also involves liaising with key internal and external stakeholders to achieve project objectives. He can be expected to work long hours, especially to deliver against project milestones. He is a technical expert across multiple aspects of game development and an effective project manager. He has the ability to communicate with people across the levels within the organization and has an eye for detail. He also has the ability to guide teams and individuals from a technical as well as developmental perspective.
Skills and Competencies
Technical Skills & Competencies
Generic Skills & Competencies
Critical Work Functions and Key Tasks
• Evaluate game features provided by game designers to ensure that they are within the technical feasibility required by target platforms
and/or engines
• Develop detailed technical documentation of the game
• Provide technical advice to the development of overall game design and game concept
• Review the overall technical specification of the game development
• Develop coding standards for game development
• Develop budgets, production plans and milestones for specific elements in the games
• Define the technical objectives and product roadmap for the game engine
• Ideate with technical teams on high level engine design and specifications
• Ideate new features and modules for existing engines based on project requirements or to support development of newer games
• Review engine architecture and revise accordingly based on technical objectives and resource considerations
• Drive innovation by evaluating and introducing new technologies and programming practices for games
• Develop best practices for game development to ensure codes are bug free and comply with security specifications
• Assign the development of programming elements to appropriate teams
• Oversee the development of the different ‘builds’ of the game and successive versions supported by a detailed project plan
• Review game and engine programming code against guidelines provided by engine teams to ensure stability and security of games
• Oversee prototyping and iterative development of core engine modules
• Oversee testing of engine modules and sub-systems to ensure reliability of build systems for game releases
• Drive enhancements to engine modules to ensure optimal performance of game across target hardware platforms
• Work with existing engine code base to develop and enhance game play including player world interaction, artifical intelligence (AI)
strategies and rules, game play
• Guide game programmers to deliver the vision of the design team to create immersive and compelling gameplay experiences in a
timely manner and to a consistent high quality standard
• Work with the quality assurance team to enhance testing procedures
• Oversee the integration of localised assets, components and features into various game builds, to meet the requirements for various
regions
• Oversee the continuous maintenance, iterations and addition of new features
• Oversee development of software patches, expansion of games via update including extra features or content that may alter gameplay