About
Nicholas Reardon
I am a gameplay and systems programmer building Unreal Engine systems with an emphasis on modular architecture, data-driven authoring, and reliable runtime state.
I care about systems that work the way designers expect them to work: sensible defaults, clear extension points, and enough flexibility to grow without constant refactoring. I am currently completing my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at California State University, Fullerton, with a primary focus on AAA gameplay, systems, and tools work.
Skills
Core strengths
Gameplay Systems
Modular combat, encounter, spawn, travel, and persistence systems with clear ownership of runtime state.
Unreal Engine and C++
Lyra, Gameplay Ability System, Gameplay Tags, Enhanced Input, Blueprint-facing workflows, and engine-side debugging.
Content Authoring
Data assets, interfaces, small tools, and runtime routing patterns that reduce friction when creating, placing, and tuning content.
AI and Encounters
Behavior Tree and EQS-driven enemy behavior, wave definitions, spawn modifiers, and designer-tunable encounter pacing.
Current Focus
What I am building next
My current Unreal Engine project, Tethered, is an action rogue-lite prototype built around a Lyra-aligned architecture. Its systems include a world-level Ability System Component for event coordination, seamless travel state reconstruction, pluggable save backends, data-driven encounters, spawn modifiers, and Gameplay Tag-based combat routing.