Zhangir Nurmukhambetov
Engine, Tools & Gameplay Programmer
zhangir.dev@gmail.comš Graduate of Breda University of Applied Sciences in Creative Media and Game Technologies.
š¼ Open to Work!
š Hello! Iām Zhangir
Software Engineer | Engine & Tools | Gameplay | Unity | Unreal
š I graduated from Breda University of Applied Sciences in Creative Media and Game Technologies.
š¼ Iām currently seeking new job opportunities in the game industry!
I am a skilled in Gameplay and Engine & Tools with strong experience in C++, Unreal Engine, Unity, and custom engine development. I enjoy designing gameplay mechanics, building robust systems, and creating tools that streamline development for programmers, designers, and artists. Iām passionate about solving complex technical challenges, optimizing performance, and developing maintainable gameplay systems, while continuously improving my skills and collaborating across disciplines.
Proficient in C++. Additional experience with Unreal, Unity, and Godot.
Hobbies: writing stories, calisthenics, designing in Photoshop.
āļø Skills
9 years of experience with C++, specializing in Object-Oriented Programming, Memory Management, Data Structures, Algorithms, and Performance Optimization.
5 years of experience with Visual Studio, focusing on Advanced Debugging, Performance Profiling, Memory Diagnostics, CMake, and Build System Configuration.
5 years of experience 5 years of experience with Visual Studio Code, focusing on C++/C# Development, Debugging, Git Integration, Task Automation, and Development Environment Configuration.
4 years of experience. Experienced with its pipelines and used them in a team environment, including reviews, automated checks, and managing branches.
3 years of experience with Perforce and P4V in a collaborative team environment, including active participation in code reviews.
4 years of experience of Unreal Engine's Blueprints, C++, Gameplay Framework, Gameplay Ability System, Artificial Intelligence.
5 years of experience with Unity and C#, specializing in Custom Editor Tools, Gameplay Systems, Editor Scripting, AI, and Performance Optimization.
š¼ Professional Experience
A few roles where I helped teams ship by building tools, improving workflows, and solving practical technical problems.
Engine & Tools Programmer
Internship at Flashgroup XR
Date: April 10, 2026 - Present
My Contributions: Collider Editor
Tools: Unity, C#
Duration: 9 Months (Apr 2026 - Nov 2026)
Tools Programmer
Internship at SportsImproVR
Date: November 10, 2025 - April 10, 2026
My Contributions: VR-Chat-Based Full-Body Tracking in Unity | Video-to-FBX Converter Tool in Unity
Tools: Unity, Android, C#, Python, Bluetooth LE, OSC, Inertial Measurement Units
š Featured Projects
A small selection of projects I am most proud of, chosen for clear impact, strong engineering, and polished presentation.
Tools Programmer
Zentera: A Voxel-Based Puzzle Platformer Made With A Custom C++ Engine
Date: June 27, 2025
Zentera is a third-person puzzle-platformer where players use an extendable tongue to pull crates, activate switches, and solve physics-based challenges. Embark on an adventure with Gori, a clever lizard-like creature, in this voxel-based puzzle platformer. Use his versatile tongue to push, pull, swing, and solve intricate dioramic puzzles in charming miniature voxel worlds. Gori wants to impress his beloved partner by bringing beautiful little trinkets from each level.
My Contributions: Lead Programmer | Particle System | Release Management | Sound Implementation | QA Process Improvements | Bug Reporting & Fixing
Engine/Tools: C++ | Custom Engine | Angelscript | FMOD
Team Size: 9 Programmers | 3 Designers | 4 Artists
Platforms: Windows | PlayStation 5
Duration: 8 Weeks (May 2025 - June 2025)
Engine Programmer
Fire Ant Engine: Custom C++ Strategy Game Engine
Date: April 11, 2025
Fire Ant Engine is a continuation of my custom Terrain Editor. The team was joined by seven talented programmers. The project features a prefab system, a terrain editor, flow-fields for AI agent navigation, an in-engine UI editor, optimizations which allowed a support for a large terrain map and many units, and support on Windows and Nintendo Switch.
My Contributions: Terrain Editor | Terrain Rendering | Height Editing | Texture Editing | Prop Placement | Scene Serialization | Prefabs
Engine/Tools: C++, OpenGL, GLSL (Compute & Tesselation Shaders), EnTT, Cereal, ImGui
Team Size: 7 Programmers
Platforms: Windows | Nintendo Switch
Duration: 8 Weeks (Feb 2025 - Apr 2025)
Gameplay Programmer
IgKnighted ā Local Multiplayer Arena Shooter in Unreal Engine
Date: June 28, 2024
A local 1ā2 player co-op bullet-hell arena shooter built in Unreal Engine 5, and a quick tour of the systems behind it: the gameplay framework, player and abilities, power-ups, three enemy archetypes, and the three-part level with dynamic difficulty.
My Contributions: Gameplay Framework & Core Architecture | Player: Input, Controller, Pawn, State & Abilities | Collectables & Power-Ups | Enemy AI: Crawler, Scorpion, Mollusk | Level, Spawning & Dynamic Difficulty
Engine/Tools: Unreal Engine 5, C++, Blueprints, Gameplay Framework, Enhanced Input, Gameplay Tags, Behavior Trees, UMG, Animation Blueprints, Niagara
Team Size: 4 Programmers | 3 Designers | 5 Artists
Platforms: Windows
Duration: 8 Weeks (May 2024 - Jun 2024)
š§© Other Projects
Earlier work and experiments, kept here for extra context and range.
Custom C++ Terrain Editor
Date: January 24, 2025
Custom C++ Terrain Editor was a solo research project. The project features editable terrain and variety of brushes. The Terrain Editor would later become based for the Fire Ant Engine.
My Contributions: Terrain Mesh Deformation via Height Maps | Vertex Shader with Dynamic Normals & Displacement | Fully Custom Brush Framework | Normals-based Object Placement
Engine/Tools: C++, OpenGL, GLSL (Vertex & Fragment Shaders), ImGui, GLM
Team Size: Solo
Platforms: Windows
Duration: 8 weeks (Nov 2024 - Jan 2025)
Custom C++ Game Engine
Date: November 1, 2024
Custom C++ Engine was a solo project. The project features core engine functionality such as an ECS Architecture, an ImGui editor, a GLTF importer, a Resource manager, full scene serialization using Cereal, a grid-based tile editor, and support on Windows and PS5.
My Contributions: ECS Design (EnTT) | Particle System | ImGui Editor & Gizmo Tooling | GLTF Runtime Loader | Resource Manager | Hierarchy System | Cross-Platform Engine Abstractions | JSON Serialization | Tile-Based Level Editor
Engine/Tools: C++, OpenGL, GLSL, EnTT, ImGui, Cereal, STB, tinygltf, ImGuizmo
Team Size: Solo
Platforms: Windows | PS5
Duration: 8 Weeks (Sep 2024 - Nov 2024)
Light Pong: Custom C++ CPU-based Raytracing Engine
Date: April 12, 2024
A custom C++ CPU-based raytracing engine which was used to create a simple game of Pong. Use a spotlight as a paddle to hit a mirror ball and score goals!
My Contributions: The Raytracing Algorithm | Shadows | Reflections | Point Lights, Spot Lights, and Directional Lights | Recursive (Whitted) raytracing for Mirrors and Dielectrics| Voxel Sub-Objects | Basic Denoising | Texturing | Panini Projection | Post-Processing | Accumulator | Stochastic Lighting | Sky Dome Illumination | Beer's Law
Engine/Tools: C++
Team Size: Solo
Platforms: Windows
Duration: 8 Weeks (Mar 2024 - Apr 2024)
3D Endless Runner: Cross-Platform Development on Raspberry Pi
Date: January 26, 2024
A 3D endless runner using Bullet Physics and OpenGL on a Raspberry Pi
My Contributions: 3D Rendering using OpenGL | Raspberry Pi Cross-Platform Development | Physics System using Bullet
Engine/Tools: C++ | OpenGL ES | Bullet Physics
Team Size: Solo
Platforms: Windows | Linux
Duration: 8 Weeks (Nov 2023 - Jan 2024)
Pitfall Recreation
Date: November 3, 2023
A recreation of 1982 game Pitfall
My Contributions: AABB Collision System | 2D Physics | Rope Physics
Engine/Tools: C++
Team Size: Solo
Platforms: Windows
Duration: 8 Weeks (Sep 2023 - Nov 2023)