Nathan Cloake
Unreal technical director
Experienced leader in the game development industry with vast Unreal Engine and Titan Engine expertise.
About Me
I’m an Unreal Engine developer with 9+ years of experience building games, interactive experiences, and production tools. My work focuses heavily on Blueprint scripting, gameplay systems, AI, and using Unreal to turn ideas into practical, scalable solutions.
I also have extensive experience developing custom tools and production pipelines, particularly for artists and designers. I make a point of understanding how a team actually works before building a solution—where time is being lost, what tasks are repetitive or frustrating, and what would genuinely make their day-to-day workflow easier.
Whether I’m building a gameplay system, automating a production process, or developing an entirely new pipeline, I focus on creating tools that fit naturally into the team's workflow, reduce unnecessary work, and give people more time to focus on creating.
Portfolio
Check out some of the projects that I've worked on. Click the Read More button beside a project to learn even more about it.
Brawl Stars: The Rise and Fall of Starr Park
I contributed to the Unreal Engine development of The Rise and Fall of Starr Park, an interactive experience built around Supercell's Brawl Stars universe. My work focused on implementing interactive systems and gameplay-style interactions supporting exploration, environmental storytelling and the project's narrative presentation.
Supercell / mo.co Marketing Content Pipeline
I helped develop the Unreal Engine and Titan production pipeline used to create marketing content for Supercell's mo.co TikTok, building shots in Sequencer, developing reusable Blueprint systems and production tools, and supporting the flow of custom assets between Unreal and Titan.
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Interactive Storyboarding & Cinematic Tool
I independently developed a standalone Unreal Engine storyboarding and cinematic production application designed for artists and producers who may not have experience with Unreal's cinematic tools. Packaged as a project-specific executable, the tool provides custom workflows for scene editing, recording and directing, allowing users to build environments, control NPCs, create and animate cameras, record performances and assemble shots through a custom timeline before exporting the finished result as a high-quality video.
Mass NPC Crowd & AI Behaviour System
I architected and developed a modular Unreal Engine 5 framework for large-scale NPC battle simulations, supporting configurable combat systems and advanced AI behaviours. The system was designed to scale to large numbers of simulated characters while remaining flexible and performant.
Turntable Tool
I developed a configurable Unreal Engine Turntable Tool that allows artists to quickly produce high-quality asset showcase videos through a streamlined, reusable workflow. It provides controls for camera presets, lighting, backdrops, mesh transforms, animation, resolution, frame rate and output settings, with support for saving configurations and publishing renders to Dropbox.
Scene Checker Tool
I developed an automated Unreal Engine Scene Checker Tool that validates Levels, Level Sequences, Sub-Sequences and key editor settings to identify issues that can cause discrepancies between viewport previews and final renders. It provides clear pass/fail results, explanations and Autofix functionality for supported issues, helping artists catch and resolve rendering problems before they reach final production.
Texture Import & Assignment Tool
I developed a custom Unreal Engine Texture Import & Assignment Tool to automate and streamline the process of bringing textures into Unreal and applying them to the appropriate assets and materials. The tool handles repetitive import and configuration steps, helping ensure textures are consistently configured and correctly assigned while significantly reducing manual setup. It was designed to make the asset preparation process faster and more reliable for artists working with large amounts of content.
Custom Reusable AI NPC Behaviour System
I designed and developed a reusable AI NPC behaviour framework in Unreal Engine, primarily using Blueprints, to provide a flexible foundation for creating and managing complex character behaviours. The system allows NPCs to select and transition between different behaviours based on gameplay conditions, while keeping the underlying logic modular and configurable. This made it easier to create, prototype and tune different NPC behaviours without rebuilding the core AI system for each character.
Atmospheric Lighting Tool
I developed a custom Unreal Engine Atmospheric Lighting Tool to simplify the setup and iteration of environmental lighting across scenes. The tool provides artists with an accessible interface for controlling and adjusting key lighting and atmospheric settings, allowing them to quickly create and refine different environmental looks without manually configuring multiple Unreal Engine systems. By centralizing these controls into a single workflow, the tool made lighting adjustments faster, more consistent and easier to iterate on during production.
Race the HD-4 — VR Game
I developed Unreal Engine systems for Race the HD-4, an immersive VR simulation based on the historic HD-4 hydrofoil. The experience combined a physical recreation of the vehicle's cockpit with a virtual simulation, requiring interactive controls, VR systems and rumble-seat feedback to connect the physical experience with the digital environment.
The Messenger — VR Historical/Museum Experience
I developed the Unreal Engine interaction systems for The Messenger, a historical VR museum experience built around a physical recreation of a period boat. The experience connected a real tiller and physical controls to the virtual environment, creating an immersive interaction that combined physical hardware with VR.
Travel Back in Time to Kun'tewiktuk — VR Cultural Experience
I developed Unreal Engine systems for Travel Back in Time to Kun'tewiktuk, an immersive VR experience created for Membertou Heritage Park that transports visitors back to pre-contact Mi'kmaq territory. The experience allows visitors to explore the environment and participate in traditional activities including bow hunting, spear fishing, canoeing and drumming, combining interactive VR with cultural storytelling and education.
Still Render Tool
I developed a streamlined Unreal Engine Still Render Tool that allows artists to quickly capture an accurate, high-quality frame from a Level Sequence without rendering the entire cinematic. The tool handles the necessary cinematic and render settings while allowing users to select a specific frame and render preset, providing a faster and more reliable alternative to viewport screenshots.
Asset Analyzer Tool
I developed an Unreal Engine Asset Analyzer that gives artists and developers an immediate breakdown of the technical cost of selected assets, including triangle counts, draw calls, materials, material instructions, texture resolution, memory usage and Nanite status. The tool makes optimization information accessible directly within the editor, helping teams identify performance issues earlier in production.
Benchmark Tool
I created a custom Unreal Engine Benchmark Tool for quickly recording and comparing performance results during development and optimization. The tool captures benchmark information such as FPS alongside timestamps, creating a persistent record that can be used to compare performance before and after changes and verify the impact of optimization work.
Professional Experience
[ OCT 2023 — PRESENT ]
Twisted Mountain Animation
Unreal Technical Director
Architected scalable Unreal systems for large-scale simulations, gameplay, and cinematic production, while developing custom tools and workflows to improve team efficiency.
[ FEB 2023 — AUG 2023 ]
DNEG / Bunker Digital
Senior Unreal Programmer
Developed custom Unreal production tools and UMG interfaces, translating artist and production needs into streamlined, automated workflows.
[ JUL 2022 — JAN 2023 ]
Current Studios
Senior Unreal Developer
Developed high-fidelity Unreal marketing experiences for BMW, including real-time visuals and a remote capture pipeline for automated content production.
[ OCT 2021 — JUL 2022 ]
Syntronic R&D / Ford
Unreal Engine Developer
Trained 25+ engineers in Unreal Engine and developed next-generation vehicle interfaces using Blueprint, UMG, and performance-focused workflows.
[ OCT 2017 — OCT 2021 ]
VMP Group / Green Robot
Lead Unreal Developer
Built interactive VR experiences from the ground up, progressing to Lead Developer while mentoring developers and driving gameplay, systems, and technical development.
Unreal Engine 5
- Advanced Technical Tools
- Optimizated & High-Fidelity Games
- Modular framework architecture
Blueprint Scripting
- Complex Gameplay Systems
- Behavior Trees & AI Logic
- State Machine Implementation
UMG & Niagara
- Intuitive UI Design
- Dynamic Visual Effects
- Cinematic Workflows
Education: Cape Breton University
Cape Breton University
Certificate in Introduction to Computing with C++
Education: Nova Scotia Community College
Nova Scotia Community College
Diploma in Information Technology