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Hi, I’m David Wehle, creator of The First Tree and Game Dev Unlocked. I’m currently working on a first-person horror farming game called We Harvest Shadows.
The demo has received praise from various streamers and industry leaders like Geoff Keighley and Sam Lake, and is one of the most wishlisted games on Steam. No pressure! You can try the demo now on Steam and see exactly the type of game I’m trying to make.
It’s a hugely ambitious project, and I’ve decided I need help to realize its potential. I’ve teamed up with a beloved publisher for funding and guidance, and I hope to find a talented senior engineer who can help us refactor and fix the many complex systems this game is using.
This job opening is for a contract position as an advanced Senior Unity Engineer who is comfortable wrangling spaghetti code, various interconnected asset packs, and the problems that come with that duct-tape approach to game development. They ideally have experience working with open-world type games in Unity, and do not mind being a self-starter and working with minimal guidance (we work asynchronously and usually communicate via Discord, Trello updates, and short recorded videos).
The candidate will be focusing on these tasks:
You will mostly be working with me and a mid-level developer who is extremely familiar with Survival Template Pro and can answer any questions you might have. However, the project is messy, and we are counting on hiring an expert who has done this before and is comfortable untangling the scripts and reverse engineering how a project works. A masterful understanding of Unity, C#, and Perforce is essential. We are hoping that you will be the dependable expert we can count on to help us fix the bugs that keep confounding us, and bring the level of polish that players expect out of this title.
Compensation
Pay is negotiable, along with hours. I’m hoping for someone to commit 20–40 hours per week to it, and there is enough work for several months, possibly up to a year if the partnership is going well.
How to Apply
Please complete the Google Form and submit your info, and I’ll contact you if you seem like a good fit.
In the form, please send me a short intro about yourself, a resume, and some examples of your work. I will keep the job listing up for 2–3 weeks, and then I will start responding to viable candidates. I unfortunately can’t respond to every applicant or give progress reports, I’m so sorry.
I made a game called The First Tree, a fox adventure title made by myself while working a day job. I self-published it on PC, consoles, and mobile, and it did better than I anticipated, which led me to becoming a full-time indie dev. You might also know me from my GDC talk, or my Youtube channel Game Dev Unlocked. I’m extremely excited for this new game and I would love to have you along for the ride.
From the creator of The First Tree comes We Harvest Shadows, an emotional first-person narrative game with farming and horror elements. Players take control of Garrett, a transplant from the city who has exiled himself to an abandoned farm for the rest of his life. He thinks the world is better without him in it.
A beautiful, 3rd-person exploration game centered around two parallel stories: a fox trying to find her missing family, and a son reconnecting with his estranged father in Alaska. Uncover artifacts from the son's life as he becomes intertwined in the fox’s journey towards The First Tree.
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