divillysausages.com

C.V. - Damian Connolly

Download short form C.V. (PDF)

Hard at work

From Ireland, currently living in Bordeaux, France

Skills

Programming Languages

Tools

Check out my Projects section for some game and code examples

Work Experience

Senior Back-End Engineer

Spendesk - Bordeaux (remote), France
Jan 2023 - Present

At Spendesk, I'm in the Onboarding team, tasked with improving the self-onboarding customer flow to help transition Spendesk from Sales Led Growth to Product Let Growth.

Lead Development Engineer

TripleFun/Betclic - Paris/Bordeaux, France
Apr 2013 - Jan 2023

At TripleFun, I was responsible for leading the development of our client- and server- side technology. On the client-side, I developed our in-house engine in 3 different languages targeting different platforms over the last 5 years; AS3, Objective-C, and C# (Unity). On the server-side, I handled the continuing development of our server engine.

I was also responsible for the architecture of our games - as the majority of which were real-time multiplayer, this encompasses both client and server. Communication was based on an in-house lib developed over raw sockets. I managed the production releases via AWS.

As well as that, I handled:

Currently released games:

Unreleased:

When TripleFun merged with Betclic, my focus shifted more towards prototype and app development. The main technologies used were TypeScript and Serverless for the backend, and Unity/Flutter (Dart) for the frontend. I helped develop a number of games and internal projects and prototypes.

Lead Development Engineer

Qozmo (ex. Village Media) - Paris, France
May 2010 - Feb 2013

At Qozmo, I was responsible for leading a small team of developers and developing single and multiplayer games for both our web portal and Facebook. Games are developed with a mix of Actionscript 3 and Groovy (a layer on top of Java).

For Buzzville.com, our casual portal:

For Facebook, I designed and developed the core architecture - client and server - of our real-time multiplayer game Krisgard (think Pokémon mixed with MMO). Aside from the base of the project, my main area of focus was on the combat; the first version of which was a turn-by-turn, which then evolved into a real-time affair. Players could take part in 1v1 up to 3v3 (PVE & PVP), or any combination within. I was also focused on optimisation, eventually allowing for the possibility of playing the game at 60fps (unnecessary, but always nice to know that you can do it ;)).

As well as that, I developed:

Gameplay Engineer

Ubisoft - Paris, France
July 2008 - May 2010

I worked in GEEA team (Gameplay Engineering and Entertainment Analysis) at the main HQ in Paris. My roles were R&D, gameplay prototypes, controls and user experience.

Some of the areas that I worked under included: rapid prototyping using a Lua based 3D engine; prototyping gameplay for 3D cameras and later Kinect; some R&D on Playstation Move; and concept development and brainstorming with the design firm IDEO.

My final projects were focused on creating games for Facebook using Flash. I developed a framework (later released internally as an "opensource" project) for developing Flash games which was used by a number of the studios inside Ubisoft, and I was the lead on a small excellent team that designed and developed 2 prototypes to explore different possible gameplay.

Programmer

Stainless Games - Isle of Wight, UK
October 2007 - June 2008

At Stainless Games, I was responsible for gameplay and general programming for short titles for the Xbox360 Live Arcade and PC. I've worked on Happy Tree Friends for SEGA, and on a Magic:The Gathering title for Wizards of the Coast.

Lead Programmer

PIXELSOUP - Dublin, Ireland
July 2005 - October 2007

At PIXELSOUP I was responsible for designing, creating, and publishing websites, applications, CD-ROMs, and print work. This often involved meeting and working directly with clients, as well as working under supervision or on my own initiative. I have worked on a number of high profile and international projects, including: Connacht Gold, Dimpco, Fingal County Enterprise Board, Healthcare21, Limerick County Enterprise Board, and PolarLake. Part of my job was to focus on creating standards-compliant, accessible websites. I was also involved in a small part in the day-to-day running of the company while in Ireland.

Bartender

Break For The Border - Dublin, Ireland
January 2004 - January 2006

At Break For The Border, I was working in sales, public relations, and partly management. I also created digital advertising features for constant public display, as well as preliminary development of platform for synchronised delivery of images and advertising to multiple digital projectors using Adobe Flash and socket-servers.

Bartender

An Poc Fada - Monaghan Ireland
December 2001 - December 2003

Worked as bar staff member, serving drinks and dealing with the public. Was full-time employed over during the summer months and enjoyed extended responsibility therein.

Education

MSc. Computer Game Programming - University of Hull, England

Sept 2006 - Sept 2007

Overall Result: Distinction (72.1)

Semester 3 Results

Module title %
Major Dissertation 72

Semester 2 Results

Module title %
Simulation and Concurrency 80
Games Programming and AI 79
Development Project 74

Semester 1 Results

Module title %
C++ Programming and Design 74
Real-Time Computer Graphics 69
Games Development Architecture 57

BSc. Multimedia - Dublin City University, Ireland

2001 - 2005

Year Grade
Year 1 2.1
Year 2 2.1
Year 3 1.1
Year 4 1.1
Overall 2.1

Leaving Cert - St. Macartan's College, Monaghan, Ireland

1995 - 2001

Subject (Higher Level) Grade
Technical Drawing A1
Construction Studies A2
Art B2
English B1
Maths C1
Irish C2
French C3

Hobbies / Interests

Additional Information