- Leading research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) targeting Extended Reality (XR) interactions.
- Assisting courses in Computer Science and mentoring undergraduate/graduate students.
Game & Software Engineer | Unity3D Generalist @ Manerai Inc. | Doctoral Researcher
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
I have been developing software for about 6 years, 5 of which are dedicated to game development. My most successful commercial project is Taxi Driver VR ↗ on the Meta Store. Currently, I am also conducting doctoral academic research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with a focus on Extended Reality (XR) at the University of Saskatchewan.
TAXI DRIVER VR ↗ (Meta Store — Commercial Release):
- Implemented core gameplay mechanics, player vehicle physics, and core systems.
- Built and polished immersive VR interactions and responsive motion controller feedback.
- Executed deep performance profiling and memory optimizations for stable VR framerates.
- Engineered dynamic in-game world behaviors, traffic simulation, and player reward loops.
- Supported the project across all milestones from early prototype to store release & LiveOps.
- Developed full-lifecycle game titles in Unity Engine across multiple genres.
- Implemented Event Management, robust Save systems, and UI integration directly from Figma designs.
- Integrated Monetization & Analytics (In-App Purchases, Ad Networks, telemetry).
- Architected networking modules (REST, GraphQL, WebSocket) and microservices (FastAPI, Flask, Socket.IO).
- Built multiplayer experiences with Photon Unity Networking (PUN) and explored Photon Quantum.
- Engineered web game experiences with PlayCanvas (JavaScript).
- Shipped 10+ rapid game prototypes in casual/hypercasual genres.
- Delivered complete playable iterations within roughly 1-week turnarounds per project.
- Contributed to the Ensemble Toolkit for HPC (High-Performance Computing) project for BP Azerbaijan.
- Automated and standardized ensemble simulation model workflows using Plynx, React, and Python.
- Completed intensive apprenticeship program by DynamicBox covering Game Design & Architecture fundamentals.
- Presented 3 projects at "Ninja Game Dev" showcase.
PORTFOLIO & SHIPPED PROJECTS • Ismayil Mammadov (7empest)
Extracted from projects archive • Type any project command for a dedicated breakdown
Taxi Driver VR ↗
Joined this project at the prototype stage when it was rough shapes testing basic physics. Iterated heavily on player comfort, steering feel, turn sensitivity, acceleration, and braking curves to achieve natural, zero-motion-sickness driving in VR. Engineered route guidance, passenger interaction loops, and built the living city with dynamic traffic simulation and environmental audio via Wwise.
- Comfort & Handling: Fine-tuned vehicle suspension, steering resistance, and motion responsiveness.
- Immersion: Tactile hand interactions, route GPS, and passenger dialogue without breaking VR immersion.
- Optimization: Deep GPU/CPU performance profiling, memory budget management, and stable FPS on Meta Quest hardware.
- Commercial Milestone: Achieved #1 in Top Paid Releases on queststoredb.com at day 20, earned official Meta Top Seller badges, and sustained ~10,000 DAU.
Bold Badgers Galaxy
A WebGL turn-based strategy game where players authenticate with Phantom Wallet and hold at least one Bold Badgers NFT to play. Acted as sole UI architect and developed the core combat simulation engine.
- Custom UI Architecture: Sole engineer responsible for all UI development, data binding, and optimization. Replaced third-party packages with custom high-speed UGUI elements leveraging
UnityEngine.EventSystems(IPointerEventHandler, etc.). - Custom GraphQL Constructor: Developed an in-engine GraphQL query constructor tailored for efficient Unity WebGL networking.
- Web3 Authentication & Live Chat: Integrated Unity browser scripting with Moralis API for Phantom Wallet login, and utilized WebSocket protocol for real-time notifications and in-game chat.
- Advanced Combat System: Built a pure .NET combat engine covering Lane System, Reserve System, Strategy Cards, Excessive Damage Handling, and Accuracy Reduction; deployed via ASP.NET Core WebAPI on AWS AppRunner.
Charspeak
Full-stack interactive roleplay simulation where users converse with a 3D animated character in real-time. Designed both the mobile Unity client and implemented the complete containerized Python cloud backend.
- Client Features: Implemented character customization, 3D model importing, animations, dynamic camera framing, save management, and client-side network integration with MVVC UI architecture.
- Backend Microservices: Docker Compose application with 4 services: FastAPI HTTP server, Redis broker/backend, Flower task monitoring, and Celery task workers.
- GPU AI Audio Pipeline: Nvidia CUDA GPU worker integrating Llama LLM, StyleTTS2 text-to-speech, and RVC (Retrieval-based Voice Conversion) for lifelike expressive character voice synthesis.
- AWS Deployment: Deployed to AWS Elastic Beanstalk with auto-scaling and load balancing, featuring a secondary CPU-only tier for free users.
Madness Afloat
Fast-paced competitive multiplayer action title featuring naval and character combat. Engineered deterministic netcode mechanics within Photon Quantum's high-performance rollback simulation framework.
- Movement Netcode: Developed ship maneuvering and player movement with 100% deterministic simulation and prediction.
- Shooting System: Deterministic projectile trajectories, firing ballistics, and hit registration.
- Harpoon System: Dynamic tether physics and harpoon vessel grappling.
- Anchor System: Realistic nautical inertia braking, anchor drop physics, and vessel pivots.
Freelance Casual Games
Long-term solo freelance developer for a regular client, creating and shipping over 10 2D casual mobile titles from Figma specs directly to the Apple App Store with rapid turnarounds.
- Full Lifecycle: Took projects from ground zero through Figma UI integration, 2D physics tuning, and App Store publication.
- Reusable Core Architecture: Built Statistics System, Shop System, Achievement System (with custom mission logic), Save System, and AI System into every title.
- Monetization: Implemented In-App Purchases (IAP) and mobile ad network mediation.
Water Transfer Calculator
Cross-platform mobile calculation application created for professional water engineers, featuring cloud user profiles, multi-language support, and recurring subscription billing.
- Localization Support: Integrated Unity's Localization package for international engineering standards and units.
- In-App Subscriptions: Implemented recurring billing tiers across Google Play and Apple App Store.
- MVVC Data Binding: Clean reactive UI data binding for complex hydraulic formulas.
- PlayFab Backend: Authorization, player authentication, cloud save profiles, and custom user data management.
[ ACADEMIC DEGREES ]
[ CERTIFICATIONS ]
- ✓ CS50's Introduction to Game Development — Harvard / edX
- ✓ CS50's Introduction to Computer Science — Harvard / edX
- ✓ Theoretical and Practical Understanding of C#
- ✓ C# (Basic) Certification
Let's connect! Reach out for game engineering, XR research, consulting, or technical collaborations:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & CREDITS
- ASCII Art Generator: ASCII banner generated using asciiart.eu/image-to-ascii ↗
- Typography: JetBrains Mono (JetBrains) & Cantarell (GNOME Project).
- Theme & Aesthetics: Inspired by Fedora Workstation, GNOME Terminal & cyberpunk minimalist CLI interfaces.
Designed and hand-crafted by Ismayil Mammadov (7empest) • Built with pure HTML5, CSS3, and Vanilla JavaScript.