Tools Engineer & UX-focused Developer

Game development tooling that blends modern C#/C++ with human-centered UX.

I'm Jeremy Hummel, a software engineer specializing in game development tools, UI/UX systems, and gameplay-supporting applications. I build intuitive, powerful pipelines that help designers, artists, and engineers ship exceptional experiences across proprietary engines, Unity, and Unreal.

Collaboration across disciplines keeps me energized, and I'm always stretching my skill set, whether that's designing visual scripting systems, crafting data APIs, or prototyping new workflows.

Experience

Tools that respect creative flow

I specialize in translating complex problems into approachable tooling, from editors for Diablo IV, to custom tooling and systems for Unity, and backend APIs that keep civic data organized. I move comfortably between UX research, systems design, and low-level engineering so teams can iterate faster with confidence.

Outside of development you'll usually find me gaming (Halo CE, The Witcher 3, Pokémon Emerald, and Baldur's Gate 3 are mainstays) or recharging outdoors by skiing, skating, hiking, biking, and traveling.

Download resume GitHub
  • 5 Ecosystems (Unity, Unreal, Maya, Windows, Web)
  • 5 Shipped Products
  • 100k+ Caffeine-fueled lines of code shipped

Expertise

Where a UX-minded engineer adds the most lift

Content creation tooling

Crafting intuitive editors and in-engine utilities that keep designers, level artists, and animators iterating with confidence.

Automation & workflow optimization

Building launchers, data sync, and scripting layers that strip away repetitive work so teams can ship more content per sprint.

Telemetry & data-driven decisions

Instrumenting tools, surfacing usage dashboards, and steering roadmap prioritization with actionable insights.

Cross-discipline collaboration

Partnering with designers, artists, and technical artists to scope tooling, document workflows, and amplify productivity.

Shipped Products

Each universe deserves its own palette and world-class technology to bring it to life.

Hover over each release to recolor the interface. Every project reflects a different stack, problem space, and team, yet they all share the same obsession with making complex workflows feel intuitive.

Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo IV: Base Game

Role: Tools Engineer
C# C++ WPF .NET SQL

Designed and developed tooling for D4, shipping UX-forward editors, automation, and telemetry to ensure a smooth launch.

  • Death creation pipeline that dropped builds from 2 weeks to less than a day
  • Streamlined editor UI/UX so designers could prototype 2x faster
  • Automation and telemetry to track tool usage and make informed, data driven decisions

Diablo IV // Base Game

Overview

Designed, documented, and maintained UX-rich editors that increased productivity for designers and level artists.

Implemented automation and debugging workflows in C# and C++ to streamline encounter tuning and data reviews.

Served as the Level Art/Level Design point of contact to scope tooling needs and promote workflow health.

Tech & Languages

C# C++ WPF .NET SQL

Examples of Contributions

  • Death creation pipeline that dropped builds from 2 weeks to less than a day via a Wizard that automates most of a monster deaths setup
  • Streamlined Diablo editor UI/UX so designers could prototype faster through data driven decisions to target areas of largest impact via telemetry
  • Automation and telemetry tooling to track tool usage and make informed, data driven decisions like mentioned above
  • Designed, documented, and maintained UX-rich editors that increased productivity for designers and level artists such as the NPC wizard used to create NPCs and the Death Wizard used to author monster deaths.
  • Implemented automation and debugging workflows in C# and C++ to streamline encounter tuning and data reviews such as generating Excel reports for encounters and implementing an asset watch system so users can be notified of important changes.
  • Served as the Level Art/Level Design point of contact to scope tooling needs and promote workflow health by hosting regular syncs with the level art teams and triaging requests.

Quick links

Email LinkedIn GitHub

Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred

Role: Tools Engineer
C# C++ WPF .NET SQL

Extended and improved D4's existing tooling & systems to support D4's first expansion.

  • Implemented a visual scripting system akin to UE blueprints
  • Implemented a data inheritance system to allow designers to work with data more efficiently
  • Implemented a UI Data binding system to allow more dynamic & data driven UIs in D4

Vessel of Hatred // Expansion

Overview

Extended Diablo IV's tooling stack with visual scripting UI and mid-level APIs so designers could deliver content faster.

Shipped data inheritance tooling through test-driven development to keep expansion data healthy.

Tech & Languages

C# C++ WPF .NET SQL

Examples of Contributions

  • Visual scripting system UI and mid-level API for designers made to decouple designers and engineers to improve both areas productivity by making it to where neither has to wait on the other
  • Data inheritance tooling made to improve content creator productivity with large datasets implemented with TDD (test driven development)
  • Data binding tooling created to make Diablo's in game UIs data driven and to decouple designers and UI engineers, this system was implemented with TDD (test driven development)

Quick links

Email LinkedIn GitHub

Steamroller Studios

Horizon Forbidden West, Fortnite, and More!

Role: Art Tools
Python Qt Maya API

Shipped an art tools suite fueling cinematics for projects such as Horizon Forbidden West and gameplay animations in Fortnite.

  • Maya quick-save workflow for fast iteration
  • Multi-project launcher to manage projects with different requirements
  • Automation and source control tooling

Steamroller Studios // Pipeline

Overview

Collaborated with technical artists, animators, riggers, and production.

Delivered Python + Qt tooling that automated source control, project setup, and high-volume save operations.

Tech & Languages

Python Qt Maya API

Examples of Contributions

  • Collaborated with technical artists, animators, riggers, and production to gather requirements and iterate quickly on new tooling such as automating cinematics setup, auto rigging and more
  • Maya quick-save workflow so animators can experiment freely and easily revert or branch changes locally
  • Multi-project launcher with per-project tooling configs to allow artists to easily move between multiple projects with different tools and requirements
  • Automation for animation project management and source control to allow artists to easily manage source control revisions and manage large animation and rig libraries

Quick links

Email LinkedIn GitHub

USAFacts

USAFacts.org

Role: Backend Engineer
Kotlin Azure PostgreSQL

Backend contract focused on Azure/Kotlin services, hierarchical data APIs, and automation scripts that kept the USAFacts civic data ecosystem accurate and auditable.

  • Central backend API for reading/writing hierarchical data
  • Azure + CosmosDB services stitched together with Kotlin/PostgreSQL
  • Python automations for data migrations and model transitions

USAFacts // Website

Overview

Gathered requirements across analysts, designers, and engineers to understand how they needed to query civic data.

Implemented Azure-backed services, Kotlin endpoints, and PostgreSQL integrations to keep reports consistent.

Wrote Python scripts to automate migrations and accelerate adoption of new database models.

Tech & Languages

Kotlin Azure CosmosDB PostgreSQL Python

Examples of Contributions

  • Central backend API for reading/writing hierarchical data used to efficiently manage large tree like data structures in the cloud
  • Azure + CosmosDB services stitched together with Kotlin/PostgreSQL and utilized via a RESTFul API by the websites frontend
  • Python automations for data migrations and model transitions such as the transition from a MySQL database to CosmosDB

Quick links

Email LinkedIn GitHub

Contact

Ready to collaborate?

I'm open to roles and collaborations focused on tools engineering, UI/UX for games, backend services, and anything that helps creative teams move faster. Let's talk about how I can plug into your pipeline.

jeremy.hummel3@gmail.com Book a call LinkedIn