Kael Hufford

Leading a cross-functional, four-person agile development team to architect and build a low-poly ocean strategy and exploration game. Responsible for core systems architecture utilizing the Godot engine and GDScript, while establishing strict version control protocols using GitHub.

To optimize the team's production pipeline, I engineered and designed highly modular, reusable in-editor workflows that significantly accelerated content creation and reduced manual effort for our modelers and level designers. Beyond technical implementation, I oversee project timelines, delegate cross-disciplinary tasks, and manage overall software stability leading up to successful closed playtests.

Architected and deployed a highly interactive, simulated terminal console to run a community-driven Alternate Reality Game (ARG) requiring collaborative effort to assemble ciphers. Engineered a robust custom Node.js backend capable of concurrently serving an Express/Socket.io web interface alongside a secure, dedicated SSH server utilizing the ssh2 library.

Developed complex internal backend infrastructure including IP-based rate limiting, dynamic session handling, a custom command parsing registry, and an interactive virtual filesystem to serve localized puzzle fragments. Proficiently leveraged AI tooling to rapidly prototype the server logic. Handled all DevOps responsibilities, successfully deploying, configuring, and managing the live production environment on a DigitalOcean Droplet.

Engineered a large-scale, feature-rich Minecraft plugin focused on delivering a highly unique and customized player experience. Applied strict iterative development methodologies to efficiently manage the project's growing scope and ensure consistent, bug-free feature delivery.

Proficiently leveraged AI-assisted tooling (Gemini API) as a pair-programmer to rapidly prototype complex Java logic, troubleshoot edge cases, and significantly expedite the overall software development lifecycle of the massive plugin architecture.

Engineered a complex, AI-driven interactive NPC system for a custom Minecraft adventure environment using Java and the Spigot API. Integrated the Gemini API to generate dynamic, contextual dialogue that responds in real-time to in-game variables like a player's health, inventory, and semantic time of day.

To deepen immersion, I architected a custom two-step execution loop that allows the AI to autonomously gather environmental data—such as scanning a 5-block radius for specific block types—before formulating its final response. I also developed a robust parsing engine using asynchronous tasks to translate AI text outputs into synchronized physical actions, enabling the NPC to independently pathfind to dynamic locations, play sounds, manage a persistent moral state, and physically react to players without blocking the main server thread.

Designed and engineered a comprehensive, full-stack multiplayer server plugin utilizing Java and the Spigot API. Architected a robust custom SQL database integration to persistently track complex player data, economic metrics, and modular gameplay systems across a live environment.

Successfully managed and maintained the server infrastructure, demonstrating strong system stability by supporting 51 unique concurrent/total players and accumulating over 6,500 hours of tracked total playtime.