Sophia Akhavan

Software Engineer

About

Hi, I'm Sophia! I am a programmer and developer who graduated from the CS Games program at USC back in 2023, and I am actively seeking a software engineering role, drawing from my diverse background in backend development and design. I highly value a collaborative work environment and attention to detail. My main coding languages are C# and C++, and I have extensive experience with Unity.Thanks to my internship and project experience, I am very comfortable learning new skills quickly, being proactive with assigning myself tasks, and working with others. During my years in the CS Games program at USC, I took on a variety of projects that exposed me to all aspects of both game and app development. Feel free to check out my Projects tab!

Contact

The best way to contact me is via email or LinkedIn.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiaakhavan/
Email: sophiaakhavan19@gmail.com
Phone: (650) 730-0480

PROFESSIONAL WORK

PERSONAL PROJECTS

Grandma Green

I had the privilege of being part of the development team for Grandma Green, a 2D mobile farming and pet simulation game. Over the course of a year, I collaborated with engineers and designers to bring this game to life. It is now available on the App Store!Key Contributions:
- Designed and coded the backend for collections, inventory, and shopkeeping systems- Assisted in the completion of garden customization, enabling players to drag and place decor items and personalize their house, fence, and mailbox
- Bug fixed and implemented small features

Marvel Strike Force

My internship at Scopely working on Marvel Strike Force taught me a lot about programming for an established game with a large player base. Through code reviews and working with a lot of existing code I improved greatly on my ability to use best coding practices and interpret complex systems. Getting to create an entirely new feature that will improve the player experience was incredibly rewarding and I hope to maintain that level of impact throughout my career.Key Contributions:
- Spent 6 weeks building a new soon-to-be released feature to improve player experience- Worked with client-server interaction to send updates between players, using Node.js and MongoDB- Built new UI to support the feature while improving existing UI- Coordinated with engineers, designers, and UI/UX team to plan the feature- Fixed bugs across the game

Activision

My internship at Activision was a valuable experience that exposed me to life at a large company. I worked closely with experienced programmers to transform their codebase into being cleaner and more efficient. Much of my work involved Rest APIs, code optimization, and Unit/Integration testing.Key Contributions:
- Changed the way that Call of Duty campaigns for promotion codes are created to be configuration-based, which simplified the code and saved engineering time- Optimized and cleaned up code for several APIs- Documented existing REST APIs to improve feature discoverability and ease developer onboarding- Unit and integration tested the team’s codebase- Researched, tested, and presented software solutions to improve the team’s processes

RideStream

RideStream was my first exposure to backend development for a company. Since I joined in its early stages, much of my work was high impact and fast paced.Key Contributions:
- Created feature allowing users to scroll through the app’s database of songs, play them, and select which ones to add to their playlists- Added playlist feature allowing users to look at their playlists and play them- Kept track of user data (playlists, ad revenue, etc.) in the cloud

MURDER! (mystery) at the Hell Hotel

MURDER! (mystery) at the Hell Hotel is a 2-D point-and-click murder mystery dating simulator.
Flirt with demons to uncover the clues you need to solve this mystery and escape hell!This was my first complete game as a semester-long project with a partner.Key Contributions:
- Designed and coded the point-and-click functionalities- Created functions called by Yarn Spinner scripts to trigger in-game events- Handled the visual assets (ie facial expression changes, appearance/disappearance of assets)

Parkour's Edge

Parkour's edge is a simplified version of the hit parkour game Mirror's Edge, complete with checkpoints, points from collecting coins, lasers that send the player back to their last checkpoint, and a timer.
Used SDL for the graphics and audio. The code follows a similar architecture to that of Unreal Engine (UObject and AActor classes, GameMode, GameState, etc).

Mario Kart

Simplified version of Mario Kart. The code follows a similar architecture to that of Unreal Engine (UObject and AActor classes, GameMode, GameState, etc). Includes an AI enemy kart to race against, tracking of laps, and a display of which place the player is at.
The track is loaded by reading a height map from a CSV file. The POV camera is a spring follow camera that, like a spring compressing and decompressing as the vehicle moves, creates a smooth interpolating effect.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Simplified version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The code follows a similar architecture to that of Unreal Engine (UObject and AActor classes, GameMode, GameState, etc). It includes player attacks, soldiers that use A* pathfinding, and objects to interact with. The map is loaded using a tile map texture and CSV file.

Work in Progress: Untitled Unity Game

Unity3D game where you play as a clever bird-rodent mutant on a mission to escape a lab run by an evil scientist. Staff members guard each room with various weapons like dart guns, butterfly nets, and more.
The game will primarily include puzzle solving, stealth mechanics, and flight-based parkour in each level to evade capture.