Perth, Western Australia

Dean WilsonGames, engines
& software.

Game developer and software engineer building systems from first principles.

Selected work
01 / Selected work

Systems with
a clear purpose.

Engine architecture and focused tools that solve real problems across the work.

01
Game engine ecosystem

Umbra Engine

C++20 / Raylib / CMake

A modular game-engine ecosystem built to explore rendering, runtime architecture, scripting, UI, tooling, and the boundaries between them.

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Umbra Engine logo
02
Testing framework

Cimmerian

C++20 / Developer tools

A BDD-style C++ testing framework with typed assertions, readable diffs, snapshots, timing, lifecycle hooks, and visual regression tooling.

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Cimmerian testing framework logo
03
Logging library

Firefly

C++20 / Infrastructure

A lightweight logging library with named loggers, checked formatting, message deduplication, and text, CSV, JSON, and NDJSON sinks.

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04
JSON library

Amanuensis

C++20 / Serialization

A dependency-free JSON library with strict parsing, ordered objects, stable output, detailed diagnostics, and opt-in serialization for application types.

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Amanuensis JSON library logo
02 / In development

Prototypes &
what comes next.

Languages, interface systems, and games moving from design into working software.

05
Scripting language

Nyx

Active development / C++ / Language design

A statically typed scripting language for gameplay logic and declarative UI, with a lexer, parser, interpreter, host bindings, and state-preserving reload work.

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06
Retained-mode UI framework

Penumbra

Working prototype / C++20 / SDL3 / UI systems

A retained-mode C++ UI framework for Umbra’s editors and development tools, with an app-owned visual language and backend-independent integration points.

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07
Systems language

Nox

Design phase / Language design / Compilers

A statically typed, compiled systems language designed for engine code, explicit low-level control, and eventual use throughout Umbra Engine.

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08
Shared language runtime

Noctis Runtime

Design phase / C++ / Runtime architecture

The shared runtime foundation that lets Nox, Nyx, and native host code exchange types, values, callables, and errors through one contract.

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09
Declarative UI layer

Chaos

Prototype in progress / Nyx / UI architecture

A declarative UI extension for Nyx that turns component behavior and JSX-style element trees into backend-independent UI descriptions.

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10
Stylesheet language

Cosmos

Prototype implemented / C++20 / Language tooling

A backend-independent styling and animation language for Chaos, built around familiar CSS concepts and a strict, focused surface.

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11
Narrative puzzle platformer

Crimson & Thorn

Preproduction / Umbra Engine / C++

A short 2D puzzle platformer about love, loss, memory, and the difficult choice to move forward.

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FEAR//LESS Game Dev
The game-development hub

More work.
More context.

FEAR//LESS is where the games, experiments, development notes, and work in progress live. This site stays focused on the strongest systems and tools.

Visit FEAR//LESS
Dean Wilson
03 / About

Engineer by practice.
Game developer by instinct.

I'm a game developer and software engineer from Perth, Western Australia. My work spans C++, language tooling, engine architecture, web software, and the small libraries that make larger systems easier to understand.

I hold degrees in Games Development and Computer Science, majoring in Software Engineering.

04 / Contact

Find me elsewhere.

For current work, code, videos, and professional details.

GitHub LinkedIn FEAR//LESS