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Band of Crusaders

Strategy RPGUnreal Engine 5Steam Page
C++BlueprintPythonGameplay TagsData AssetsFMODAMD FSRIntel XeSSGitPerforce

Band of Crusaders

Overview

Band of Crusaders is a dark medieval strategy RPG developed by Virtual Alchemy using Unreal Engine 5.

As an Unreal Engine Programmer, I contribute to the development of gameplay systems, engine features, editor tooling, rendering integrations, and workflow improvements while collaborating closely with gameplay designers, programmers, artists, and audio engineers.

Project Status: Currently in active development.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2526570/Band_of_Crusaders/

Gameplay Systems

My primary focus has been building modular, reusable, and data-driven gameplay systems that allow designers to rapidly iterate while maintaining clean, scalable architecture.

Highlights

  • Designed reusable gameplay systems using Gameplay Tags, Data Assets, and modular factory-based architecture.
  • Built configurable gameplay frameworks enabling designers to extend gameplay without modifying engine code.
  • Developed gameplay factories and filtering pipelines to support reusable gameplay content generation.
  • Implemented progression- and reputation-driven gameplay systems using reusable mathematical evaluation functions.
  • Refactored gameplay logic into maintainable, reusable systems that improve scalability across multiple gameplay features.

Dynamic Gameplay Features

Worked on systems responsible for generating dynamic gameplay experiences while maintaining deterministic and configurable behaviour.

Highlights

  • Developed configurable random gameplay event systems using weighted evaluation and gameplay history to reduce repetition and improve gameplay variety.
  • Designed descriptor generation and filtering pipelines using a modular factory-based architecture for reusable gameplay condition evaluation.
  • Implemented data-driven gameplay modifiers allowing designers to configure gameplay behaviour through Unreal Data Assets.

Inventory & Economy Systems

Designed systems supporting scalable inventory generation and economy balancing.

Highlights

  • Built modular inventory assembly pipelines capable of generating context-aware item pools through configurable assembler architecture.
  • Developed reputation-driven vendor inventory generation and weighted item selection systems.
  • Refactored progression and economy calculations into reusable gameplay math libraries shared across multiple gameplay systems.
  • Designed gameplay systems emphasizing composition and data-driven configuration over hardcoded implementations.

Engine Programming & Developer Tools

Improved engine functionality while building tools that increase development efficiency.

Highlights

  • Integrated Intel XeSS and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) into the project while resolving issues with the graphics settings pipeline to ensure reliable runtime configuration.
  • Developed Unreal Editor extensions using C++ and Python to improve internal development workflows.
  • Built developer-facing tools and automation utilities supporting gameplay programming and content iteration.
  • Collaborated with audio engineers to investigate and resolve FMOD integration issues.

Feedback & Quality Systems

Improved debugging, diagnostics, and QA workflows.

Highlights

  • Designed and implemented an in-game feedback and crash reporting system using BugSplat.
  • Improved internal debugging workflows by providing structured diagnostics for developers and QA.
  • Worked closely with designers and QA to identify, reproduce, and resolve gameplay issues throughout development.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Worked closely with multiple disciplines throughout development, including:

  • Gameplay Designers
  • Technical Designers
  • Gameplay Programmers
  • Artists
  • Audio Engineers
  • QA Engineers

Regular collaboration involved translating gameplay requirements into maintainable technical implementations while supporting rapid gameplay iteration.

Technologies

Unreal Engine 5 • Modern C++ • Blueprint • Python • Gameplay Tags • Data Assets • FMOD • AMD FSR • Intel XeSS • BugSplat • Git • Perforce

Key Takeaways

Working on Band of Crusaders has strengthened my experience building production-quality gameplay systems within a multidisciplinary development team. The project reinforced best practices in:

  • Scalable gameplay architecture
  • Data-driven design
  • Reusable C++ systems
  • Editor tool development
  • Engine integrations
  • Performance optimization
  • Cross-disciplinary collaboration
  • Production-ready development workflows

Medias

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