About Me
I am a Senior Gameplay Engineer from Stafford, Virginia (USA) with over a decade of experience in the games industry across multiple indie commercial products big and small.
As a Gameplay Engineer, the bulk of my work has existed in a space between Design and Engineering, navigating the requirements of both disciplines, often being called upon to design, prototype, and maintain systems, tools, and content related to RPG Systems, Progression, Inventory and Item Management, Narrative Scripting and Tooling, and much much more.
For nearly six years I've been privileged enough to work remotely at Question Games. I've also been working on my own projects through FateBound, some of these will appear in this portfolio.
I am not currently seeking positions with any company that uses Generative AI as part of their production process, and that is unlikely to change any time soon. Thank you for your understanding.
Commercial Projects
The Killing Stone (Ongoing)
Released: Q1 2026 (Coming Soon!)
Role: Senior Gameplay Engineer
This project represented a big shift in my responsibilities, taking on a different set of developmental roles and task types after the departure of our previous Engineering Lead.
It's been a fantastic project that I could not be more proud of!
Note: I will be releasing a series of Blog Posts diving into many of these in the future, and linking them here.
Led the Design and Implementation of the Gameplay Core Architecture. I was the first Engineer on the project, laying the foundations and groundwork, working directly with Alonso Soriano our Technical Animator in the early days to develop the core gameplay and animation systems for the Character, Controller, and Camera (3C), and Facial Animation tech.
Developed a comprehensive analysis of various Narrative Tooling with the explicit goal of more heavily integrating our Creative Director into the project, then executed on that through the integration of Articy Draft X, development of custom plugins to support narrative content creation. Through these efforts, we were able to speed up creation of narrative content, going from literal weeks to minutes to generate conversation, barks, and more.
UI Layer Management
Bark System
Rich Presence
Input System
Inventory and Item System
Custom Editor Work to Speed up Development
Other Systems
Koreographer 2 (Ongoing)
Released: Q1 2026 (Coming Soon!)
Role: Unreal Expert and Engineer
Working directly with Justin and Eric at Sonic Bloom to help develop a comprehensive and feature complete Unreal Engine Plugin for Koreographer 2.
Unreal Specific C++ and Editor Support
Generate Content Examples for end users.
Dogfood the Process of creating experimental audio-driven gameplay.
Project Moonstone (Ongoing)
In Active Development
Role: Lead Engineer & Creative Lead
Moonstone is an Action RPG I've been working on in my free hours with my friends over at FateBound Games, more can be found HERE.
On this project I wear a lot of hats. Other than the Art, Sound, and Music, which are done by other collaborators, I was responsible for the System Design and Implementation of the entire game.
Moonstone is ongoing, we are always keeping an ear to the ground looking for funding so if you're looking for something special you should reach out!
Note: I will be releasing a series of Blog Posts diving into many of these in the future, and linking them here.
This project is difficult because there's SO Much to talk about, I will continue to fill this out as I go but I've written literally tens of thousands of lines of code creating the game as it exists now, adhering to extremely high personal standards of code cleanliness...
Creation of the Character, Controller, and Camera (3C) Systems, Animation Blueprints, Character and Player State Management to support Exploration Gameplay. I spent the better part of a year refining gameplay concepts, building out a full exploration loop and narrative scaffolding.
Designed and Implemented a modified form of the Gameplay Ability System (GAS), and support code for the creation of a Combat System, including the creation of Status Effects, Damage Message Systems, Character States, and a comprehensive Damage Plumbing System that manages hit reactions.
Developed a Combat Director AI, and HFSM Based Enemy and Ally Pawn AI, as well as a Combat Ticketing System to manage attack rate, spells, and more.
Developed a new Narrative, Quest, and Level Scripting System to work in parallel with a Custom Scripting Language, to simplify the process of generating Content ingame.
Other Systems
UI Layer Management
Bark System
Rich Presence
Equipment & Inventory System
Weapon Based Animation System
Designer Accessible Save/Load
The Moonstone Damage Pipeline
Blog Posts:
Released: March 26, 2024
Role: Senior Gameplay Engineer
South Park: Snow Day! was my first large scale project, and first game on Consoles (and with a physical release!).
We don't always get to pick our projects, and this was certainly a challenging one on many fronts, but I grew tremendously as a developer throughout it, joining as a Gameplay Engineer and being promoted to Senior Gameplay Engineer in the middle of development.
South Park: Snow Day!
Other Systems
Debugging and Utility Systems
Ingame Shops, Currencies, and UI Support
Projectile Systems
Tutorial and FTUX Systems
Loot Tables and Item Presentation
Credits and Licensing Management
Note: I will be releasing a series of Blog Posts diving into many of these in the future, and linking them here.
I worked alongside the Lead Designer to handle implementation and management of the core RPG Progression Systems, this was a pretty large task that involved the creation of the Upgrade Card Systems, Persistent Perks, and the interaction of these systems with equippable items and the RPG Attribute Systems.
Co-Designed the Final Boss Fight along with the Creative Director, handling AI Design, Attack Skills, Balance and Tuning, and helped shepherd it through the approval process with the IP Holders.
Implemented and Maintained the Flamethrower Weapon, taking ownership of it early after its creation as it proved difficult for non-engineers due to its unique nature compared with the other weapons already ingame.
Contact FX System that handled a matrix of Physical Interactions to generate a multitude of results from footsteps to projectile impacts.
WolfQuest 3
Released: July 25th, 2019 (Early Access)
Role: Unity Programmer (Contract)
I was brought on to work on two major systems on the anniversary edition of WolfQuest.
The Scent System was a map-wide particle based gameplay system that provided unique scent information to the player to simulate a wolf's ability to smell.
A novel LOD Pathfinding Solution that allowed herds of animals to calculate their navigation asynchronously across massive distances without breaking the performance budget.
Better Off Tread
Released: 2017 (No Longer on Steam)
Role: Junior Gameplay Engineer
This was my first commercial game project, I was brought on as a Junior Engineer to work under Zach White to handle PlayFab backend integration, and the Character, Camera, and Controller systems for networked multiplayer play.
This game was not commercially successful, and was brought offline a few months after launch.
Blender
C#/C++/C
Articy Draft
Substance
Java
Perforce P4
GLSL
.NET
Unreal Engine
Unity
HLSL
PlayFab
Skills & Languages
And many more...
Jam Games
I LOVE Game Jams, they were my gateway into the Industry over ten years ago, and they're often where I shake out ambient creative thoughts during long projects. I have a small group of friends I usually jam with under the "Occult Softworks" Banner, we will probably continue to use that moniker to differentiate it from the work we do commercially at FateBound.
Few of these are highly polished experiences, many were made in 72 hours or less. Consider them very raw experiences, and perhaps head back up to the Commercial Games section if you're looking for more polish.
Streamonologist
Released: October 31st, 2024
Role: Programming
Jam: Senscape's Midnight Jam
Footage from my friend Zodi who played the game as one of the Jam Reviewers.
Play as a Streamer who is livestreaming his ghosthunting adventures with a live chat that reacts in real time to the events going on ingame.
My role as programmer was focused around Character, Camera, and Controller (3C), the Chat System, Hand Animations, and handling the build process and assisting team members with Unreal Engine technical problems.
Other Team Members:
Mel Crosgrove - Sound, VO
Fredrik Häthén - Music
Joakim "Chef" Lundström - Level Design
REDACTED
Released: October 23rd, 2023
Role: Programming, Design
Jam: Senscape's Adventurous Jam
Footage from my friend Zodi who played the game as one of the Jam Reviewers.
You are a reporter for a small-town newspaper in Pendleton County, West Virginia. You've been chasing down a story about mysterious overcrowding at the local hospital, but you've hit a dead end. Your FOIA request to nearby Sugar Grove Naval Radio Station was returned with reams upon reams of blacked out pages.
My role as programmer was focused around Character, Camera, and Controller (3C), the enemy AI, Dialogue Systems, and Interaction systems.
You'll start to notice a bit of a trend with our games during this era, more immersive sim elements, stealth focus, and more emphasis on AI.
Other Team Members:
Mel Crosgrove - Sound, VO, Level Design, Additional Art
3rd🏆
RE/Fragment
Released: October 31st, 2022
Role: Programming, Tech Design
Jam: Senscape's Cursed Adventurous Jam
Footage from my friend Zodi who played the game as one of the Jam Reviewers.
You are Detective Grayson Davis, a Senior Net Investigator from the Public Net Security Bureau (NetSEc/NSB), a Pseudo-Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agency within Nova Shinjaku city. Talk, Stealth, or Hack your way through the abandoned Golden Heights hotel, and discover the mysteries Arvuti Industries left behind when they suddenly abandoned their newest venture.
My role as programmer was focused around Character, Camera, and Controller (3C), the enemy AI, Dialogue Systems, and Interaction systems. This game was a lot of fun to create, we managed to fit in a lot of the elements we so enjoyed in a good immersive sim.
Other Team Members:
Mel Crosgrove - Level Design, Sound, VO
5th 🏆
SNOWBLIND
Released: December 13th, 2021
Role: Programming, Tech Design
Jam: Senscape's Adventurous Jam
Footage from my friend Zodi who played the game as one of the Jam Reviewers.
Malcolm is a Reserve Engineer traveling to McMurdo Research Base in Antarctica as part of a relief mission. The expedition runs into trouble when an intense winter storm throws the plane off course.
With the help of a friendly voice from Halley Research Station, Malcolm must survive until the storm breaks, and help can arrive. But something is odd about Halley Station. Your friendly voice on the radio knows all the key codes, buildings, and supply locations, but refuses to tell you her name.
My role as programmer was focused around Character, Camera, and Controller (3C), the enemy AI, Dialogue Systems, and Interaction systems. This was an attempt at genuine survival mechanics, something I've wanted to do for a long time, while still focusing strongly on the narrative style we'd been developing as a team.
Other Team Members:
Mel Crosgrove - Level Design, Sound, VO
5th 🏆
Point Hope
Released: October 5th, 2020
Role: Programming, Design
Jam: Senscape's Adventurous Jam
You are a member of the United States Coast Guard, on a Search and Rescue operation, investigating a vessel found adrift off the coast of Alaska. When you arrive, you find that this is much more than just a simple case of a ship in distress.
My role as programmer was focused around Character, Camera, and Controller (3C), the enemy AI, Dialogue Systems, and Interaction systems. It was also my first Unreal Engine game!
This was one of the earliest attempts at formulating a style as a group, and you'll see a lot of seeds for the core themes and storytelling flourishes we would develop in later games. Of all our games, this is the one I've always wanted to revisit and remake with the skills I have now.
Other Team Members:
Mel Crosgrove - Level Design, Sound, VO
Aubrey Knight - Additional Art
Shayna Alley - Writing
3rd🏆
Smaller Works
Released: April 6th, 2022
Role: Programming
Jam: Ludum Dare 50
The Long Journey Home is a small chill adventure in the endless skies, you are a Courier, delivering mail to the islands along your path as you head back home. Your ship will decay while it is being used, and will eventually fail, you must deliver packages, earn gilders, and pay for repairs at the islands along the way.
Released: May 4th, 2020
Role: Programming
Jam: Ludum Dare 46
Feed the Guts, Gears, and Circuits of your slain enemies to the Grinder, for your companions hunger is VORACIOUS. Hunt and shoot the abhorrent creatures that dwell in the ruins. Use them to feed the Old One, so that its light may survive and bring life back to our home.
Released: October 7th, 2019
Role: Programming
Jam: Ludum Dare 45
The sun is going to disappear for 5 years, and the city of Everett must re-outfit itself to survive this crisis. In a world with a solar based economy, this is no small task. Tear down the useless relics of the last world, and start again from nothing. Make fatiguing decisions, and accept their consequences in this turn-based city builder.
Released: August 7th, 2019
Role: Programming
Jam: GMTK Game{jam}
That's the struggle of the modern ruin stalker. Fashionable hat? Check. Sturdy boots? Check. Pants with pockets? Well, one can't be fashionable and functional apparently. You only have one pocket.
Explore the depths of ancient ruins, avoid traps and deadly pitfalls, and after you've thoroughly explored the area, choose only one of it's riches to take home. Money, or armor? Bombs, or strangely cursed idols
Released: May 7th, 2019
Role: Programming
Jam: Ludum Dare 44
This was our first attempt at something more narrative focused, and is really a seed for later attempts at games in the 2020's. I didn't realize it at the time, but the story is also extremely similar to that of Snowblind.
Released: August 7th, 2019
Role: Programming
Jam: Ludum Dare 43
De-Railed is a narative-driven 2D platformer in which you play an engineer of a train gathering wayward souls to the last bastion of humanity in a postapocalyptic America. With a limited number of supplies, you can’t take everything with you.
Sacrifices must be made.
Released: August 13th, 2018
Role: Programming, Art
Jam: Ludum Dare 42
DETRITUS is a Space Flight Shooter where you kill as many enemy ships as you can in a contained area before warping to the next isolated zone. The wreckage of your enemies will continue to pile up until your zone becomes in-navigable.
Of all my games: This is one I sometimes dig out and play just for the joy of it.
Released: April 23rd, 2018
Role: Programming
Jam: Ludum Dare 41
You play as a fish in a tank of similarly happy fish, blissfully unaware of the world beyond the glass walls. You have all your wants and needs cared for, and all that is required of you is to serve a single purpose: To be tonight’s chef special.
Explore the surroundings, and enjoy the ambiance. Watch the surface for the dreaded Net. Survive for as long as you can before you become what’s on the menu.
Released: April 24th, 2017
Role: Programming
Jam: Ludum Dare 38
Atlantis is a turn based strategy game where the play field is constantly getting smaller as portions of the island sink. Take turns moving your three units through the world to activate the magic towers. Each turn, more of the island will sink into the ocean. Once you’ve finally lit all four towers, it’s a mad dash to escort the heir of the empire to the boat before Atlantis falls.
⚰️Cancelled Projects
There are plenty of projects that never saw the light of day, many I'm unable to talk about to this day! My early career was full of these as it was during the so-called indiepocalypse. The ones I can talk about were announced, or had information publicly available are listed below.
Work Period: 2017 - 2019
Role: Programming & Producer
A 2.5D Action-Platformer with wit and charm, follow the adventures of Emilia as she Flies, Slaps, and Puzzles her way through the world of Galice! Built with love, it's a modern take on a classic genre.
Sadly the company was not able to secure further funding and the project was shuttered as it was nearing the finish line.
Live Action Games
Before COVID-19 swept thru and made real world live action games impossible, I ran a game for about a decade, and staffed another as a Senior Storyteller. These games were incredibly important to a lot of my design sensibilities and storytelling styles, and so they're important to have represented.
Work Period: 2012 - 2021
Role: Head GM
Sommerset was a multi-genre cinematic Live Action game that I ran for nearly a decade, using a lighter-touch, fast combat system involving boffers, but not eschewing the more intimate storytelling methods often found at parlor larps.
At our height, we had a playerbase of about 60 people, and around 12 staff members.
Sadly, due to COVID-19, we ended up shutting down, and with the playerbase aging out, having kids, moving away, etc. we ended up closing down in 2021.
Work Period: 2016 - 2018
Role: Senior Storyteller
Simterra was a post-apocalyptic, fantasy LARP set in an alternate/future Earth centuries after modern civilization has crumbled and nature has retaken most of the world.
Simterra was a multi-chapter game that ran from 2005 until 2018. I joined as a storyteller at the end of its life to help finish out the stories we'd all been telling for over a decade.
The game was one of the few to get a meaningful ending, most games fizzled out, or were snuffed out by COVID-19, but as the end was planned for, it was able to end on a high note.
Get in Touch!
If you'd like to reach out, find me on Social Media, or send a message through this form!
I don't post my email to avoid spam and to keep my inbox usable.
© 2025 Nicholas Crosgrove