Main Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Gameplay Engineer
A Gameplay Engineer is a professional who holds a key role in the video game development process. They are responsible for bringing a game's mechanics, systems, and interactions to life, ensuring an engaging and immersive player experience. Gameplay Engineers bridge the creative and technical aspects of game development, making them essential members of a game development team. In this blog post, we describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Gameplay Engineers.
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Main Responsibilities of a Gameplay Engineer
The following list describes the typical responsibilities of a Gameplay Engineer:
Adapt
Adapt gameplay for different platforms.
Assist in
Assist engineering leadership in API implementation across entire project team.
Assist in creating work estimates and support team members in achieving project deadlines.
Assist other engineers with their features in a programming capacity or otherwise.
Build
Build amazing experiences in Halo Infinite.
Build and expand systems / tools to improve development.
Build physics engines and systems for realistic interactions.
Build sustaining gameplay systems, suggest new ideas, concepts, and provide feedback.
Collaborate with
Collaborate closely with other disciplines as a true team player.
Collaborate daily with a multi-disciplinary team to build, maintain, and extend our codebase.
Collaborate with designers to encourage tight cooperation between design and code.
Collaborate with level designers on gameplay elements.
Collaborate with producers and design staff to optimize gameplay tools and mechanics.
Collaborate with team members to cultivate and improve various gameplay systems.
Contribute
Contribute input on the game's vision and helps champion that vision to team members.
Create
Create AI behavior patterns and logic for non-player characters.
Create and integrate particle effects for visual feedback.
Create and maintain design documentation for abilities systems and component effects.
Create and maintain design documents.
Create and maintain tools for designers and artists.
Create prototypes to test and iterate on game ideas.
Design
Design and code player control systems.
Design and implement well-engineered, reliable, maintainable, and bug-free code.
Develop
Develop and integrate user interface elements.
Develop and maintain tools and technology for specific project requirements as needed.
Develop and test code, fix bugs, and profile and optimize code as directed.
Develop cutscenes and dialogue systems.
Develop deep understanding of our high-level gameplay and scripting systems.
Develop designs and tests that enable new features without sacrificing existing functionality.
Develop features & gameplay functionality, primarily in JavaScript and GoLang.
Develop scripting and event systems.
Document
Document and peer review technical designs with other software engineers.
Document and peer review technical designs with teams.
Drive
Drive our culture of learning and development through mentorship, hosting talks and lunch & learns.
Estimate
Estimate time and effort required for assigned technical tasks and schedule them accordingly.
Explore
Explore and integrate new and developing technologies and APIs.
Focus on
Focus on improving the player's experience.
Follow
Follow best practices, development processes, and coding standards.
Follow best practices, processes, and coding standards.
Follow development processes and best practices.
Identify
Identify and fix gameplay bugs and glitches.
Identify areas to extend the creation pipeline, including but not limited to building new tools.
Implement
Implement camera control systems for optimal player view.
Implement character progression systems.
Implement core game mechanics, such as movement and combat.
Implement multiplayer features and networking code.
Improve
Improve existing systems that aren't performing to required standard.
Integrate
Integrate 2D and 3D assets into gameplay.
Integrate character animations into gameplay.
Integrate sound effects and audio cues.
Interact with
Interact with and manage various key internal and external stakeholder groups.
Investigate
Investigate complex issues arising in the engine, underlying script.
Keep up to date
Keep up to date on state-of-the-art software engineering methods, practices, and technologies.
Maintain
Maintain confidentiality of gamigo's internal information.
Make
Make forays into client code to expose those features to the user.
Manage
Manage the game's state, transitions, and progression.
Mentor
Mentor other engineers as needed to increase their abilities and productivity.
Optimize
Optimize code as directed.
Optimize gameplay code for smooth performance.
Optimize memory usage for performance.
Oversee
Oversee project dependencies, both internal and external, ensuring contingency plans are in place.
Prototype
Prototype new ideas and games for the studio.
Provide
Provide design leadership and coach other owls in design and prototyping best practices.
Provide hands on coding solutions to help solve complex problems or blockers.
Provide high level direction on projects, features, or complex systems.
Provide scalable and re-usable solutions for a variety of gameplay problems.
Provide support and communicate updates, changes, and resolve issues with the team.
Research
Research new technology to deliver the best solutions.
Seek
Seek and integrate feedback from a variety of stakeholders - including playtests.
Stay updated with
Stay updated with game development trends.
Streamline
Streamline and improve the character and abilities content creation process.
Take
Take ownership over and deliver on key milestones.
Test
Test and fine-tune game balance for player enjoyment.
Understand
Understand and organize complex systems to simplify and communicate to other departments.
Use
Use scriptable objects to configure game data.
Use scripting languages (e.g., Lua, Python).
Work with
Work closely with designers and level artists to iterate daily on gameplay experiences.
Work closely with QA on comprehensive test plans and fixing combat game-play related bugs.
Work closely with quality assurance teams.
Work closely with the Lead Engineer and integrate into a fully cross-functional team.
Work cross discipline to design, build, and deliver new features to a recently released game.
Work primarily within our server code to implement features from combat to crafting to guilds.
Work with other engineers to review and evaluate script architecture and system designs.
Work with other teams, both internal and external, to discuss new technologies.
Work with production to provide estimates and updates on progress and identify potential setbacks.
Work with QA, providing information needed to fully test developed code.
Write
Write and maintain production-quality C++ code that follows good coding standards.
Write clear, maintainable, portable, and highly functional code that is scalable and cross platform.
Most In-demand Hard Skills
The following list describes the most required technical skills of a Gameplay Engineer:
Programming Languages (e.g., C++, C#, Java)
Game Engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal Engine)
Physics and Mathematics
AI Programming and Behavior Trees
User Interface Tools (e.g., Unity UI)
Multiplayer Networking (e.g., Photon, UNet)
Animation Systems (e.g., Unity Animation)
Scripting Languages (e.g., Lua)
Game Testing and Debugging Tools
Performance Optimization Techniques
Version Control Systems (e.g., Git)
Physics and Collision Detection
Sound Integration and Middleware (e.g., FMOD)
Design Patterns (e.g., MVC, Observer)
Particle Systems (e.g., Unity Particle System)
Scriptable Objects and Data-Driven Design
Character Progression Systems
Cutscene and Dialogue Tools (e.g., Unity Cinemachine)
Cross-Platform Development Tools
Efficient Memory Management Techniques
Most In-demand Soft Skills
The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Gameplay Engineer:
Creativity and Innovation
Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking
Team Collaboration
Communication and Documentation
Attention to Detail
Adaptability and Flexibility
Time Management
Passion for Gaming and Player Experience
Ability to Accept and Provide Constructive Feedback
Continuous Learning and Self-Improvement
Conclusion
Gameplay Engineers are instrumental in creating interactive and enjoyable gaming experiences. By mastering the hard and soft skills outlined in this post, they can contribute to the success of video game projects and immerse players in captivating virtual worlds.
