Principal Software Engineer - Procedural Gameplay Systems

Thought Pennies Entertainment is a Role-Playing Game studio creating games focused on social storytelling. We celebrate diversity and a people-first approach to game development. We are fully remote.

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Principal Software Engineers (PSE) are expected to internalize and help grow the architecture of all Thought Pennies game systems. They are proactive at shaping code through the course of development by understanding requirements and dealing in tradeoffs. With their high level of expertise, PSEs are generally expected to mentor more junior team members, perform code reviews, drive architecture discussions, and ensure a level of quality in the product as well as underlying systems. Each PSE is expected to have strong output and a high level of impact on studio technology .

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The Principal Software Engineer - Procedural Gameplay Systems will typically report to the Technical Director and work closely with the studio’s content and design teams to deliver a world class game experience. The successful candidate is able to realize the designer’s vision on screen with fast and reliable technology implementations.  They are able to utilize their expertise to use all the systems Unreal Engine has to offer to generate fun, responsive and technically competent gameplay.

Responsibilities

• Translate Design stories into actionable technical plans
• Drive technical requirements and implement pipeline tools required by Design
• Ensure designers able to tune and interact with procedural gameplay systems by providing a sufficient level of tooling inside of Unreal
• Use technology provided by Unreal Engine to build procedural systems powering our mission and level design systems
• Provide critical feedback (quantitative as well as a qualitative) to the Design team
• Expertly navigate the fine line between prototyping, iterative development and production ready system implementation
• Provide data on tech debt and tech risks as development progresses
• Provide technical leadership through development and ownership of large, complex and well architected gameplay systems
• Have a high level of impact on the project, studio and team

Requirements

• Experience with Unreal Engine development, preferably on multiple shipped titles with multiplayer components
• Strong C++, OO, and 3D math skills
• Understanding of game design and willingness to engage with Design team
• Great communication skills
• Several of the following:
  • Expert understanding of procedural generation algorithms for generating various types of game content
  • Familiarity with Unreal’s procedural content generation (PCG) systems
  • Experience creating powerful and expressive mission systems for level designers
  • Understanding of how to create a great designer experience inside of Unreal
  • Experience creating gameplay in a multiplayer setting with an understanding of client prediction, synchronization systems, and client/server models
  • Deep expertise in a gameplay space not mentioned above