Jesper Elmtoft
Engine & Tools programmer student
Serving as a Systems & UI Programmer within a 4-man team of programmers in a 19-person multi disciplinary team, this project was a 'trial by fire' transition into Unreal Engine 5. I learned C++ on the fly to build asynchronous level streaming and save subsystems, showcasing my ability to rapidly adapt to new engine frameworks and implement high-performance, background-threaded systems.
Challenges:
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Implementing a persistent game state and save system while learning Unreal Engine C++ and its framework from scratch under tight deadlines.
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Managing large-scale level loading and NavMesh initialization without causing a significant frame-rate drops or "lag spikes" for the player.
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Developing an asynchronous save/load architecture to prevent blocking the main game thread during data-heavy operations.
Actions:
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Created a C++ State Machine interface with Game Instance Subsystems to broadcast global events (respawns, UI updates and level transitions).
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Created an Asynchronous Save System using a naming convention tied to timestamps (eg., "Autosave - Date") to prevent accidental file overwriting.
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Integrated Asynchronous Level Streaming with a custom loading screen to ensure all assets and navigation data were fully initialized before gameplay began.
Results:
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Delivered a robust backbone system that successfully managed the transition from Main Menu to gameplay and handled player respawns to the latest checkpoint.
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Provided a polished user experience with comprehensive Graphics & Audio settings (VSync, Resolution, Global Illumination) allowing for hardware-specific optimization.
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Systems Programming:
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Authored the core C++ State Machine and Game Instance Subsystem for persistent data management.
UI & UX Logic:
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Implemented the functionality for the Main Menu, Game Over screens, and detailed Settings pages entirely in C++.
Asynchronous Workflows:
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Developed the level streaming and save/load logic to ensure smooth, uninterrupted performance.
Cross-Discipline Support:
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Collaborated with designers to determine which features should remain in C++ versus being exposed to Blueprints for iteration.
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The Learning Curve:
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This project was a "trial by fire" in Unreal C++. I learned that building systems while learning the language leads to "technical debt", which I had to balance by refactoring core systems throughout the project.
Version Control & Methodology:
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Experiencing the "good and bad" of Perforce and Jira taught me that detailed commit messages and logged tasks are as critical as the code itself for team stability.
Optimization First:
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Encountering flaws in my Initial State Machine taught me to build "robust and consistent" systems from the start, rather than trying to patch new features onto a shaky foundation.
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ChangeStateSubsystem: Implemented a centralized state machine to manage game-wide transitions (Menu, Gameplay, Loading) using Dynamic Delegates.
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SaveGameInstanceSubsystem: Developed an asynchronous serialization system to handle player data persistence without blocking the game thread.
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GameFlowWorldSubsystem: Orchestrated the initialization sequence for manager classes (HUD, GameMode, GameState) to ensure reliable system startup in a multi-level streaming environment.
Loading Latest Save File
Automated Save Files
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Global Event Service: Decoupled System Communication to ensure scalability across a large development team, I implemented a Singleton-style Event Manager using Unreal Engine World Subsystems.
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Decoupled Architecture: Utilized Dynamic Multicast Delegates to allow disparate systems (UI, AI, Gameplay) to communicate without hard-coding dependencies.
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Centralized UI Events: Created UHUDEventsWorldSubsystem to handle complex UI-to-Logic flows, such as asynchronous save/load requests and real-time stat updates (Health/Stamina).
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World-State Monitoring: Developed UWorldEventsSubsystem to broadcast critical game-state changes, including player death, checkpoint triggers, and level streaming requests.
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Performance-First Design: Leveraged TSoftObjectPtr for level loading events to avoid memory overhead and ensure smooth transitions.
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