(All Images sourced from They Will Come Steam page, screenshots of the gameplay trailer, and dev.epicsgames.com)

Game Pop Studio's Debut Title

My Role

As one of three engineers on the project, I worked closely with the client to transform high-level ideas into a functional, playable prototype, and then again to game ready to ship. I was responsible for many gameplay systems, most of which are detailed below in the System Work section below. I also collaborated directly with the client to define performance targets and optimization guidelines, ensuring we maintained the desired level of visual fidelity while supporting the game’s visual-heavy design.

TLM/Endava/GamePop Background

I was originally hired in January 2024 by TLM Games. A few months later, TLM was acquired by Endava, a larger technology company expanding into game development. In 2025, along with many others, my time with Endava came to an end while we were still working on this project. Soon after, I was invited back by GamePop to help finalize and polish key systems during September and November, ensuring the project could ship smoothly.

System Work

G.A.S. Powered

The project leveraged Unreal Engine’s Gameplay Ability System as the foundation for character abilities, attributes, and state management. Building on top of GAS, we developed a modular and scalable architecture that supported rapid iteration and complex interactions between gameplay systems. This approach allowed us to prototype and refine new mechanics efficiently while maintaining a high level of performance and flexibility.

Interaction System

Developed a modular interaction system that allowed players and AI to interact with objects and systems throughout the world using a unified Gameplay Ability framework. By leveraging shared abilities and event-driven communication, interactable objects could respond to and monitor each other’s statesforming the backbone of most level logic. This design empowered level designers to build complex, reactive environments without needing custom scripting, greatly increasing content production efficiency and scalability.

Physics Systems

Created system that allowed player to push physics objects around, that included animations, meta source sounds, and it communicated with other systems to allow for unique gameplay scenarios and mechanics
Created physics guidelines for implementing ambient physics actors in world, so that they would react to be interacted with but not blow the performance budget
Player could pick up and throw physics objects for gameplay purposes. Objects had realistic weight / behavior, and would make appropriate sounds when colliding with things, even possibly breaking.

Destruction

Created nearly fully destructible levels using Unreal's geometry collection and chaos physics systems
Worked with artists to create a destructible asset pipeline, providing documentation on how to create assets that would allow for high fidelity but good performance
Utilized Gameplay Cues for destruction effects so it was capable of feeding information back into the gameplay ability system

Audio Systems

Dynamic Music System

Built a fully dynamic music system using Unreal Engine’s MetaSounds, allowing real-time adaptation of a music score to match gameplay moments. Collaborated closely with composer Frank Klepacki to ensure the music system and compositions worked in sync, creating seamless transitions and blends between musicstates.

Audio-Driven Visuals

Implemented MetaSound-driven parameters to animate HUD and UI elements in response to audio layers. This integration helped unify the player’s visual and auditory feedback, making the interface feel more reactive and alive.

Global Audio Management

Designed a centralized finite state machine to manage all in-game audio categories: music, stingers, ambience, and sound effects. The system handled ducking, prevented playback collisions, and dynamically balanced diegetic and non-diegetic layers. It supported precise state transitions (e.g., pause, cutscene, level change), allowing granular control of playback behavior and audio effects at runtime.

Gameplay System Integration

Game systems communicated with the global audio controller to apply real-time effects and filters to specific submixes or sound classes (e.g., muting everything but music, filtering combat layers, or emphasizing ambience). This same actor also controlled the dynamic music parameters, centralizing logic and making the system easier to debug and extend.

Other Mechanics

Third-Person Shooting Framework

Built a modular third-person shooting system supporting multiple weapon abilities and behaviors through G.A.S.

Dynamic Level Tools

Created a designer-friendly placement tools that automatically adjusts to variable heights and integrates seamlessly with player ability logic

Jump & Mantling System

Implemented the foundation for player jumping and mantling, supporting future traversal and parkour extensions.

Sprint & Stamina System

Designed and integrated a sprint mechanic powered by GAS attributes, allowing for scalable tuning and expansion of movement costs across abilities.

Appreciation

I really enjoyed working on this project and collaborating with such a talented team. The concept itself was exciting, but what made it special was the people! Everyone was so passionate, skilled, and professional, and they brought their best every day. Despite tight deadlines, the team’s collaboration and creativity made something truly impressive possible. I’m grateful for my time with both TLM/Endava Games and Game Pop, and I wish everyone involved continued success. I can’t wait to see the game out in the world!