Chris Boughton

Forge Hammer Entertainment · Multiplayer RPG · Unreal Engine 5 · C++

My roles: Technical Designer (May 2022–February 2024); Combat Designer / C++ Programmer (September 2024–present)

Seekers of the Ancient is an in-development multiplayer RPG built around flexible character builds, cooperative combat, and player progression. My work connects combat design with implementation: I define how an ability or system should behave, build gameplay features in Unreal, and refine them through playtests with the team and active players.

Combat abilities and progression

I have designed and iterated hundreds of spells and talents across the game’s combat archetypes. My work includes defining ability interactions, documenting behavior for implementation, building abilities with existing Unreal systems, and collaborating with programmers when a feature needs new underlying functionality. I also tune abilities and progression in response to PvE and PvP playtests.

I built the combat skill tree’s UI layout, progression rules, and system behavior. The goal was to give players meaningful choices while making the relationships between spells, talents, and character builds understandable in play.

Encounters and gameplay implementation

I design and iterate enemy combat behaviors and dungeon mechanics, including status effects and encounters that ask players to react to changing conditions. I work with artists, animators, designers, and engineers to carry those ideas from design rules into playable encounters.

On the implementation side, I work in Unreal C++ for combat and UI features, then test their behavior in the game and adjust them based on playtest feedback.

Development and balance workflow

To support development, I built a Hermes manager agent that delegates work to specialized C++, Blueprint, Ability Balance, and Audit agents. For an ability-balance review, the manager can route calculations to a specialist, pass the result through an evidence and scope audit, and return a proposed change for my review. The workflow reads from the game project and produces recommendations without modifying game files.

I designed the talent tree’s UI layout, progression rules, and system behavior. The tree has five class branches: Mage, Ranger, Fighter, Berserker, and Tank. Each branch contains distinct abilities and talents that establish class identity while allowing players to create varied builds.

Seekers of the Ancient combat talent tree showing interconnected ability nodes across multiple branches.

This closer view shows how Mage spells and talents connect into different build paths. I designed the node layout, progression rules, and UI behavior so players can understand their choices as they develop a Mage.

Close-up of the Mage talent tree showing spell and talent icons connected by branching paths.

Official Forge Hammer Entertainment footage showing the game’s current presentation and gameplay.

Independent creators’ playtest footage and commentary show the game’s weapon-based combat and progression. The recordings belong to their respective creators; my contributions to ability design, progression, and Unreal implementation are described above.

Extended playtest and first impressions of the game’s combat and progression.

First impressions of the Seekers of the Ancient playtest.

A first-time player’s look at Seekers of the Ancient and its MMO-inspired gameplay.

A look at the game’s trading and life-skill features.

Technical Designer | March–April 2024
Unity · PlayMaker · C# · JavaScript

At JIRACOR, I designed and implemented step-by-step lessons in a Unity training simulation. I translated curriculum requirements into guided interactions using PlayMaker and adjusted simulation behavior with C# and JavaScript where needed.

I worked with artists, software engineers, and field experts to align the lessons with real procedures and make them clear for students. My role connected instructional requirements with interactive behavior in the simulation.

The lesson files and footage are restricted, so I cannot display them here. The image below illustrates the broader field of simulation-based training. It does not depict my assigned Unity project or lesson content.

Illustrative flight-simulator image. Not my assigned project or work. Image source.