Operation: Harsh Doorstop

Partner studio: Puny Human

Concept

A free-to-play, community-funded tactical multiplayer shooter built in Unreal Engine and designed from the outset as a moddable platform — the underlying framework is shared across titles, the Workshop is central, and the community is treated as part of the development process rather than an audience for it.

Requirement

A platform-shaped product needs different engineering than a game. The framework has to be stable and extensible enough for third parties to build on, and the systems have to hold up under community modification rather than a controlled content pipeline.

Approach

Engineers contributed to the shared core framework and its gameplay and systems layers, working alongside the partner's small team on the same flexible, deliverable-driven basis established on the previous engagement.

Delivery scope

• Framework engineering
• Gameplay programming
• Systems programming
• Unreal Engine development
• Modding and extensibility support

Results

• Title entered Steam Early Access 15 February 2023; 71% positive across roughly 11,000 Steam reviews, with recent reviews at 82%
• Second consecutive engagement with the same partner
• 5–10 person-months delivered, across 1–2 engineers
• Framework continues to carry an active community modding ecosystem

Engine: Unreal Engine 4.