Sam Bloomberg
@xbloom.io
Principal Gameplay Engineer
Formerly 1047 Games (Empulse, Splitgate Arena Reloaded), Xbox/SQTech/343i (Halo Infinite)
Formerly 1047 Games (Empulse, Splitgate Arena Reloaded), Xbox/SQTech/343i (Halo Infinite)
Pinned
Sam Bloomberg
@xbloom.io
· Oct 24
Unreal's World Partition: Internals
This is a sort of stream-of-consciousness document explaining how world partition works under the hood.
This is not a general overview of world partition, nor is it an explanation of how to use world...
xbloom.io
Wrote a long technical dive into some internals of Unreal's world partition because I've had to go quite deep into this stuff in the last couple of years. Basically none of the internals are documented, so maybe this will be helpful to someone.
xbloom.io/2025/10/24/u...
xbloom.io/2025/10/24/u...
Reposted by Sam Bloomberg
Harvard just dropped a study AI productivity in software engineering and it found the average increase in productivity from using Claude code is.....zero and for exactly the reasons you'd think
fion.ac/jellyfish.pdf
fion.ac/jellyfish.pdf
October 8, 2026 at 1:18 AM
Harvard just dropped a study AI productivity in software engineering and it found the average increase in productivity from using Claude code is.....zero and for exactly the reasons you'd think
fion.ac/jellyfish.pdf
fion.ac/jellyfish.pdf
Just thinking about marathon a bunch recently, as the final cryo archive weekend of the season rolls is here...
I really do think that in a slightly different situation the game would have been a much bigger success. Naysayers about the genre aside, I think Marathon was a victim of particularly bad
I really do think that in a slightly different situation the game would have been a much bigger success. Naysayers about the genre aside, I think Marathon was a victim of particularly bad
October 3, 2026 at 6:09 AM
Just thinking about marathon a bunch recently, as the final cryo archive weekend of the season rolls is here...
I really do think that in a slightly different situation the game would have been a much bigger success. Naysayers about the genre aside, I think Marathon was a victim of particularly bad
I really do think that in a slightly different situation the game would have been a much bigger success. Naysayers about the genre aside, I think Marathon was a victim of particularly bad
Working on yet another blockout...
October 2, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Working on yet another blockout...
Finally finished a bunch of more underlying technical work, so starting on a new blockout. Wanted to make something more open-ended and with canals/waterways for this one.
September 30, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Finally finished a bunch of more underlying technical work, so starting on a new blockout. Wanted to make something more open-ended and with canals/waterways for this one.
Basic art pass for this level mostly done. With the new light-based stealth mechanic.
youtu.be/BHfxbrXHv4s
youtu.be/BHfxbrXHv4s
Level 3 Art Pass
YouTube video by siliex
youtu.be
September 22, 2026 at 5:14 AM
Basic art pass for this level mostly done. With the new light-based stealth mechanic.
youtu.be/BHfxbrXHv4s
youtu.be/BHfxbrXHv4s
And now... Thief-like light detection. Wasn't originally planning on implementing this but it solves some situations where I felt I shouldn't be visible but enemies could spot me anyway, without having to adjust level geo or add manual visibility blocking volumes.
September 21, 2026 at 7:37 PM
And now... Thief-like light detection. Wasn't originally planning on implementing this but it solves some situations where I felt I shouldn't be visible but enemies could spot me anyway, without having to adjust level geo or add manual visibility blocking volumes.
Starting on another quick art pass for a third level.
September 20, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Starting on another quick art pass for a third level.
New ranged enemy! And some other miscellaneous polish - dead bodies (which enemies can see and investigate) weapon switcher HUD elements, and some new audio implementation.
September 19, 2026 at 10:40 PM
New ranged enemy! And some other miscellaneous polish - dead bodies (which enemies can see and investigate) weapon switcher HUD elements, and some new audio implementation.
Doing just enough of an art pass to give this level the right vibes I think. Also got room-based reverb and acoustics working for first-person sounds (footsteps/weapon fire), it really makes a difference in making you feel like you're in the space.
September 17, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Doing just enough of an art pass to give this level the right vibes I think. Also got room-based reverb and acoustics working for first-person sounds (footsteps/weapon fire), it really makes a difference in making you feel like you're in the space.
Starting to do a basic art pass on a second level now.
September 16, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Starting to do a basic art pass on a second level now.
If anyone else is annoyed by the lack of "play from here" in the godot editor, here's a quick and dirty solution that gives you a toggle for playing from your camera.
gist.github.com/redxdev/86e2...
gist.github.com/redxdev/86e2...
godot play from camera plugin
godot play from camera plugin. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
gist.github.com
September 16, 2026 at 3:15 AM
If anyone else is annoyed by the lack of "play from here" in the godot editor, here's a quick and dirty solution that gives you a toggle for playing from your camera.
gist.github.com/redxdev/86e2...
gist.github.com/redxdev/86e2...
Physics interaction just begs for physical keys you have to bring to physical doors.
September 16, 2026 at 1:49 AM
Physics interaction just begs for physical keys you have to bring to physical doors.
I decided to just throw this script up because it's simple and standalone, so why not: gist.github.com/redxdev/4bc5...
Bring back the flickering lights you know your game needs.
Bring back the flickering lights you know your game needs.
September 14, 2026 at 5:45 AM
I decided to just throw this script up because it's simple and standalone, so why not: gist.github.com/redxdev/4bc5...
Bring back the flickering lights you know your game needs.
Bring back the flickering lights you know your game needs.
Did a whole bunch more work this weekend: directional damage indicators, fall damage, some audio implementation for enemies, and basic impact vfx, implemented the basics for wwise acoustics (rooms + portals), among 20 other more hidden things.
September 14, 2026 at 5:35 AM
Did a whole bunch more work this weekend: directional damage indicators, fall damage, some audio implementation for enemies, and basic impact vfx, implemented the basics for wwise acoustics (rooms + portals), among 20 other more hidden things.
I think this is coming along pretty well, if I do say so myself.
Though with the environment now being more medieval, I should probably replace the pistol with something more appropriate...
Though with the environment now being more medieval, I should probably replace the pistol with something more appropriate...
September 9, 2026 at 11:36 PM
I think this is coming along pretty well, if I do say so myself.
Though with the environment now being more medieval, I should probably replace the pistol with something more appropriate...
Though with the environment now being more medieval, I should probably replace the pistol with something more appropriate...
Having a lot of fun working in a BSP editor again. Working on little details at low fidelity with simple and easy tools really is nice.
September 7, 2026 at 4:12 AM
Having a lot of fun working in a BSP editor again. Working on little details at low fidelity with simple and easy tools really is nice.
Doing some exploration on the art side of things. Playing with low-res textures that still use the full PBR featureset.
September 6, 2026 at 12:16 AM
Doing some exploration on the art side of things. Playing with low-res textures that still use the full PBR featureset.
Getting some asset pipelines setup, figuring out a good workflow for mesh collision authoring, and playing with sprite animations. xbloom.io/2026/09/02/g...
Getting an asset pipeline together
Getting brush texturing and meshes working has taken a bit of figuring out, as I'm relying on an external BSP-style editor (TrenchBroom 2025.4) for levels so everything needs to be compatible with tha...
xbloom.io
September 2, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Getting some asset pipelines setup, figuring out a good workflow for mesh collision authoring, and playing with sprite animations. xbloom.io/2026/09/02/g...
It's impressive how bad fab is at being a "trusted" place to sell assets. You see horrible listings like this one (www.fab.com/listings/5ce...) which is made up of ripped models from Pragmata (without even changing the names) and you can't even report it for what it is without filing a proper...
August 31, 2026 at 6:26 PM
It's impressive how bad fab is at being a "trusted" place to sell assets. You see horrible listings like this one (www.fab.com/listings/5ce...) which is made up of ripped models from Pragmata (without even changing the names) and you can't even report it for what it is without filing a proper...
Getting a basic game loop together, with progression from level-to-level.
August 29, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Getting a basic game loop together, with progression from level-to-level.
Finished Resonance (the new plague tale game), I think it's my favorite in the series despite being a prequel following a side character.
I loved the previous games, but resonance manages to both feel like a new thing and also feel like it fits into the series really well.
I loved the previous games, but resonance manages to both feel like a new thing and also feel like it fits into the series really well.
August 29, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Finished Resonance (the new plague tale game), I think it's my favorite in the series despite being a prequel following a side character.
I loved the previous games, but resonance manages to both feel like a new thing and also feel like it fits into the series really well.
I loved the previous games, but resonance manages to both feel like a new thing and also feel like it fits into the series really well.
Reposted by Sam Bloomberg
Rest in peace to one of the best to ever do it.
August 26, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Rest in peace to one of the best to ever do it.
Something is wrong with my doors
August 24, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Something is wrong with my doors
Tired after traveling all week, but rest can wait - physics-based interaction won't implement itself!
August 24, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Tired after traveling all week, but rest can wait - physics-based interaction won't implement itself!
Been traveling nonstop for the past week, it's been fun but I'm excited to get home tomorrow and get back to working on my own little projects...
My laptop just had to die right before this trip or else I'd be working on cool stuff™️ right now ugh.
My laptop just had to die right before this trip or else I'd be working on cool stuff™️ right now ugh.
August 23, 2026 at 1:51 AM
Been traveling nonstop for the past week, it's been fun but I'm excited to get home tomorrow and get back to working on my own little projects...
My laptop just had to die right before this trip or else I'd be working on cool stuff™️ right now ugh.
My laptop just had to die right before this trip or else I'd be working on cool stuff™️ right now ugh.