Modularity Isn’t a Buzzword, It’s a Survival Tactic + 10 Ways to Modulate Faster in your game design.
Posted by Alijah Villian
Game dev. Narrative engineer. Modular mind.
I didn’t set out to build modular systems. I was just trying not to drown.
It started with Frequency Watchers – a game way too big for one dev and a coffee pot. At some point, every new feature felt like threading a needle underwater. That’s when it hit me: I wasn’t designing a game. I was designing overhead.
So I stopped.
I ripped the game apart. Not emotionally – mechanically. I asked: what are the smallest reusable parts that can be built once and used anywhere?
That’s when I started winning.
The Factory Floor Rule
Every level, every encounter, every UI screen had to be made like a factory floor. No one-off art pieces. No fancy systems that only solve one problem. I built:
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A room template system where every space is just a combo of “function modules”
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An AI task system that runs off a plug-in behavior menu
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A narrative bark engine that recycles phrasing with tone, not template spam
Each part gets built once, then slotted in wherever it’s needed. Not sexy. Extremely useful.
The Moment It Clicked
I watched an NPC meditate in the same system used for hacking. All I had changed was the “intent tag.” That was it.
I sat back and thought:
This isn’t just saving time. This is saving my game.
If You’re Drowning
Don’t scale back your dream. Break it into pieces that earn their keep. Make everything multipurpose. Modular design isn’t a philosophy – it’s a way to not go broke or burn out.
10 ways to modulate x10
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Component-Based Everything
Break features into small, reusable components (health, inventory, dialogue). -
Tag + Trigger System
Use simple tags and triggers to control behavior flexibly without hardcoding. -
Dynamic Spawn Templates
Create spawn blueprints that swap content with variables, not hand-placed assets. -
Central Data Tables
Keep all logic-driving values in external tables or structs for easy reuse/editing. -
Plug-in Behavior Trees
One AI system, infinite NPCs – swap tasks, tags, and conditions modularly. -
Function Library
Common logic in one place – reuse across all actors, UI, and systems. -
Universal Input Map
Bind everything through an abstract control system – remap instantly, all platforms. -
Single Source of Truth (SSOT)
Narrative, variables, item stats – all pulled from one master location, not hardcoded. -
Visual Node Systems (where possible)
Design flexible blueprints or scripts that can be altered without rewriting logic. -
Scene Loaders + Portals
Modular world chunks load/unload dynamically – reduce memory, increase scale.