2025-11-11 –, Ballsaal
As Godot gains traction in game development, a critical question remains: can it handle professional, large-scale production? This talk presents a case study from Epictellers, where 30 developers are building Starfinder - a full-scale RPG. We examine the practical realities of pushing Godot beyond its traditional indie roots, sharing both the unexpected wins and the genuine challenges encountered when scaling the engine for commercial AA development.
Description:
This session provides an honest, practical look at developing a cRPG with 30 professionals using Godot. The Epictellers team shares their real-world experience building Starfinder, including both the surprises and challenges of scaling Godot for commercial production.
We'll discuss where Godot exceeded expectations - particularly in iteration speed and optimization - and where we had to develop workarounds. From managing complex narrative systems to coordinating large teams, we'll share the workflows and solutions that emerged from actual production needs.
Session Structure:
Ricard Pillosu (Co-founder, 20 years AAA experience): Overview of Starfinder's technical architecture, team structure, and the decision-making process behind choosing Godot. Frank discussion of initial concerns versus production realities.
Felix Rios (Lead Narrative Designer): Daily workflow for implementing branching narratives in Godot. How the narrative team adapted to the engine's capabilities and limitations.
Maria Calle (Level Designer): Custom tools developed to bridge level design, code, and narrative systems. Practical examples of extending Godot to meet production needs.
Topics Include:
* Scaling challenges we anticipated vs. what actually proved difficult
* Specific Godot limitations and our workarounds
* Unexpected advantages that changed our production approach
* Tools and workflows developed for team coordination
* Performance considerations for content-heavy games
This talk is for developers interested in Godot's real capabilities at scale, teams considering the engine for larger projects, and anyone seeking unfiltered production insights from the field.
Ricard Pillosu is the co-founder and CEO of Epictellers, a studio currently building a narrative-driven CRPG with Godot Engine. Before starting Epictellers, Ricard worked on a mix of AAA and indie games — including as Development Director on Rise: Son of Rome for Xbox One — and spent time at studios like Crytek, Smilegate Barcelona, and Arhat Games.
Now, he’s focused on pushing Godot to its limits for complex RPG systems, blending open-source tools with rich storytelling. Ricard loves talking about production workflows, team dynamics, and what it takes to build big games with small teams.
Maria Calle is a Level Designer at Epictellers, where they specialize in creating custom tools that bridge the gap between level design, code, and narrative systems. With expertise in extending Godot’s capabilities to meet production needs, Maria plays a crucial role in the development of Starfinder, a professional-scale cRPG built with a team of 30 developers.
Their work focuses on developing practical solutions for large-scale game production, creating tools that enable seamless collaboration between different disciplines. Maria’s experience demonstrates how Godot can be effectively extended and customized to handle complex production workflows, from level design iteration to narrative system integration.
Felix Rios is the Lead Narrative Designer at Epictellers, where they specialize in implementing complex branching narratives in Godot. With a background in tabletop role-playing design and a long history in software development, Felix brings a unique perspective to narrative game design and storytelling systems.
As part of the team building Starfinder, a professional-scale cRPG with 30 developers, Felix has developed practical workflows for implementing branching narratives in Godot. Their expertise lies in adapting narrative teams to the engine’s capabilities and limitations, creating efficient systems that handle complex storytelling requirements.
At GodotFest 25, Felix will share insights from their daily workflow for implementing branching narratives in Godot, showing how the narrative team adapted to the engine’s capabilities and limitations. Their session will cover practical approaches to narrative system design and how to effectively manage complex storytelling in large-scale Godot projects.