Development Tool

Build
System

One command, every target, reproducible bits. Distributed compilation across your studio network turns a full rebuild into a coffee break rather than a sprint.

What a build should feel like

A build is a function from a source tree, a content set, and a target configuration to a signed package. Given the same inputs, the output is the same bytes. That is the contract. Crowe Build System enforces it across C++ code, shaders, and cooked content, on every supported platform.

Distributed compilation runs across any machine in your studio with the build agent installed. Jobs are hashed and cached, so once a file has been compiled on one machine the rest of the studio skips straight to linking. A full cold rebuild that would take an hour on one workstation finishes in three minutes on a ten person team.

Packaging handles the storefront details. Signing, age rating metadata, achievements manifest, and platform specific assets are declared once and the builder emits a submission ready package for each target.

Circuit board detail
Subsystems

What the builder does for you

Compilation

Distributed C++ and shader build

A work queue runs across the network. Compile jobs are hashed on their preprocessed input, the compiler version, and the flags. A cache hit returns the object file without touching the compiler.

  • Agent runs on any workstation on the LAN
  • Content addressed object and shader cache
  • Cross compile for every supported target
  • Deterministic given pinned toolchain
Packaging

Storefront signed packages

One configuration emits a signed build for every storefront. The packager handles the small annoying details, age rating metadata, achievements manifest, icon sizes, and regional builds, from a single declaration.

  • PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Steam, Epic
  • iOS App Store and Google Play
  • Signing and notarization in pipeline
  • Submission ready metadata
Patching

Block level binary diffs

Patches between two packaged builds generate at the block level, not the file level. A code only patch for a 40 GB game is typically a few megabytes rather than a gigabyte.

  • Block level diff using rolling hash
  • Chunked delivery with resumable downloads
  • Signed manifests with integrity check
  • Rollback safe atomic install
CI

Plays nicely with CI

The same command line the engineer uses locally runs on CI. Jobs report structured progress that GitHub Actions, TeamCity, and Jenkins can surface as native check runs. Artifact upload is built in.

  • One command local and remote parity
  • Structured progress for CI consoles
  • Artifact upload with manifest
  • Incremental CI using the shared cache

Build timings on a mid sized codebase

Roughly 1.8 million lines of C++, 6,400 shaders, 240 gigabytes of content. Ten person team sharing a LAN cache.

3 minFull cold rebuild
18sIncremental code change
7Platforms from one command
4 MBMedian code only patch
Related

Works with

Ship a build in an afternoon

The SDK includes a sample configuration that packages for Windows, PlayStation, and Xbox from a single command. Start there.