ashralphfmp

[ashralphfmp]

Week 5 Reflection

What Went Well?

This week, I evaluated upon the state of my project currently and have managed to find bits that I am happy with and things I will change, rethink or remove. I started work on a Key system, which I explained in a previous blog post, the idea is there but the execution has not been put practice. I created a level plan for the level, so now I know what I need to “build” and what direction I am going in. Also I think my motivation is coming back, so I will work myself more.

What Could Have Gone Better?

Unfortunately, I ran into a minor problem with the interaction system with the Keys I added, they don’t seem to allow the player to actually interact with them, which is kind of a let down. My work ethic and motivation definitely could’ve been a bit better, but now I think it is coming back after doing some evaluation.

Aims For Next Week?

Get Photoshop installed onto my Computer and begin work on making the “Objective Menu” more fleshed out and detailed, as well as this I want to fix the issue I have my interaction system and if this proves to be a challenge, I will either dismiss it and work on other stuff in the game or scrap the Key system entirely.

[ashralphfmp]

Further Development

This week has been kinda slow in terms of producing in my Unreal project, this was due to me evaluating my project as a whole, I want to make sure that I am making the game I want to make, this led to some ideas being scrapped and new ideas being invented.

I now have a full idea for the layout of the level, so this will make it easier for me to design, I am always taking inspiration from the design of the Metro series and from pictures of Pripyat, the city which was affected by the Chernobyl disaster. 

I started work on the Key system, which will allow the player to unlock doors corresponding to the colour of the Key they have, but for some reason when I was testing the system to if it was working as intended, it would not allow for me to pickup / interact with the Key, which is odd to say the least, as the system was fine until now.

Example: This is the Green Key that the player SHOULD be able to pickup, it is located in one of the buildings they are forced to traverse in order to progress through the level. (I want this to serve kinda as like a tutorial for the system.) As this the Green Key it will unlock the Green Door as they correspond, which is located in the shop underneath the building, if the player had already explored that area.

I want to make a system like this, as most games often have systems, which reward the player with goodies or collectables for exploring and finding secrets, which in turn makes the player feel good about themselves. As most of my systems I add, my main inspiration came from the Metro series, which have keys scattered around the different levels that open up safes for the player to obtain ammo and money.

This is what the player should be rewarded with by using the Key on the door, but like I said the Interact system is currently not working. I also want to make the AK you are rewarded with different from the one the player is already equipped with, so I might add or red dot sight or a grip onto it to entice the player to switch their loadout slightly, but this would also require me making a system for weapon switching.

[ashralphfmp]

Level Design - N++

2D Level Design in N++

N++ is a stylish 2D action puzzle platformer, where you control a tiny ninja, who can run and jump. There is over a 1000 levels in the game, each handcrafted by the developers. The goal of each level is to touch a switch to open the exit, then reach the exit to complete the level. The levels are grouped into sets of 5 that are called “episodes” to give a dramatic arch to the levels. The developers arranged the episodes in a 20 x 5 grid, with a difficulty gradient, so players will always have 20 episodes available to complete at any time. You only have 90 seconds to complete all 5 levels in an episode, but collecting “gold” gives back some time, which is also your score.

In N++, the developers added 22.5 and 67.5 degree angles and curved angles, which gives players more opportunities for acrobatics and for gaining and conserving speed, also it gives the level designers lots more tools to create interesting shapes and environments that feel distinct. In most 2D platformers, the characters collision shape is a box and you move in pixel sized increments, but in N++ the collision shape is a circle and you move in fractions of a pixel, this makes collision detection a lot more precise and makes the game feel more smooth and fluid, due to this you can practice the gameplay mechanics and use them to your advantage to pull of incredible stunts to avoid narrow escapes.

As a player who rarely need to stop and think, rather its more of your practical knowledge which is being tested, both how to move through the level and what is possible in terms of movement. Movement is mastered throughout the foundation of the level design, so the goal of the design is to teach the controls to the player and apply this to a variety of context so players can use what they’ve learned to expand their skills.

The first step in the Level Design process, is coming up with new ideas, which allowed for a collaborative effort between the designers as they could get ideas from one another on how to approach the design, so their goal is to create levels which are as different from each other as they possibly can be, to ensure the game is interesting in variety. The way the levels can different is in the length of it, the overall difficulty, type of movement required, surfaces that are available, enemy combination, player skill and the use of space. There is a lot of ways levels can be structurally and visually distinct. When approaching the design of the levels, the developers kept an open-mind when it came to inspiration, so sometimes they started with a level name and would design the level around that name, sometimes they looked at architecture and sometimes they just sketched in their editor until they found a layout they were happy with.

[ashralphfmp]

Audience Research

Since my game is heavily inspired by the Fallout and Metro series, It would be safe to assume my game would have a similar target audience to those games, so players who like RPG elements and a strong singleplayer experience. 

Metro 2033 is rated M for Mature, this is due to the amount of graphic violence and blood displayed in the game and the many “scary” moments, the game also includes inappropriate language such as “F--k” and “S--t” but it is all in context with the gritty setting and the positions the characters are put into. 

If I could make this game in a professional setting it would probably get a PEGI 16 Rating as I would want there to be mild strong language, violence as you have to fend off against the creatures that attack you. 

At this moment, I am just making this game for fun as something me & my friends could possibly play to pass time, this always me to develop skills and become more passionate about games design.

[ashralphfmp]

Fear The Wolves

Fear the Wolves is a competitive Battle Royale FPS by Vostok Games, bringing unique elements inspired by classic FPS games to the world’s “hottest” genre. The game drops players, as duos or lone wolves, into the oppressive environments of a radiation-ravaged Chernobyl spread across a section of the 25km2 map. Along with watching out for other survivors, player will have to endure the weather and deadly anomalies, these are voted by the spectactors / players that have been eliminated. Making each round of the game feel a bit different from the last and constantly makes the player adapt to new situations.

I like this concept, especially with how quickly saturated the Battle Royale genre is getting, I think its great to have the players who have already been eliminated contribute to the rest of the game, rather than just spectating their surviving teammates or quitting the match as soon as they die. 

Vostok Games include a number of developers that worked on the cult hit S.T.A.L.K.E.R, so they have brought their expertise in creating the wasteland environment to Fear The Wolves. The wilds surrounding Chernobyl are the perfect location for a fight to the death, and the setting infuses every element, from abandoned buildings to rusting, out of date assault rifles.

This game also does something that most Battle Royale games don’t and that is include some elements of PvE, so whilst you’re at exploring, surviving and gathering supplies, Mutants will roam the landscape, as deadly as other players for the unprepared. Packs of wolves make for fearsome opposition even if you are armed, and precious ammo will be expended fending them off. A 1v1 encounter could quickly turn into a fearsome encounter with a pack of mutants.

I also really like this feature, as it raises stakes to the game, some Battle Royales may feel less stressful as its only PvP, but having AI wonder around randomly, adds a more “fight for survival” aspect to the game, unseen in others titles of the same genre.

 Even though this game has a lot of cool ideas and concepts, I don’t think this research has been necessarily helpful, I enjoyed reading and researching it BUT I want to make my game more of a single-player experience so a Battle Royale won’t really give me the ideas I am looking for.

[ashralphfmp]

Remote Work Update

Current Situation

Well due to the COVID-19 Outbreak, I am now forced to work at home, this can be seen as either a good thing or a bad thing. On the good side, I can now work on my project for a lot longer and use this time to become more independent and skilful with the Unreal Engine, but on the other hand, I may cause myself some burn out, leading me to not take the project seriously or losing motivation, to prevent this, I will be using some days as a way to “chill” out and maybe just use them as a way to reflect or develop on some ideas. All things considered, my project has not really been affected that much.

Acquiring Software / Hardware

Luckily for me, I have been able to acquire all the software I will need for the project, with Adobe now being free, I can now access Photoshop without using an online alternative. I have already previously said that I have Maya already on my computer, so I should be all set. My computer is also very strong so it should be able to handle the work that I produce. With Photoshop now being free it’ll give me some time to practice with my Graphics Tablet that I have scarcely used.

Concerns

I don’t necessarily have any concerns about the project, other than me getting burn out, which I talked about earlier, or the Unreal Project getting corrupted, but this can be prevented by making backups.

[ashralphfmp]

Week 4 Reflection

What Went Well?

Last week, I set an aim to disable the movement when you open the “Objectives Menu” I managed to achieve this by testing and looking for help on the Unreal Forums. I also made the actual HUD that will appear on-screen on Photoshop, but have yet to import it into the actual project. I expanded upon the level a bit more and placed down some more interactive objects, I also now have a good idea of where I want to go with the Level Design

What Could Have Gone Better?

This week has been very weird, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which cut the week a bit short. I felt like if this didn’t happen I could’ve developed and achieved all the goals I set myself last week

Aims For Next Week?

I want to achieve the aims I set myself last week but also create some new ones, so I want to make a system for locked doors that would require a “key” to unlock, if this is made I will make a blog post explaining the process. I also want to make a quick / WIP title screen for the game and create audio to fit with the theme of the game for the title and ambience for the level

[ashralphfmp]

Presentation Planning

As my project is an actual game and not just a presentation of 2D / 3D artwork. I will most definitely upload my game onto a site like itch.io or GameJolt, this will also be how I will allow people to “beta test” in the earlier prototypes, as I may be able to get feedback from my friends and my other peers and possibly random users on the sites.

 I also will pair my project with a questionnaire as this will be how i will acquire player feedback and tune or add things accordingly. I am also in a few Discords so I will be able to share / self promote to other people in varying communities.

My aim for the final presentation is to basically create a “playable demo” which will showcase all the features and the create a clear direction in which I want to take the game in.

[ashralphfmp]

What Can We Learn From DOOM

In 1993, id Software, released DOOM, a game that would go on to change the gaming market and define the FPS genre.

However, its graphic violence and satanic imagery were the subject of many controversies, to what is appropriate to be displayed in video games.

DOOM is undeniably an influential game, so much so, that every FPS game can trace its lineage back to it. Matthias Worch, the design director for Mafia 3, said this about the game: 

“The Reason DOOM Works So Well Is Because Each Enemy Represents A Distinct, Consistent, And Discernible Behaviour That Can Be Learned.”

Take for example the Zombie Soldiers, who are equipped with hit scan weapons that deal immediate damage to the player but are very weak. This contrasts against the Imps, who are a bit more stronger but use projectile attacks which can be dodged by strafing. Pinky’s who dont have any weapons but instead chase the player down and deal melee damage, similarly, Lost Souls do this but they charge directly you at a fast pace. Cacodemons and Baron of Hell’s also used projectile attacks but have a substantial amount of health compared to the other enemies.

 This what is called “Orthogonal Unit Differentiation” which means that the different elements, in this case, the enemies, have different attributes instead of just being more or less powerful versions of one another. What this means is that you start playing intentionally and making meaningful, tactical decision - not just randomly reacting to what is happening in-game, so when players engage the demons in combat they will prioritise soldiers over the imps, as they deal more immediate damage and the imps attacks can be easily avoided, players will think about their positioning so they can survive and take the least amount of damage they can and finally their decisions about resources, the shotgun is great in close quarters combat whilst the chaingun can take demons out from a range

With this, DOOM offers a wide “possibility space” which describes all the things that can be done to you. Comparing this to other FPS, which would usually have an enemy with more body armour and a stronger weapon, it portrays how much ground DOOM covers.

Due to DOOM cast of memorable demons, the diversity creates a large but simple to understand toolset that level designers can use to create a variety of combat scenarios

[ashralphfmp]

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place is a 2018 horror film. The plot revolves around a family surviving in a post apocalyptic America which has been infested by blind creatures which hunt by using their advanced sense of hearing. The family have to be practically silent in order to survive, hence the title of the movie, the script even doubles down on this and makes the characters perform sign language to communicate in some parts of the film.

This is the monster, which serves as the main antagonist for the film. They are a species of super-evolved predators that arrived on Earth on a number of meteors that landed on its surface, and have since begun eliminating almost all life on Earth. They kill anything and everything that makes even the slightest noise, assisted by a sense of acute hearing far beyond anything produced on the Earth. This, combined with their indestructible armor, allowed them to massacre most sapient life on the planet, including a sizable portion of humanity, subsequently causing society to collapse.

This research is useful, as it takes a unique approach on the post-apocalyptic setting and allows me to take inspiration for creature / enemy designs

[ashralphfmp]

COVID-19 Situation

How will the current situation affect your project.

Unfortunately, College is shutting down, with this I think it will affect my motivation / attitude towards the project whilst i am working at home. I will have to change how I get my feedback, from now on I will have to consult my peers through social platforms such as Discord. I will still be able to find information and tips through tutorials on YouTube, as well as the helpful folk on the Unreal Forums.

Honestly, I don’t think my Gantt Chart will be changing to much, other than I will have to delay the early prototype version of my game.

Also the date that I have to build out the project has been changed since our FMP has basically been extended.

Whilst I am at home, I will be constantly revisiting and evaluating features I add to game, either to polish them or remove them. Many features that are currently in my game will be revised and probably expanded upon. 

The software I require is basically just Maya, Photoshop and Unreal Engine 4. 2 out of the 3 are accessible to me, Photoshop will be the only issue but there will be works around for this or I can just use placeholder images. I already have the student plan for Maya so I can continue adding models into my game.

Overall, the whole situation won’t really have a big impact on my game as I can still keep a stable work flow and ethic at home.

[ashralphfmp]

Disabling Movement in HUD

I have added some more into my Objective Menu funciton, now it will stop the players movement once they have pressed TAB and once it is released, it sets them back to walking. There may be easier / alternative solutions for this, but this is what worked for me.

[ashralphfmp]

Week 3 Reflection

What Went Well?

This week has been particularly slow when it comes to developing my game, but I have added some pretty complex features which I'm very proud of. I have managed to build / expand and rework upon my flashlight system which was one of my goals that I set for myself, as well as this I have managed to create interactable objects which add to the gameplay, and it quite complex and allows me to utilise parent and children classes. I have also started early developments on my HUD, which is currently tracking my heath,stamina and flashlight battery progression bar and my ammo count.

What Could Have Gone Better?

I started to make a Landscape so I can hopefully create a more detailed world, but unfortunately I ran into a couple of issues when making it, which I have yet to sort out also there is a bug with my HUDs which makes them “overlap” after using it a second time and onwards.

Aims For Next Week?

Next week I aim to add some more detail to the intractable item system by making item names pop up when you the player looks at them. Another aim is to fix the Objective HUD so it prevents player movement when opened and doesn't merge with the original HUD. I will try and add some detail into the progression bars so they’re not just flat colours. Maybe I might be able to incorporate a weapon swap / pickup system.

[ashralphfmp]

Objective HUD

In my game, I aim to include a sort of “Objective Menu”, currently when you press TAB it will hide the original HUD and replace it with the Objective HUD (which currently only shows placeholder text) and when I release TAB it does the opposite. 

[insert screenshot]

Currently I have a bug where this function only works once in game and then the following times combine both of the HUDs together

[insert screenshot]

[ashralphfmp]

Recharging The Flashlight / Interactable Objects

For this system, I watched a tutorial to get accustomed to the use of traces.

Before I created the blueprint I created a keybind function for E which would be used as the global Interact button. When E is pressed it creates an invisible trace which will try to hit an actor, It uses my camera as a spawn so I can easily interact with objects, the exit node of the trace goes into a branch which has a condition of our return value, if this is true it will call our Interact message.

I then created a parent for my interactable objects which I will use now to create children for others interactable objects i want, such as ammo or keys.

This blueprint calls upon the Interact from the Parent actor and then Casts to the First Person Character so I can get a reference to our Flashlight Battery, once these have been interacted, it sets the Flashlight back to 100 and destroys the actor so it cannot be spammed / abused.

[ashralphfmp]

Gantt Chart

Gantt Charts are used in most development cycles as a way of planning ahead and knowing what part sot focus one for a given time period.

[ashralphfmp]

Preppers / Survivalism

Preppers are groups of people who actively prepare for emergencies, including possible disruption in political or social order, on scales of local to international.

The term first originated in the midst of the Cold War when the threats of Nuclear Warfare were on the rise.  The Cold War era civil defense programs promoted public atomic bomb shelters, personal fallout shelters, and training for children, such as the Duck and Cover films.

Survivalism is approached by its adherents in different ways, depending on their circumstances, mindsets, and particular concerns for the future. Common survivalist preparations include the stockpiling of non-perishable food, water, water purification equipment, medical supplies, clothing and defensive or hunting weapons.

A bag of gear, often referred to as a "bug out bag" (BOB) can be created which contains basic necessities and useful items. It can be of any size, weighing as much as the user is able to carry.

Preppers attitude change in different eras, such as the 1970s were the fears of economic collapse whilst in the 1980s they prepared for nuclear war, by creating fallout shelters.

This research is useful, as I can look into how people who prepare for the worse are portrayed in different medias, such as television, games and books. Luckily my inspiration of Metro & Fallout already fall under this category.