gdadp1

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State machines

What is a state machine?

A state machine is code that changes outs output according to input of different variables.

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Teleporter\vent code

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How my ideas have changed over the project.

I had some pretty ambitious goals when I planned this game, but now, nearing the end of my project, I've made a lot of changes and cutbacks, due to time constraints and skill restraints. Some core ideas and themes remain, like playing as a monster in a lab, but the whole "reverse horror" and combat part has gone out the window.

I didn't actually realise, but the game is supposed to be a sidescroller. When I planned my game, I expected that it just had to be a sidescroller, and I don't really like platformers, so I didn't take platformer mechanics into mind.

I wanted combat to be a pretty big part of the game, but I don't think, at this point, I'll have enough time to animate and code the enemies as well as attacks for the players.

I had ideas for a shapeshifting mechanic, a player "core" mechanic and a kind of, semi-open metroidvania style level. Some of these have been ditched due to lack of skill, and others due to the fact that this particular project is quite guided.

Another big idea, was a dual protagonist system, inspired by Resident Evil 2 and 3. You'd have the option to play as the monster tearing apart the facility, or the scientist trying to escape. Even before I started the project, I knew this would probably be hard work, so I scrapped it for a kind of specialisation/skill system, which, again, was scrapped when I found out that we'd be making fairly traditional platformers. About halfway through the project, when I still didn't really have a sense of what was achievable (i.e. combat), I came up with another twist on the dual protagonist system, one character who's good at stealth, one who's good at combat. Shortly after this though, reality hit me in the face, and I scrapped it, yet again.

I am annoyed with the amount of "original" ideas I had to scrap, but I've still made an intact game, and while it is a hollow facade of my first batch of ambitious, eager ideas, I do think it's at least somewhat decent.

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My original ideas: Gameplay loop

My original idea was for the game to be somewhat similar to a metroidvania(?), with a simple loop of exploring the lab, fighting enemies and clearing out areas, and protecting your "core". All of this was far too ambitious for my first project ever, so I've unfortunately had to give up on all of it.

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Game over and win screens

Game Over Screens

Red Dead Redemption 2

Cyberpunk 2077

Hell Let Loose

Win Screens

Chivalry 2

Elden Ring

Halo Infinite

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Creating UI in UE 5

First thing you need to do, is to add a widget blueprint.

For the parent class, use a user widget class.

Now you should have a blank screen like this:

Now, you can add a canvas panel, which acts as the canvas for putting the UI on. (Surprise.) You can only have one canvas per widget.

Next, you add either text or a progress bar. To have the represent a variable, like health or score, you need to bind it.

Now you need to create code that binds it to the variable, like this:

Text:

Progress bar:

finally, you need to add the UI to the game by calling it in another blueprint, like in the players blueprints.

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HUDs/Heads Up Displays

HUDs display information to the player, such as health, items, objectives, etc.

HUD examples:

Dead Space

Dead Space uses a diegetic HUD, which means that it is built into the world and the player. If a game uses diegetic HUD, it's usually only to a degree, like the Fallout and Metro series. I really like Dead Space's HUD, and most diegetic HUD in general, as I find them to be more "immersive". There is a problem with diegetic HUDs though, and that is that they can be much more confusing than a typical game UI. For example, Highfleet:

To understand this HUD, you need a pilots license. Well, maybe not that, but you'd need a good few hours ingame before you know what's going on there 100%.

Persona 5

The HUD in Persona 5 is kind of built around the player stylistically, and has a very distinctive style, almost like a comic book. I quite like the HUD, I think it looks good, and tells me everything I need to know.

Mirrors Edge

Uses very little HUD, with the first game having almost none, and the second having a minimal amount. You could argue that the game uses diegetic HUD, with the first game colouring the route they should travel with red, as shown in the picture. I think it's a good design, the game is the kind that is very much playable with no HUD whatsoever, so it doesn't really have many downsides to the lack of a HUD.

Cris Tales

At a glance, Cris Tales' HUD is quite similar to Persona 5's, with the moves branching off of the characters, stylistically, it's very different. Instead of the comic book/manga style of Persona, Cris Tales uses a cartoony style, with HUD being much more bright as a result. Personally, I'm not a massive fan of the style, but practically, the UI tells you everything you need to know, and even has a handy tool tip.

Dead Cells

Dead Cells' HUD is simple, and really easy to understand. While it's not as stylistic as Persona 5 or Dead Space, it doesn't look ugly and does it's job, which is all it needs to do.

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More animation videos/links

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Animation examples

Crash Bandicoot: Death Animations.

Assorted games: Idles

Sonic: Jump animations

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What is a GIF

A GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is a short looping animation. The format supports 256 colours for each frame of animation.

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Art that inspired me:

All use a very similar colour palette, which I myself am using, and all are fleshy-looking, which, again, I am going for in my designs

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Code for obstacles

Falling platform (scripted movement)

Falling platform (simulated physics)

On and off fire blocker

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Making a tileset and a tilemap

First you need to create tiles for the tile map (shocking right?) and compile them onto a single tile set photoshop file.

Export it to a PNG without a background, and then import it into Unreal Engine.

Apply Paper2D settings to the tile sheet, which will remove the background and keep the tiles pixelated.

Then select create tile set.

Next, make sure that your tiles are the right size, and then begin to apply collisions. Once, done right click on the finished tile set and select create tile map

Now, you can make your level.

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Super Mario Bros. first level

The first level of Super Mario Bros introduces you to every mechanic in the game: movement, powerups, secret levels, enemies, etc.

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Making characters different.

Super Meat Boy: Using details and silhouettes.

Most of the characters have the same silhouette of a cube shape with arms and legs, but are some are very different. There's a squirrel character and a brain(?) character, who have radically different silhouettes from the rest of the cast of characters. As for the characters with the cube bodies, they're very different when it comes to details. For example, Meat Boy is just a plain red cube, Bandage Girl is pink, has a flower accessory and has bandage pattern. Details like that manage to differentiate characters, even if they have the same silhouette. I'm already actually using this method, making my human characters use the same outline with different details.

Castle Crashers: Using colour.

The four main characters in Castle Crashers are almost identical to each other, the only differences between the characters being effects on their armour and most importantly, their colour. I could use a similar method, using colour to show the difference between different enemies.

Minit: Using silhouettes.

Minit is a black and white game, so it only really has one way to differ characters: silhouettes, which it uses to great effect. None of the characters have the same silhouette, though they may be similar, and it works very well for making the characters unique.

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Turning sprites into animations in Unreal Engine

Select all the frames/sprites of the animation.

Right click and then click "create flipbook"

Now you should have an animated flipbook.

A couple of my frames weren't aligned, so the animation jittered, but I went back to photoshop and realigned them.