Unit 4:Project Design Implementation and Evaluation - Week 19/20/21
If you thought the previous post was huge, buckle up, you're in for a doozy. I worked on this project almost not-stop for these past 3 weeks, literally, almost everyday for many hours a day. I have made huge progress in just about every aspect I wanted to touch, enough to the point that I consider the game to be finished, now just needing to be tested, fixed and polished.
Since this post will be large, I will talk more about the implementations and why I did them and less on how I did them.
List of new implementations:
Starting off with the level design, since these are the most noticeable changes.
I closed the area in order to make it an isolated, dark warehouse type of environment.
Here are some of the rooms. Remember, this is only the first level out of at least 3 (potentially 5 or even more if there is time), however, it sets the blueprint for how the others will look like.
Overall I am quite happy with the result. Even though most of these props are from the marketplace, I still had a lot of work left with the lighting - it took me forever to get the lighting to look good.
I ended up using the Exponential Height Fog mixed with the Volumetric Fog features in order to create the dusty, foggy look. All in all I actually learned quite a bit about lighting and it was pretty satisfying.
Next up, I added these 3 shiny buttons on the ground, which allow the player to start the timer, stop it and then also proceed to the next level.
The START button simply starts the timer when the player comes into contact with it. It also sets a new objective and after a short delay it destroys itself.
This is the simple timer function, which runs on a 1 second loop.
The STOP button stops the timer. It also assigns the player with a medal based on their performance.
This also checks the enemies remaining when the player collides with it, and if there are enemies remaining it doesn't allow the timer to stop.
As mentioned, medals are awarded based on how long it took for the player to complete the course.
This is how it is determined:
Lastly, the NEXT STAGE button simply takes the player to the next stage, after a loading screen. The loading screen right now is placeholder, just to make sure it works.
Now regarding the stamina system.
It works similarly to modern shooters, where major movement actions take away stamina. It also regenerates over time. Jumping and crouching take a flat amount, while sprinting decreases it progressively.
Here are the jumping and crouching animations, respectively.
The jumping animation works because the player goes up when they jump, and eventually fall down and go back to whatever animation they were previously in.
Finally, this is the new model for the AI. Quite simple, I made it in Maya myself.
One more thing, this is the shotgun I have been working on. I thought about it and it will be the only additional weapon the player will have. I will talk about it more next week.
I always had a vision with this project. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, and every implementation exists for a reason.
For instance, the 3 glowing buttons not only add to the aesthetic, but they serve their very simple purpose in quite a simple way just by being placed on the ground. When the player sees each button, they not only immediately assume their purpose, but they also can easily distinguish each button and their functionality, and ultimately, their subconscious will associate the colour of the button with their respective action.
Another example, which I haven't talked about yet, I spent some time messing with the movement speed values of the player - for sprinting, running, jumping and crouching. The player was moving too fast across the level, with no good reason. The most noticeable change was to the jumping, I had to mess with gravity, jump speed and power, etc, to get it just right in a way that doesn't feel overpowered but does feel fun, engaging and controllable.
Even the level design, in terms of lighting, I wanted the levels to be in this closed, dark area for the purposes of limiting the player's visibility in some instances.
And lastly, the reason why the AI is mostly static (even though there will be moving AI) and fragile was to make the game more fun, also allowing the player to adjust their play style and routes.
Concluding, the skeleton of the game is built however I want to really improve it from here and polish it as much as possible. The plan is to add the new shotgun, at least 2 more levels, an explosive grenade and finally a rolling animation - the latter might not be possible anymore, which isn't a big deal, and I will explain why next week.
Since this post will be large, I will talk more about the implementations and why I did them and less on how I did them.
List of new implementations:
- Added a timer;
- Added AI models;
- Massive overhaul of the level design;
- Added a medal reward system;
- Added a stamina system;
- Added a jumping animation;
- Adjusted player movement values;
- General improvements.
Starting off with the level design, since these are the most noticeable changes.
 |
| Lit |
 |
| Unlit |
Here are some of the rooms. Remember, this is only the first level out of at least 3 (potentially 5 or even more if there is time), however, it sets the blueprint for how the others will look like.
 |
| Click to enlarge. |
 |
| Click to enlarge |
 |
| Click to enlarge |
 |
| Click to enlarge |
I ended up using the Exponential Height Fog mixed with the Volumetric Fog features in order to create the dusty, foggy look. All in all I actually learned quite a bit about lighting and it was pretty satisfying.
Next up, I added these 3 shiny buttons on the ground, which allow the player to start the timer, stop it and then also proceed to the next level.
The START button simply starts the timer when the player comes into contact with it. It also sets a new objective and after a short delay it destroys itself.
The STOP button stops the timer. It also assigns the player with a medal based on their performance.
This is how it is determined:
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Here are the medals. I want to work on how the appear on the screen, maybe add an animation and screen effects.
Now regarding the stamina system.
It works similarly to modern shooters, where major movement actions take away stamina. It also regenerates over time. Jumping and crouching take a flat amount, while sprinting decreases it progressively.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
 |
| Click to enlarge |
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The jumping animation works because the player goes up when they jump, and eventually fall down and go back to whatever animation they were previously in.
Finally, this is the new model for the AI. Quite simple, I made it in Maya myself.
One more thing, this is the shotgun I have been working on. I thought about it and it will be the only additional weapon the player will have. I will talk about it more next week.
I always had a vision with this project. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, and every implementation exists for a reason.
For instance, the 3 glowing buttons not only add to the aesthetic, but they serve their very simple purpose in quite a simple way just by being placed on the ground. When the player sees each button, they not only immediately assume their purpose, but they also can easily distinguish each button and their functionality, and ultimately, their subconscious will associate the colour of the button with their respective action.
Another example, which I haven't talked about yet, I spent some time messing with the movement speed values of the player - for sprinting, running, jumping and crouching. The player was moving too fast across the level, with no good reason. The most noticeable change was to the jumping, I had to mess with gravity, jump speed and power, etc, to get it just right in a way that doesn't feel overpowered but does feel fun, engaging and controllable.
Even the level design, in terms of lighting, I wanted the levels to be in this closed, dark area for the purposes of limiting the player's visibility in some instances.
And lastly, the reason why the AI is mostly static (even though there will be moving AI) and fragile was to make the game more fun, also allowing the player to adjust their play style and routes.
Concluding, the skeleton of the game is built however I want to really improve it from here and polish it as much as possible. The plan is to add the new shotgun, at least 2 more levels, an explosive grenade and finally a rolling animation - the latter might not be possible anymore, which isn't a big deal, and I will explain why next week.
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