Last time we left off, we had just begun tinkering with the gameplay of the prototype, as well as starting to block out the layout of the level. In addition to generating some quick props, I had managed to help set up some rough level scripting to demonstrate the core gameplay. Since we had significantly less time to figure out the project, I wanted to help ensure that we did not bite off more than we could chew.

Thus, at the risk of oversimplifying, I suggested two obstacles to impede the player’s progress: seaweed to force the player to learn to cut with pincers, and a simple gathering quest to challenge the player’s skill at navigating with the unique control scheme. The goal of the game? Bursting this pipe. That’s it, really. I more complicated puzzles can be fit in further down the line, and so I’m not too concerned with the current complexity. Right now the most important things to do in this prototype were to demonstrate how the Oculus controls translate into the game.

I also took over for the making of the trailer, and I was glad to get the chance to practise film editing. Recording simultaneous footage of the player was crucial to selling the premise of the game, especially due to the control scheme being the Unique Selling Point. Overall I was quite happy with the way the trailer turned out – it really paints the game as a rather zen experience, don’t you think?

I can say with confidence that my understanding of level blueprinting were improved throughout the course of this prototype, as well as understanding some of the level layout and. In conjunction with learning to utilise the matinee a bit better, such as scripting a crab to move in front of the player, I think I will be better prepared to aid the programmers in aspects of scripting and design.

Overall, I personally enjoyed making such a simple game with simple interaction, as a far cry from what we usually attempt. The freedom to be able to just think about the level and the way in which it will all fit together makes things so much more enjoyable, especially when we don’t have to keep thinking about how a multitude of disparate parts would work together.

Can’t let you do that.

For the purpose of having our player crab being denied by another crab. I thought it would be a fine time to experiment with Unreal Engine’s Matinees to allow for some scripted actions to occur at particular times.

Trigger volumes for animating the crab to particular locations.

I simply set up a few  trigger points, with a super simple animation in the matinee. I then set up some basic scripting to tell the matinee to play when they are overlapped.

Setting up movement and attaching the walk cycle.

Some blueprinting to trigger the crab to cut you off, simply by reversing the same matinee back and forth.

Simple stuff – not bad for today!

Today was spent doing a bit of delving into level scripting. Still something I really aim to wrap my head around (but still sort of fail at), I try to take on some basic tasks in the hope that I’ll have that ‘aha’ moment, and everything will be suddenly clear to me.

… I’m allowed to dream, right?

Anyway, the goal of this short exercise has been to make up some short level scripting in order to create some objects and for giving the player some incentive to explore the area and utilise what they learn.

This crab blocks your path in front of you. It’s a rather hungry-looking crab.

… and here.

Better find more scallops from here…

Level blueprints in order to increment the ShellCount every time a scallop is collected. When two shells are collected, the opposing crab will move out of the way.

That’s a quick lesson that I’ve learnt today, so I’ll see ya next time!

The past fortnight has been a rather chaotic one, as time was spent on other odd jobs. The purpose of this prototype was all about building on the slow-motion of our previous game, adding to the tactics and in forcing the player to make more difficult decisions under pressure. The first prototype made it all too easy to run-and-gun – somewhat defeating the intended action of our game.

The first week was spent attempting to add some more feedback, framework and structure to the game. Since we wanted several characters with several guns, we would need models to distinguish them, and so I blocked out some very quick models of a rifle, shotgun, shield and pistol, and then attached them to the character meshes themselves.

In conjunction with our environment artist, we added and expanded on the current world to create the feel, Easing the transition for the environment models into the engine. I also managed to utilise some Unreal starter content in order to work on a neat bullet distortion effect.

In the second week, I decided to further mess around in blueprint, to little avail as I still struggle to grasp the workflow desired of blueprints. After attempting to add sound, I managed to inadvertently break the entire build several times. Sometimes it felt like I was breaking more than create. Talk about chaos!

We also were in need of adding important feedback, such as adding an ammo count. Quite a no-brainer, I suppose, but its importance becomes increasingly obvious once the player starts being blindsided from running out of ammo without knowing it.

It’s clear that it will take a lot more than a week to learn how to make these things work. One should also have no shame in asking for a helping hand, as sometimes you just need one to set you on your way. Any managerial roles took a backseat in comparison to the learning experience, almost falling behind in task logging, documentation and paperwork.

Stay tuned for next time, where we hope to expand on the tactics further while experimenting with alternative perspectives!