Week 9 - Alpha

Week 9 - Alpha

Ok, my game is definitely not close enough to an alpha version yet but I have made some progress.

Here were some of the progress I have made over week 9:

1. I have fully implemented a working shooting script.

Originally, there was an issue where the projectile will not come out forward towards where the gun is facing but instead is shooting at the ground. I only realized the issue one day which was the orientation of the bullet spawner which was facing down the entire time.

The current shooting script is a simple "press mouse to fire and destroy enemy entity" script and as much as it is functional, it's not exactly what I'm looking for.

Number one, the projectile must deal exactly 1 point of damage. The enemies will have varying amounts of health: Red is average, having 10 HP. Blue is weaker but fast-moving, having only 4 HP. Green is the strongest but slow-moving, having 15 HP.

I have looked for many tutorials regarding Health and Damage and Health UI etc. and is currently having trouble putting them in Unity due to previously required elements from the earlier tutorial videos which can mis-match with my current codes.

2. I have made models of the three characters that will be in the game. RED, BLUE and GREEN. So far they only have different sizes. BLUE being the smallest, GREEN being the largest and RED is in between. Once I implement a functioning HP and DAMAGE system they will each have varying amounts of Health corresponding to their playstyle.

However, I don't have a script where I can get it working and there are no tutorials that I can find that makes the progress any easier.

Finally, I can do revenge to those pesky dummy models.
The shooting script finally being fixed definitely
felt really nice for once.

Future Tasks that I need to do in Unity:

Enemy AI and Stats: The enemy entities need to move within the given space while shooting at the Player. If the script can be manipulated to some degree, the same script can be used to make the allies' AI to shoot at the enemy.

One-Shot and Recharge: The gun needs to fire once and recharge automatically with a 3-second recharge time. The recharge time may change in the future. There also needs to be a recharge indicator on the UI.

More UI and Features: A Health display on the players UI, a timer UI to indicate the duration of a match, Recharge indicator for the gun... there's a lot that needs to be done as of now...

If you have found an Unity Tutorial video that might be helpful to someone, please send them that video and give them a hand.

Hope your game is coming along nicely.

Have a nice day!

First Playable? / Prototype 3

First Playable? Barely...

Unity, is working like a coin in Venezuela's economy. Utterly, Unnecessarily. Useless. As much I've tried excavating the internet for useful guides in trying to find a proper script that lets me launch a projectile without causing a sharp drop and sudden drop in the integrity of game files.

There are things that I knew I cannot use. The Raycast method, instantly causes damage to the area where the Raycast is projected over. I have tried inputting a projectile time script to it put it just ended up messing with the other codes.

The Projectile method was the one and only option. One issue. Many of the guides online are either way too outdated; where the codes will not work in the recent Unity editions. Two things will happen. One, Unity doesn't recognize the codes used and refuse to work. Two, Unity DOES recognize the codes but doesn't know how to initiate them.

This was after the fourth tutorial I followed.
One pack of noodles was not enough for me to make it through this.

Hope you had a nicer time than mine.
Anyway, have a nice day.

Prototype part 1

Prototype part 1

As of now I can't get much done on Unity because there are many elements and assets that I can't import due to it needing to be paid or not usable in the current version of Unity.

Since bouncing the projectile could be a mechanic,
the environment should also cater to this mechanic.

So far this is what the first tutorial map should look like.
Simple layout and colours  which gets the job done.

Here's the ditch in the middle, to act as a kill pit if players tries to rush and jump
across to the other side.

The map has one high ground on each side and all flat terrain everywhere else. Besides the ditch in the middle, this map is very simple and needs to be very simple.
This map is to act as the very first map that the players sees and act as a practice map to understand the movement and mechanics of the game.


The issue I'm currently having is the fact that this map was made using nothing but 3D cubes. I want to know how to make a custom brush to use on the terrain so the process of making maps is lot less tedious.

Also I need to know how to make my own character models (simple ones, of course) so they can be used as character assets in Unity. The third-person model in Unity was wonky to use at best and I couldn't get it to work properly.

Right now, a third-person model (with first-person view), custom brush in Unity to use on terrain and maybe making my own character models is top priority so far. Implementing custom character models into the third-person mode while using first-person from the player perspective.

Not much progress now but I hope you're doing better!
Have a nice day!

(P.S. Hope the x-large images are very visible because there are a lot of details. Sorry if the blog layout looks funny.)

Game Design Document

Game Design Document

In my honest opinion, DunDoc is very convenient  for game development as a means to keep track of your games' progress. There are many tabs to use and the presets are very detailed, although they might be overwhelming at first.

I have put in all my ideas from the week before to the DunDoc document as of now

Here's the link to my DunDoc.

This should be what you see when you get to the site.

I'm not sure if anyone needs a password or permission of some sort to enter someone else's project document so if you want to, tell me if it works or not.

As of now I need to research some design for things such as UI, character model and its associated software and such. Character creation will be a hassle if I don't learn how to 3D model for Unity.

I made the image extra-big so you can see the details.
I don't need the HUD to be super complicated.
Just simple enough with all the essential details.
The final game will probably use this HUD layout in
the future.

The technical thing will have to be on hold for now because of the other assignment I'm currently doing but after this, I can work some more on this project.

Tell me some issues like slow-downs, image imports not responding, etc. just so I know I may not be the only one having these issues on DunDoc.

Thank you for listening to my short, late-night rambling.

Have a nice day.

*Updated: Someone mentioned that my DunDoc link didn't work so I changed somethings around. It took quite a while but it should work by now.

Game Vision Statement

Week 5 :Game Vision Statement

The game that I wanted to make as this year's Multimedia project is a simple, high-octane dodgeball video game. ‘Ultimate Dodgeball Deluxe’ is the name that I have given to the game.

‘Ultimate Dodgeball Deluxe’ is a first-person shooter where the player is put into a 3v3 dodgeball game with minor RPG-like customization options to spice up your gameplay.

Here I will explain to my best abilities how the game will progress.

At the beginning of the game:

l The player will pick a character out a roster of 6 different characters to choose as their team captain.

l You will then proceed to pick the two other members to make your team. The team’s composition will be entirely up to the player’s choice. You cannot pick duplicate characters on your team. However, the enemy can pick a character that you have already picked.

Eg. You have Character no.1 in your team and cannot pick another. The enemy can pick the same Character no.1 in their team.

Each character have different stats affecting their damage, defense and speed.

Certain traits can either help or hinder your gameplay, depending on how you play.

l You can then customize each character with gears and equipment that you acquire from completing levels and leveling up.

l Then both teams are put into an arena where the game will take place. The match will last 3 and a half minutes.

- The stage will comprised of two platforms on both sides of the map while a ditch in the middle separates the platforms.

- The two teams will be playing on their respective platforms.

- Anyone who tries to walk across the ditch in the middle will fall through it and be damaged. The individual will be sent back the their teams spawn point after falling through the ditch.

The game itself:

Player will able to perform the following actions:

l Attack: Players attack in various ways.

--A Normal Shot is fast to throw but weak, dealing little damage.

--A Charged Shot is more powerful and deals more damage but requires time to charge and easily predictable and avoidable.

l Defense: To counter the enemies’ attack, players have various ways to reduce the damage they take.

      --Dodge by simply moving out the way of the incoming balls. This is the most basic form of defending your health from dropping. 

      

      --Block reduces damage from incoming shots. However, since you move much slower in this stance, a charged shot can be very devastating.

Four mechanic (technically three) to use while fighting the other team.
Use them to your fullest.

l Movement: the movement is very standard in the game. WASD for movement and space for jumping. But here are some points to take into mind:

       --Jumping will help avoid shots coming towards your lower body, but beware of players trying to aim while you are vulnerable in the air. 

       

       --There is no sprinting in the game but everyone will be moving at a relatively fast speed at default (very much like DOOM).

Simple yet solid movement system. No sprint button, because constantly
hitting shift can hurt your hand in the long run.
I play Warframe. I know what that feels like.

Characters and Customization

All 6 characters play a role within the team. The roles can range from running around, sniping, tanking, etc. Their attack power, defense ability and movement speed all vary from one another and since you can pick any character to be in your team of 3, you can change your playstyle to great degrees.

The characters can be given equipment on the body and items to use in battle. Equipment can change your outer appearance and they can affect your stats positively and negatively. If you have a set of equipment of the same design/theme, you may even gain bonus stats or special benefits. Items can be used to give your character a temporary boost/power-up to assist you in the game.

Mix and Match your gear or gather sets to improve stats further.
*This is a reference that took too long to draw.
No points this time.

After the game:

After the winner is decided, the player will gain some EXP points. Every level increased will reward the player with equipment, items and even some new characters. This will give players further options to play around with in future playthrough. You can also earn credits based on the mission itself and your performance which you can spent on one-use items. This should encourage players to come back and play another round.

Resources required (may change in the future):

The game will be made entirely in Unity. Each character available could either be colour-coded or have unique textures, depending on the eventual scope of the project. However, their physique will be very apparent, ranging from large to petite so they may be easy to identify from a distance. The balls launched from the characters should also have a distinct colour depending on who fired them.

As of now there should be 4 maps to play around with with one tutorial map. The tutorial map should be as plain as possible. But it should be a playing ground where the player can test out characters, playstyles, items and general movement.

The other four maps should have a central theme around the design; elevation, maneuverability, cover, etc. Which should affect the player’s approach to winning the match.

This is all I can offer for now. If you have any opinions of what to improve or change please put a comment below.

Thank you for reading.

Have a nice day.

(if you notice something weird with the format, it's because I typed this in Word and pasted to the blog. Word can be used as a cheap proof-reading tool, if you want to now. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Game Idea Research

Game Idea part 2

On my “Game Ideas” blog, I have four ideas for a video game:

1. First-person shooter

2. Dungeon-crawler

3. Anime Story RPG

4. Ultimate Dodgeball

Of all the ideas, the dodgeball one is definitely the more manageable one in terms of scale.

The core pieces of the game will be that:

1. It’ll be in a team of three (instead of four)

2. Unique team members with strengths, weaknesses and special skills

3. Two platforms for two teams, separated by a ditch.

4. Several ways to launch the ball and several ways to dodge them as well.

5. If possible there should be power-ups on the ground that drop randomly.

The first mechanic I have in mind is a standard first-person shooter mechanic. It will have the player’s HP, abilities, cooldowns, etc all visible within this viewpoint. The movement system will be as expected from any FPS: WASD keys and Mouse. The dodgeball shooting mechanic can have an instantaneous attack that deals little damage while a stronger charged shot is easy to predict but devastating to get hit by.

This is mainly based on a actual dodgeball video game called:

“Robot Roller Derby: Disco Dodgeball”, an awesome dodgeball game made by Erik Asmussen.

Its FPS mechanics is really solid and the feel of gameplay is great. However it does take some getting used to its slightly ‘floaty’ movement in some occasions.

Here's the link to the game's Steam page.

A hectic dodgeball game taking place in a colour-saturated disco accompanied by heart-pumping techno.
What's not to love?

The colours are very strong in the game but the UI did its best job at making sure the player doesn't get confused on what their seeing. 

The second option is to use a third-person perspective. This is only a variation from the first mechanic. Everything is the same except for the purpose of the third-person perspective. It can offer the player a better sense of the surroundings and locations of everyone on the field better than first-person.

The second mechanic changes around the core mechanics I mentioned in the very beginning. The team members will have customizable equipment that slightly affects the stats of the team members. Depending on the customization, the team member’s stats will show during gameplay, eg. Faster movement, charge attack speed, jump height, etc.

This will allow players to improve the stats of which their characters are lacking or improve on stats that their characters excels at. Offering options to player to change how they play is important in offering variety to gameplay. The different upgrades can be earned by meeting special requirements, completing challenges, leveling up, etc.

There are some game with fully customizable features that work quite well. “Loadout” is a third-person shooter with weapons made from individual parts that the player can pick freely (as long as they have to in-game money). Barrel, stock, magazine, sights, firing modes etc. Are all free to customize and it can drastically affect their playstyle.

I prefer to not drastically change the playstyle with customization, but only use it for giving players options in gameplay variety.

To know more about Loadout, here's the link to the steam page.

"Loadout" has weapons that are fully customizable which can change your playstyle completely depending on how you build them.

If you build a gun that fires flame projectiles, of course it will burn your enemies alive.
Your fights are about as creative as you can make it.

The third mechanic is adding moving and destructible environment to either side of the platforms. They can serve as covers and vantage points but due to their destructible nature, they won’t last too long. This is to offer players several approaches and tactics when dealing with the enemy team. This is heavily leaning towards map design in terms of designing this game as it will play an important role in the gameplay. Although depending on how many areas are destructible, it might make production difficult. However, it is an interesting mechanic that can be used.

I can't think of any games that has this kind of destructible but in terms of how this can affect the game, I'm thinking of a game series called "Men of War", a WW2 strategy game where any form of destruction can affect the map in small but significant ways. For example, an explosion on the ground can create craters where soldiers can use as defensive covers. Your own destroyed vehicles can be used as temporary covers during advances. etc.

Unfortunately there aren't any clear video gameplay of this game that I can find to prove this point but I know a modded version of this game called "Faces of War" (real creative, guys) that might be better. Here a gameplay footage of this mod: link.

Trust me. This modded version looks and feels a bit better than the original.

"Men of War" is an old game but it does have some unique things about it as well.

That's all I have to say about my game idea so far.

Hope you enjoyed my nonsense rambling.

Thank you for reading.

Have a nice day.

Game Brainstorm

Game Brainstorm

For game ideas, I have several and of different genres as well.

Each idea will require different amounts of work and expertise but I will provide these ideas regardless of scope.

Idea 1: First Person Shooter

With the introduction of Unity in this semester, I have a feeling that a FPS shooter will be a nice idea as it will require a 3D engine like Unity to run with the best optimal experience.

I have an idea for a zombie shooter on a small, open-world landscape where the player will need to scavenge resources, craft weapons to survive against a never-ending zombie horde. 

To make the game as easy to make as possible, corners will be cut in places such as graphics, polygon counts, model quality, etc. However, a simple player and gun model will do the job. For the zombies a replica of the player's model can be used except with a change of colour, either grey or green. For the different zombie types, we could just use size to differentiate them.

The inspiration of this idea is a mix of a few games, such as Ravenfield, a solid battlefield shooter and Unturned, a zombie survival shooter.

Ravenfield's Official Steam Poster  (game link)
A low-polygon, straight-forward simple battlefield shooter with huge team size on each side.
I remember last time I played it, there were 30 bots on both side.

Unturned's Poster in its Steam info page.
Another low-polygon game but with zombie survival in the mix.
A strong emphasis on PvE and PvP gameplay in the community.
Almost like Roblox but with zombies.

Many of the assets can be implemented on the Unity easily as they will all be in 3D mainly. There should also be some unique landmarks that offer the player some change in strategy when dealing with the zombies, eg. Bridge provide choke-points but will also trap the players on the bridge if they don't move fast. Hills are difficult to climb but can offer a high-ground where players can pick off zombies with ease.

In the end, it will be a simple run-and-gun, scavenger style zombie shooter with the survival element of COD Zombies to some degree.

Idea 2: A Dungeon-Crawler RPG

Do you like Role-Playing-Games?  Do you want more challenge in your garden-variety RPG? Then I have the solution for you!

An RPG game where you lead a band of your chosen units to go treasure hunting in dungeons.  There will be dungeons of various themes. For example, the first and easiest dungeon will be Undead themed, consisting of skeletons and zombies. The second dungeon being Forest themed, consisting of enemies like wolves and spiders that despite being similar to the Undead, will cause status effects like bleed and poison if you're not prepared.

The units you can recruit are split into classes. Like the usual: knights, thieves, mages and clerics. Also the unusual:bards, barbarians, necromancers, archer/gunners, etc. Each will provide a different tactic and strategy to use while each having strengths and weaknesses that you have to be mindful of.

The max amount of units you can bring with you is six and you can place them in various positions with different formations. On top of this they will all have equipment that you can either buy from shops or find in dungeons.

I have played a lot of games that probably has inspired me to come up with this idea. Such examples are Darkest Dungeons and Etrian Odyssey Dungeon series for the best comparison.

"If  we're all going to die, let's at least enjoy it." What a downer. -_-''
Darkest Dungeon is not forgiving in the slightest bit. It's a harsh, rogue-like,
dungeon-crawling game with a grim aesthetic throughout.
Play at your own discretion. (game link)

The game that's probably closer to my idea. Etrian Odyssey was known for its First Person Dungeon crawling style, but I like the Mystery Dungeon series just slightly better. A tile-based approach is a lot more player-friendly, design-wise.
'ALsO, iT Is in ANimE sTYle.'

 I want to make a dungeon crawler more akin to the mystery dungeon series, where players move through dungeon from a top-down view, with plenty of loot and classes to choose from. While also having unsuspecting scenarios which keep the stakes high. But until the idea has been finalized I will have to leave this idea be for the time being.



Idea 3: Anime Story Game RPG

Ok, hear me out. This is not one of those explicit pornographic games you see in the ads of some shady website where you wanted to download the Megamind Movie from. 
Do you recall the project we had for Shaun last year? A choice-based story with multiple endings? Well this is similar but with a slight twist.

Instead of it being text-based, it will be in a more RPG format where you are playing as a character and influencing his/her actions through different interactions and choices. Character art, sprites, scenarios, and background art and such is the aesthetics while the story itself is the content.

I have a story idea, about a fungal spore outbreak on a space station. Two couples have to find a way to escape the station unharmed while avoiding and fighting those affected by the spore outbreak. Depending on different scenarios, the ending will be entirely different, from the best of the best to the absolute worst.

Corpse Party on the PSP.
Anime? Yes.
Terrifying? Also yes.

Quite a horrifying game by itself. The supernatural, gore, horrific imagery. You name it, it has it. The multiple endings from the game come from its 'Game Over's where the characters meet their end in horrific ways.

The mechanics of the game itself is what inspired me to make a multiple-choice story in the first place. Because technically, the death of a character is the end of a story, these multiple ending stories can raise the stakes a bit.

The game's mechanic is entirely RPG-like, but it's only for interacting with the environment and such. Occasionally, a detailed picture of the scenarios will be displayed with all the horrific details implied, shown, or otherwise.

I wanted a story-based game, in RPG format, where the endings are affected by the survival of the characters, choices, consequences, etc. all in glorious Anime fashion. I can dream, can't I?



Idea 4: Dodgeball Game.

Yes. A dodgeball game. A dodgeball game to the DEATH!!!

Two teams of four will be standing on platforms, separated in the middle by a wide ditch. The only way to KO the opponent  is to actually KO them, by dropping their HP to 0. 
Each team member will have their own stats and skills, along with a special attack to unleash on their enemies. You can also freely change the team members to change your play-style.

You can throw, kick, even punch the ball to hit the enemies.
While dodging, jumping and catching the balls to avoid being hurt.

Once the entire team is downed, the team that survived wins.

There wasn't a particular game that inspired this idea, it was more or less a game 'mode'. In DOTA 2, the modding community made a custom map called Pudge Wars where one the playable characters called Pudge was the central focus of this game-mode. Two platforms, a ditch in the middle, two sides have to use their hooks to pull the other team to their side and kill them. The team can also help their friends using their hook to pull them back to safety. An interesting game-mode and great concept for a dodgeball video game.

Here is a link to a Youtube video of the gameplay of this mode: Dota 2 Custom Games - Pudge Wars
in case you want to see what it looks like. I hope I explained it the best I can.

This the simplest game idea I came up with (and probably the one I'm actually picking) and has the most bare-bone concept that I think will be fun to make.


That's all the idea I have came up with so far. I hope when the production phase of this project comes by that everyone will have fun making the game.

Thank you for reading.Have a nice day.