The next blueprint I added was the player’s sprint function. There is a much simpler sprint function available within the engine, however I found the sudden increase and decrease in speed when activating/deactivating it to be rather jarring, so I decided to use a sprint system with a more gradual increase and decrease in speed. This system will also allow the player to “sprint” whilst crouching, but they will still move slower than regular walking speed.
The next blueprint I attempted to implement was the ability to crouch. My first attempt was intended to allow the crouching to have a smooth animation, however that complicated the process quite considerably, and as a result issues kept popping up, such as the inability to move after standing up again, or the player’s height not actually changing. Because of these issues I went with the far simpler crouch system built into the engine at the expense of the sudden transition between standing and crouching.
I will next entry implement a sprint system.
The first piece of blueprint I set up was the ability for the player to be able to pick up and carry around physics objects. This system will be a major mechanic within the scenario as many of the puzzles will require the player to manipulate or otherwise transport objects. I chose to have the player character physically carry the items around the level as a physics object rather than make them interactable in such a way that they would go into an inventory because I want to avoid the player being able to press E on every object until they can find something to pick, and then interact with everything until it does something. I would rather the player have to think about how the objects are meant to interact, though I am aware that this design philosophy could alienate some of the more casual playerbase.
For the next entry I will continue adding to the player blueprint.
I have started importing assets into the engine, and they mostly are of the correct scale and size relative to the player, however some of the rooms were altered in size and shape a little so that the assets weren’t cluttered unnecessarily. I have yet to create textures for the BSP, but I am also undecided as to whether I would rather model the walls, floors, etc. myself to add some realism to the environment, such as a crumbling wall, or broken-up floor. The BSP will suffice for now, and I will decide at a later date after finishing more pressing features if there is enough time to model it.
Next I will start implementing player mechanics to the games blueprint.
I have built the basic shape based on my original level map within the level using BSP.
I started this during the mid-stages of the 3d asset development. This was so that I could import some of the models, and most importantly a human body mesh, so that I could ensure the rooms, doorways, corridors, etc. would be of an appropriate size and scale.
The initial idea for the level in short was that when the player started, a few of the mechanics implemented in the level would be usable or relevant to the player progressing. I decided to change this when a guest speaker came in to the architecture session and I told him that for a while I hadn’t been entirely convinced by the idea from a design standpoint, since it would mean that unless the player did repeat playthroughs, most of the content would not be seen.
I decided to change how the player progresses so that after having used one exit, the player will return to the start point, and hear some dialogue from the boss character- meaning they have to solve each exit to move on, instead of the finding one exit as originally planned.
For the next entry I will start implementing my completed assets into the engine.
The combat soundtrack took me significantly less time to produce than the environment soundtrack. It can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwkQcel8z31kS3lnamRDNmJEenc
The first part of the combat soundtrack to be created was the Bass Section Staccato track. This track was repeated throughout the soundtrack to act as a beat.
The cavern kit drum set was added second, with a pause at the start to act as a sort of build up at the start of the fight before the rest of the instruments kick in.
Violas were added after, at different playing the same notes but at different pitches to get a feel for which sounded more appropriate to the soundtrack.
Different instruments were also tried to test for appropriateness in the place of the violas, such as Hard Rock and Sunburst Electric guitars. The Ghost Piano was the instrument chosen to be used, despite this I am still not particularly happy with it as it never sounded quite right.
The last track to be added was the Organ Space track, which plays only at the start to try to highlight the build up there is meant to be during the pause at the start when only the Bass Section Staccato track is playing.
I am not as happy with the end result of this track as I am with the environment soundtrack. I found it very difficult to find instruments I felt would sound appropriate within the track, and I struggled to come up with a base tune for the soundtrack, meaning that what I created sounds somewhat too simple to me, but I feel that at least the instruments used to convey some sort of melancholic tone appropriate to the boss’s character.
Having completed the audio for the game scenario next I will move onto working with the UE4 game engine.
Since the last entry I have completed the environment soundtrack. it can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwkQcel8z31kU2ZXdHc0bThiRWc
The first change made since the previous entry was the addition of the “phantom winds” instrument, however it was soon decided that the sound wasn’t right for the soundtrack and the notes were retained, but the instrument was changed to Galactic Static. The resonance was increased. This significantly changed the sound produced from another deep bass-y sound to being much shorter and sounding like a clicking or ticking sound.
The notes played were intentionally a mash-up of sounds because this clicking sound is meant to represent a part of the environment the player is in, as many of the walls are to be covered with gears constantly operating unseen mechanisms and ticking away.
The Unveiling Darkness track and the Modelled string pad tracks were added throughout the soundtrack to intermittently play the same notes occasionally, adding some variation to the sound of the music by not playing at a regular interval.
This is the end result:
I am happy with the way this soundtrack has turned out. I do not think it is good as a musical piece at all, but I do think it will do a very good job of providing atmosphere to the environment.
Having completed the environment soundtrack next I will move onto the combat soundtrack.
The first thing I did when planning the environment soundtrack was look through and listen to as many of Logic’s built in loops as were classified in a way I felt appropriate to the theme of the level to get some sort of idea of what a good example of soundtrack would be.
The first part of the soundtrack I created was a deep rumbling bass noise by using the Dark Choir.
The Caribbean steel drums were added after. These were also played using deep, long, drawn-out notes to contrast the comparatively varied sound of the jumbled noise produced by the dark choir track.
Since the previous entry a few more minor assets have been completed, and were then added
Having completed each of the assets intended to be used within the scenario I organised them within the level’s whitebox in 3ds max to ensure each asset would be of a suitable scale, could all be accessed from a single file, and to see if I myself was happy with the layout of the level.
Overall I think I am happy with the layout of the map, and the quality of the assets produced. My biggest issue wreas managing my time effectively throughout this stage, as there were several times when I made an asset which I later decided wasn’t up to scratch, or wasn’t necessary or fitting to the level’s design. This happened several times when making the waterwheel until I settled on the final design.
I also left a lot of the texturing of the assets until rather late with the excuse that I would do all the texturing at once after finishing the modelling because of a lack of significant understanding of how to use Quixel, which means that a large number of the textures I created didn’t have as much time or effort put into them as they maybe should have received. I will try not to repeat this mistake on any future parts of the project.
From here the assets were exported to be imported into the game engine.
The rubble was created with the purpose of filling in the level, by adding functionally useless small pieces of rock which will be scattered around the rooms and hallways of the ruins to make the scenario feel more real.
Some of the rubble will also be scaled up to a larger size and be placed as a simple obstructive obstacle for the player to move to progress.
This asset was created using 3ds Max and the voronoi fracture script to break a primitive into many smaller pieces, then each piece was individually textured within Quixel.
mattforrest94 