This week I have been working on a few things, the main things include;
- Working on Finishing Art for the First Room
- Adding Some Art Assets to Other Rooms
- Working on a Health System for the Player
- Designing the 4th Room of the Level
- Redesigning the Flow of Gameplay
Working on Finishing Art for the First Room
I want my game to look good for ExpoTees. In order to do this, I need a screenshot of the game that will be displayed in the brochure. This had to be handed in ASAP so I worked on the art for the first room.
I used a few asset packs in order to create this including; Abandoned Factory, Construction_Vol1, Construction_Vol2, Industry Props Pack 6, SoulCity and Urban Material Pack.
I have also modelled another light in Blender, these are small lights placed above doorways to help guide the player that little bit further. With all the leading lines, lights and lines of sight now present, the player can't get lost. This is, however, a small room so these techniques will really be tested in the upcoming rooms.
You can cycle through screenshots of the room, here.
Adding Some Art Assets to Other Rooms
As this first room is now at a high quality with art assets, I need the other rooms to match. I started by placing in walls and walkways. I have not started lighting yet as I wanted all the geometry in place first. You can cycle through screenshots, here.
Working on a Health System for the Player
I have made a standard health bar that I may redesign in the future, this communicates to the player how much health they have. This is basic. I have also made health packs that the player can carry and then use at a time best for them. The health pack will be displayed on the players back.
The player can only carry 1 health pack at a time. When the player is carrying one, the option to pick up another will be crossed out.
The player needs to hold a button to use the health pack, for the time being I am using a green progress bar to show the healing progress, this will then set health to full. This can only occur if the player is holding a health pack and their current health isn't already full. The health pack will then be destroyed.
Designing the 4th Room of the Level
I have been working on designing the 4th room and it had taken me longer than expected to come up with a good idea. I have designed the cargo room in which supplies would have been kept. This is where I want to introduce the first set of traditional enemies. By this point the player has been taught about movement and shooting stationary targets. Now the player should know enough about the mechanics to fight against a more advanced enemy than a turret. These enemies will first appear near the vehicle that has broken through a wall.
Here are some screenshots you can cycle through.
Redesigning the Flow of Gameplay
There has been a flaw with my current design. The player would have to run through the course multiple times in order to learn each new mechanic, each time it would only have slight differences and the player would get bored of the repetition. Now the player will only go through the course once but the mechanics will be paced from room to room. I have placed targets in the course that, once shot, turn around to display an X. The player needs to shoot each target.
Thanks for Reading
I don't know how the remainder of the project will go as now the University has been closed, ExpoTees will supposedly be held online and ExpoTees London has the potential to not be held at all. Of course, I will be working from home as often as I can. The day I found out the these events wont be happening in person happened to be the same day my new business cards arrived, that's just my luck isn't it. Stay safe everyone.