Map one is almost complete and we only need a couple more things added in. Among them are what I've been doing. I have accomplished 3 main things this week. The first was getting the tutorials fully working. They now accept mouse input and can be passed at will by clicking next. The biggest thing I did was work on the glasses and get them mostly done. With help from my professor to get the logic thought out, I have implemented it mostly. I have a timer bar pop up to show how long is left. The button press works also. The only thing that doesn't work is the light doesn't want to turn on for the trap via matinee. This will require some assistance from either my professor or a group member to complete it. The final thing I managed was to get the item pick ups coded as needed. The pickup models aren't in yet, but they are coded so placeholder models are still in place.
This should have the majority of my work done leaving only finishing touches on the items mentioned above and the coding on the gun to make sure it works. Otherwise I also may get around to the hookshot type item at this point but there is no guarantee, it depends how well it can be implemented.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Week 3: A continuation
Week 3 ended up having a delayed class so our next assignments weren't passed around until just this past Friday. For this week I was to finish up the tutorials by getting a button push to progress the tutorials and to get the glasses implemented into the game in a workable format. For the tutorial I did some looking around but have been unable to find a way to get a new button press doing a unique action in game. So Monday I will be working alongside the person doing the HUD to get a button hopefully implemented that will let the scene cancel.
As for the glasses, I am having a bit of a difficult time working how exactly they will work. From what I can tell, their effect will be in Kismet, the energy interaction will be in unrealscript and the toggle will be in script. In it's current form, there is a variable set up that toggles when you press "Q", then a check is called whenever the HUD is drawn that should cause the glasses to loop constantly using up or regenerating energy. From here, I will need to set up triggers in map 2 and 3 where traps will be and to make sure that these interactions are done properly, most likely using a matinee event.
As for the glasses, I am having a bit of a difficult time working how exactly they will work. From what I can tell, their effect will be in Kismet, the energy interaction will be in unrealscript and the toggle will be in script. In it's current form, there is a variable set up that toggles when you press "Q", then a check is called whenever the HUD is drawn that should cause the glasses to loop constantly using up or regenerating energy. From here, I will need to set up triggers in map 2 and 3 where traps will be and to make sure that these interactions are done properly, most likely using a matinee event.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Week 2: Back on track
Week one ended up being fairly uneventful so in week two we started fixing bugs that other people have spotted in our game and to get to work on new material. For this week, I had to implement the tutorials in game as well as edit and fix some weapon related complaint. For the tutorials, things went pretty well. They are more or less completed but I ran across an issue that will need some work. Currently, they are on a timer before they vanish and the ideal situation will be to pause the game until a keystroke like "enter" is pressed. Aside from that, they are in and working.
As for the weapons, the testers had a few qualms such as weapon firing too slow and such. I went into the code and I sped up the crossbow to fire a bit quicker, slowed down the knife so the attack animation matches up properly with it, and I removed the knock back from the weapons so we didn't have as many issues with people falling off the map/killing themselves.
I managed to take care of the above stuff fairly quickly so I also got a head start on a few other things. I designed two specific enemy weapons that will go with our basic enemies and I also designed the first boss weapon from a code perspective. Models still need to be done but the code is now there. I have also started to get work one on the glasses that will allow the player to detect traps. I also found a crosshair code online but I couldn't implement it fully at this point.
All told, this week has been fairly productive in regards to how much was done and if I can keep up this pace, I should be able to help out on other peoples work if needed or to work on the grappling hook we might implement.
As for the weapons, the testers had a few qualms such as weapon firing too slow and such. I went into the code and I sped up the crossbow to fire a bit quicker, slowed down the knife so the attack animation matches up properly with it, and I removed the knock back from the weapons so we didn't have as many issues with people falling off the map/killing themselves.
I managed to take care of the above stuff fairly quickly so I also got a head start on a few other things. I designed two specific enemy weapons that will go with our basic enemies and I also designed the first boss weapon from a code perspective. Models still need to be done but the code is now there. I have also started to get work one on the glasses that will allow the player to detect traps. I also found a crosshair code online but I couldn't implement it fully at this point.
All told, this week has been fairly productive in regards to how much was done and if I can keep up this pace, I should be able to help out on other peoples work if needed or to work on the grappling hook we might implement.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Week 1: A New Session
Classes have started up again and things are diving back in straight away. This week, because we had class later and didn't quite get direction, we have finished up what is needed to go into testing in the following weeks. We also started doing the statement of work going into this next development period.
Now, one of the biggest changes were doing is lowering the overall amount were doing. We cut out an item or two, some items, simplified maps, etc. Even as reduced as things are, we may be over worked trying to do everything. That said though, the core of the game is intact and almost everything that will make it the game were aiming for is still present.
Now, one of the biggest changes were doing is lowering the overall amount were doing. We cut out an item or two, some items, simplified maps, etc. Even as reduced as things are, we may be over worked trying to do everything. That said though, the core of the game is intact and almost everything that will make it the game were aiming for is still present.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Week 7 - Wrap Up
Well, this is our final week of work and aside from one or two little points, we are ready to cook our game's alpha version. Everyone has all of their parts done in a working form except for the music. As of when we parted ways today we were still pending the last couple of pieces to have something to put in but things were complete.
That said, going into our winter break I have some bugs I have to work on. These include: orienting the crossbow properly to the characters hand, changing the projectiles over for the crossbow, eliminating the randomized nature of the melee weapons attack, and start getting the triggers in game to implement some elements we didn't get time for in the 8 weeks such as spots where cinematic's would go.
That's all for this week outside of cooking and the only thing we have left is to present at our developers talk on Monday. I'll probably be posting up a couple extra's during winter break but otherwise the real work will start up again at the start of January.
That said, going into our winter break I have some bugs I have to work on. These include: orienting the crossbow properly to the characters hand, changing the projectiles over for the crossbow, eliminating the randomized nature of the melee weapons attack, and start getting the triggers in game to implement some elements we didn't get time for in the 8 weeks such as spots where cinematic's would go.
That's all for this week outside of cooking and the only thing we have left is to present at our developers talk on Monday. I'll probably be posting up a couple extra's during winter break but otherwise the real work will start up again at the start of January.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Week 6 - Cram Time
We've had a busy week so far. Our group goal is to try and have a playable alpha by next week Monday, and considering that we had only the main character and the first level fully complete by last week, this was a bit of a chore. But it's only Thursday and there is much that has been accomplished.
On my front, I have managed to get the light detection finally working, although in a much different approach then initially planned. The original concept from the first weeks was to have it set up so the more light that is on you, the easier you are to detect. I went through trying to find an angle between the light and the pawn, sample code online from the Epic forums, using the outer and inner cone angle/hit boxes and none of that had worked. The final solution was done in Kismet and it was done using trigger volumes. One was placed under every spotlight and rigged up to an Actor Factory. This will spawn two bots every time a light is crossed. This creates a much more dynamic game where stealth will make the game notably easier and be almost mandatory at parts.
That aside, I also have almost finalized the ladder volumes. All of them except 3 work perfectly and there is no longer any issue with the character falling into the foreground/background. I have also started and almost completed work on the weapon code this week. The ranged weapon was simple and is almost fully implemented. I still need to change sound effects over as well as reference the model when it is completed, but otherwise the crossbow is complete. The melee weapon is a bit easier, but having a slight problem. There appears to be a random variable somewhere in the shot that results in the invisible bullet going anywhere from right in front of the character to 30 feet out. This is a bit of a spread and almost too much so I'll be conducting research on the issue and hopefully have it fixed come next week.
My parts aside, everyone else has made amazing progress. Our first level is fully textured, lighted up with the light detection and has the HUD implemented. The title screen is almost done and is undergoing a last couple of tweaks before it's in. Our crossbow and sword model are both nearly completed and music has had its rights requested for use. AI is practically done and the animation tree was nearly completed last I saw. And to top it off, the main character is fully completed and being added in, the enemies have a few kinks being worked out and the last couple of items are being made and added in.
All things told, it looks like we'll have a passable alpha as of next week, and with next week added in we will need to remove all sounds that we don't want that are inherent to unreal. If we take care of that, work out some of our last few bugs and finish up a few more things, we will have accomplished all of our goals for the first 8 weeks of progress and will leave off on a great note.
On my front, I have managed to get the light detection finally working, although in a much different approach then initially planned. The original concept from the first weeks was to have it set up so the more light that is on you, the easier you are to detect. I went through trying to find an angle between the light and the pawn, sample code online from the Epic forums, using the outer and inner cone angle/hit boxes and none of that had worked. The final solution was done in Kismet and it was done using trigger volumes. One was placed under every spotlight and rigged up to an Actor Factory. This will spawn two bots every time a light is crossed. This creates a much more dynamic game where stealth will make the game notably easier and be almost mandatory at parts.
That aside, I also have almost finalized the ladder volumes. All of them except 3 work perfectly and there is no longer any issue with the character falling into the foreground/background. I have also started and almost completed work on the weapon code this week. The ranged weapon was simple and is almost fully implemented. I still need to change sound effects over as well as reference the model when it is completed, but otherwise the crossbow is complete. The melee weapon is a bit easier, but having a slight problem. There appears to be a random variable somewhere in the shot that results in the invisible bullet going anywhere from right in front of the character to 30 feet out. This is a bit of a spread and almost too much so I'll be conducting research on the issue and hopefully have it fixed come next week.
My parts aside, everyone else has made amazing progress. Our first level is fully textured, lighted up with the light detection and has the HUD implemented. The title screen is almost done and is undergoing a last couple of tweaks before it's in. Our crossbow and sword model are both nearly completed and music has had its rights requested for use. AI is practically done and the animation tree was nearly completed last I saw. And to top it off, the main character is fully completed and being added in, the enemies have a few kinks being worked out and the last couple of items are being made and added in.
All things told, it looks like we'll have a passable alpha as of next week, and with next week added in we will need to remove all sounds that we don't want that are inherent to unreal. If we take care of that, work out some of our last few bugs and finish up a few more things, we will have accomplished all of our goals for the first 8 weeks of progress and will leave off on a great note.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Week 5 - Ladder Volumes
Well, last week was a serious pain. The light detection seemed like it was almost complete but due to a minor last minute error things didn't work. In essence, the code wasn't handshaking properly with everything else meaning my code wasn't getting called. This lead to a whole load of other issues and resulted in this past Monday/Tuesday working things through with my professor to get things done. The good news is that a valid method has shown itself so by next week, things should be done with the light detection no matter what. For the time being, I'm focusing on the ladder volumes and kismet triggers.
With the map I have, the ladder volumes have been fairly easy. We don't have very much to do in the first map to enable to character to climb everything, so I actually have the ladders almost done. Just a last minute bit of tweaking. The only issue I'm having with them is that the player can fall of the sides sometimes on some of the smaller gaps. This just needs a blocking volume that either myself or Vince will be putting in. As for the triggers, they all need to go into a part of the level that we haven't designed yet. It will involve a cutscene/enemy spawn trigger and a trigger to let the character unlock doors. Both should be fairly straight forward and can't be fully done at this time.
All told, this week hasn't been so bad and it's been a huge relief knowing that the light detection is being taken care of. By the end of this week, I should have half of my work for this done in about half the time meaning I'm still on track for getting everything accomplished. As for the rest of the group, the HUD/menu's seem to be done/almost there. The first level is only missing the end section and the challenge parts for items we haven't yet done/are finishing. It also needs textures put in. AI is almost done last I heard and hopefully the weapons are nearing completion. Best of all though is our main character is almost done and ready to be used.
With the map I have, the ladder volumes have been fairly easy. We don't have very much to do in the first map to enable to character to climb everything, so I actually have the ladders almost done. Just a last minute bit of tweaking. The only issue I'm having with them is that the player can fall of the sides sometimes on some of the smaller gaps. This just needs a blocking volume that either myself or Vince will be putting in. As for the triggers, they all need to go into a part of the level that we haven't designed yet. It will involve a cutscene/enemy spawn trigger and a trigger to let the character unlock doors. Both should be fairly straight forward and can't be fully done at this time.
All told, this week hasn't been so bad and it's been a huge relief knowing that the light detection is being taken care of. By the end of this week, I should have half of my work for this done in about half the time meaning I'm still on track for getting everything accomplished. As for the rest of the group, the HUD/menu's seem to be done/almost there. The first level is only missing the end section and the challenge parts for items we haven't yet done/are finishing. It also needs textures put in. AI is almost done last I heard and hopefully the weapons are nearing completion. Best of all though is our main character is almost done and ready to be used.
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