2.5D Sidescroller Update 1: Build 1 & Play-testing Results

This week I got straight to it and started developing the first build for my 2.5D sidescroller.

The build contains:

Simple test area level for players to move around in. (Colour coded so players don't get lost)
Adjusted Player Movement System (Speed, friction, gravity etc)
Jumping
Double Jumping
Dashing (but functions more like a sprint)
One-way Platforms (Only one way for now)
Minor Particle Effects for dashing and double jumping
Placeholder Background Music: Super Smash Bros Melee - Break the Targets (Jam Alert!)

Screenshots of the build - 

So far I've had 7 people try out the game, while I work on build 2 I will continue sending out builds to gather more feedback this week, as well as gather more feedback from other students during class on Wednesday. 

I gave all of the play-testers similar instructions for their play session.

"Play the game how you would play any other platformer, while playing, tell me everything that's going through your mind about the gameplay. How does it feel to control, is it fast enough, what other moves and mechanics would you expect to see in a game that plays like this, that sort of thing" 

As they played I wrote down every piece of feedback they gave to me, their thoughts and impressions on the game and also suggestions for potential mechanics that they provided on their own merit. Alongside that, I also analysed their gameplay and picked up on a few gameplay habits that may affect how I further design the game. 

Build 1 - Play-testing Results Dropbox Link (PDF)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9nc1jiyqnxdxsvf/Build%201%20Feedback%20Results%20%28PDF%29.pdf?dl=0

Semester 3 Preparation: Brainstorming & Planning

What am I doing in Semester 3?

I want to create a 2.5D Platformer that draws a little inspiration from the character movement in the Super Smash Brothers franchise of games. I will also think of a unique mechanic to make it stand out so I'm not just copying.

Some key areas I want to develop on this semester...

• Maintaining focus and creating a game of a smaller scope. Allowing me to create a more complete and polished game for submission.

• A heavy focus on multiple play-tests. Creating a play-test build plan and getting game feedback at a faster pace, implementing changes with the feedback given to me. 

• Improving animation skill by listening to feedback and making changes accordingly. Animation plays a big role into making a character feel good to play, very important.

Example Play-test Build Plan

Build 1: Simple player movement and controls with default unreal engine guy. No animations, really small environment to test in.

Build 2: Same as build 1 but with feedback changes implemented, gather more feedback and make changes accordingly

Build 3: Basic Character animations and sound effects implemented into the build (Idle, walk, run, jump)

Build 4: Touch up and polish animations, change movement and sound effects if needed using feedback from build 3.

Build 5: Add in various attacks, grounded and aerial with hitboxes. No animations, just functionality. Get feedback on attacks and controls. 

Build 6: Implement animations and sounds for attacks, get feedback on how the animations flow with the movement mechanics they are associated with. 

Build 7: Polished attack animations using feedback from build 6. Changed sound effects if needed, Gather further feedback on the new changes.

Build 8: Implement "special" moves. Functionality, no animations.

Build 9: Change special move functionality with the feedback given from build 8

Build 10: Implement animations and sounds to special moves. Gather feedback on how they look and feel during gameplay

Build 11: Polish animations, change sounds using feedback from build 10

Build 12: Give playtesters a very short level to play through, get further feedback

Etc. This is a basis of a plan, sounds good so far, subject to change should it need to however.

"Why am I doing this?"

There are a couple of reasons I want to create a 2.5D platformer this semester. One of the main reasons is by looking at what I got wrong in semester 1 and semester 2. While I was decently satisfied with the work I produced, there are obviously a lot of things that could of made them better. Looking back at these mistakes I can use them as lessons to formulate a plan and make sure it doesn't happen again in semester 3.

For Animation & Game Feel

During the masters course I have been going out of my way to model and animate my player characters. I've been getting better but I'm still only an amateur, but practice makes perfect. However, while animating my own character is all well and good I haven't spent nearly enough time gathering feedback and polishing animations. During semester 1 in my essay I talked all about what makes player movement so important to player enjoyment. One of the biggest aspects of getting character movement to feel right is the character animation. During semester 1 and 2 I didn't ask for feedback on my character animations at all, because I was thinking at the time "I'm still a beginner at animation, so I won't focus too much on it" but that is a really bad way of looking at things if I want to create a character that feels and looks good while in motion. I will remedy that mistake this semester by immediately asking for feedback when an animation is implemented into gameplay and polishing them using the feedback I am given.

Alongside character animation there are other aspects I need to work on such as game "juiciness". Which is a way to describe the little extra details that are added to a game to bolster player feedback and make a game feel much better to play.

Here's a youtube link to a great lecture called "Why your death animation sucks" by indie dev Nicolae Berbece who talks in depth about game feel. It's a brilliant lecture and one of the few I will always refer to if people want to see a visual example of the development process in making games feel good to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmSAG51BybY

For Level Design & Scope

In semester 1 I didn't actually sit down and plan out a level design. I just created an open environment with a few places for the player to explore. While it served it's purpose for play-testing and was still enjoyable to move around in I would much prefer to properly think about and design my levels before developing them rather than winging it and quickly designing it on the fly.

In semester 2 one of my biggest focus' was in the level design. While I did successfully plan and design a level, it was way too big and ambitious. I didn't have nearly enough time to polish it properly. So when it came to development and finishing off the project I had 25+ minutes of gameplay, but it wasn't polished and was very rough around the edges.

Designing a 2D game will reduce work amount as in my opinion they are a lot easier to design. When designing a 3D game you have a whole other dimension of space to deal with which makes it harder. I will also learn from my mistakes in semester 2 by designing a level that is a lot smaller. This will give me enough time to spend working on polishing the game, I would much prefer my work to focus on quality over quantity.

For becoming a "Master" of Player Movement

At the end of the day since semester 1 my biggest interest and subject I felt I was most knowledgeable in was "what about player movement makes video games fun to play?" During semester 1 I researched into it, read game design books and watched online developer lectures and learned more about "What makes a player character fun to control?" Semester 2 I took what I had learned and tried to develop an ambitious game of a different genre with a focus on player movement as well as shifting the flow of gameplay through a level design.  Semester 3 however I want to take everything I have learned in semester 1 and 2, and put it all into designing one last fun, polished game to show I know what makes a player character fun to control and also here is a game showing how I have made a character fun to control. Along the way I will further advance my development and design skills as always.

MA Semester 2 Submission: Body of Work, Playthrough, Learning Agreement

Summary

Another semester has come and gone and it's time to submit what I've got for Alpha Mask Striker. Overall I'm decently satisfied. I produced a boat load of work, however I may of overestimated how much work I thought I could do. The game idea was too ambitious and big for me to solo develop, however I managed to get the game to a complete state, with a clear end goal for players to achieve, and with a solid 20+ minutes of gameplay. It's just a shame about the lack of polish. If I get any spare time during the end of semester 3 I would like to come back to this and polish it up a bit more for the degree show.

Youtube Playthrough Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDa6Kbdkb4

Learning Agreement

Game Jam Work

I also took part in a game jam this semester, it wasn't related to masters, I just did it for portfolio development. Thought I'd put it here anyway.

"Cooly's Funky Ride" Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff0xNnvpNUM

Alpha Mask Striker Update 10:Completed Essay, Gameplay Mechanics, Playtest Results

It's been a while since an update and that's because I've just been getting on with it. However to recap what I've been doing the past month...

Essay Completed

I got my essay done and dusted for the submission on the 27th April

Adding Gameplay Mechanics

Since I submitted my essay, I've been hard at work adding all the different gameplay mechanics and functions to the huge level that I designed over the semester. Here's a list of the gameplay elements that have been added since.

Secret Treasure Chests:

There are 6 different values of treasure chests that you can find. Ranging from very small to very large. You can find these treasure chests hidden around the level. Treasure chests open automatically when approaching them and dispense "Gaia" the game's currency to purchase upgrades for your weapon.

Upgrade Chests/Health & Armor Upgrades:

Upgrade chests function similarly to normal treasure chests, they open automatically as you approach them. However these special chests are a lot rarer and are usually the most well hidden. Inside these chests are health and armor upgrades which will increase your max health or armor depending on which one you collect.

Health Upgrade

Armor Upgrade

Jump Pads/Auto Jump Pads:








Can't forget jump pads, I love these things. When stepping on one of these you are flung high up into the air. There are two versions of the jump pad, the green one is a stationary one, where the player can control their aerial movement after bouncing. The blue jump pad is an automatic jump pad and will fling you to a specific area, the player will not be able to control where they go when jumping on these.









Locked Doors/Door Keys:

Self explanatory, locked door you can't get through. Find the key, come back and unlock the door and proceed. The key looks like a bomb right now because I originally had the idea that locked doors would have a bomb shaped key hole, as you slotted in the bomb key it would start the timer and blow up the door rather than just open it. Way cooler but had to be scrapped as I had to use the time to focus on other things.

Break the hidden targets challenge:

One section of the level branches off into a small secluded area, with targets hidden around the place and a treasure chest behind a magic barrier. If the player manages to shoot and break all the targets in the area the magic barrier will disappear, allowing the player to get to the upgrade chest.

Switches & Levers:

Switches are activated by shooting at the red orb on the device to the right, this will activate various mechanisms based on where they are placed in the level, they are used to open doors, raise and lower lifts or deactivate traps.

Levers function the same as switches but require the player to stand next to them to pull the lever and cannot be activated by shooting them. When a lever hasn't been pulled the square light will appear red, after pulling the lever it will appear green.

Poison Gas:

If the player enters poison gas their health gradually starts to fall for as long as they remain in there. The gas has a purple smoke effect and does not look inviting at all, players will know that it's dangerous. Unfortunately you cannot see how purple it is in this screenshot due to everything looking orange right now, which I'll get to why that is shortly...

Teleport Pads:

Teleport pads can be found throughout the level. These teleporters take you to the Gaia Shop, where you can use your collected Gaia to purchase upgrades. As you discover these teleporters they can then be used from the Gaia shop as shortcuts to various areas of the level. So if the player wanted to backtrack to try and find any secrets that they missed they can use these teleporter shortcuts to return to previous areas.

Enemies:

While I haven't got a screenshot for them yet, I do have 2 placeholder enemies so far. One of them roams aimlessly until they notice the player. When they notice the player they will chase them down and deal damage when touched. I want this enemy to be a floating alien head with two rayman like hands at each side of the head. The other enemy is a simple turret enemy, this enemy will be an alien in a little UFO that shoots at you.

Alongside adding gameplay mechanics I've also had a go at adding some quick simple art assets to try and capture the atmosphere of the level, as an attempt to visualise what the bigger picture could be if I was a game designer that had access to an art team.

To answer the question of "why is everything so orange?" it's because I messed around with the skysphere to get the orange, fiery sunset sorta vibe to the starting area of the level. Once I've built the lighting, interior areas shouldn't look orange anymore.

Playtest Results

To wrap up the update I also had two playtests this month and got feedback from around 15 different people. Rather than ask them to fill out a questionnaire I watched them play and took notes on their gameplay as well as their personal feedback they told me during the play session.

Haste Style Feedback

- A lot of players mentioned they found the sprint speed is too low. (Increase Sprinting Speed)

- A few players mentioned the running animation on the player character isn't very good due to no hip movement. Someone even compared it to Roblox character animation (LOL) This is an issue however as animation plays a huge factor into a character's movement feeling good. (I will try to polish the running animations if I have the time).

- Players really liked the jumping animations, "looks cool", "that double jump looks elegant".  Although sometimes the double jump animation wouldn't activate. (Animation bug, will fix, nice that they like the animation though)

- The Aerial Spin and Dive moves are supposed to give the player a little boost in z velocity, however it doesn't seem to work properly until the hover boots have been activated. After that it works fine. (Gravity issue? Hover boots change the gravity so the player falls slower, maybe I missed a value change somewhere in my player blueprint. BUG FIX)

- Once they were working, players liked the aerial spin and dive moves, almost all of them reacted with "whoa" when they first activated the move. They like the animation and the extra aerial mobility boost they get. Some players experimented and realised you can combo spins, into dives, into double jumps and hover boots etc. Whereas others seemed happy to just use one move at a time. (A case of emergent behaviour, the players that experimented realised the movement of the game just expanded for them, and with that, started to pull off more impressive jumps and traversed the environment in new ways. The players that didn't experiment still managed to get by just fine on the normal path)

- One player in particular mentioned they wanted a ledge grab, for that extra safety net if you don't quite make a jump. I'll think about it, but my ledge grab in StarKid was buggy and I couldn't get it to work properly. Not sure I want to invest the time to get it working in this, as well as have a new animation given all the other mechanics I still have to work on. A ledge grab would be good, and I do want it. But maybe I should focus on other things? I might just make the specific jump he was struggling on a little easier. This is a tough one.

- Some players mentioned that the Aerial Spin and the Aerial Dives functions felt like they were the wrong way round based on their animations.

The Aerial Spin shoots the player directly forward, it functions as an attack as well as a boost in forwards velocity to make longer jumps. 

The Aerial Dive gives the player a boost in z velocity, functioning as an attack as well as a triple jump to make higher jumps.

I understand where they are coming from, I'll swap them around.

Strike Style Feedback

- Players felt like they were moving too slow again. A large majority of them thought this. (Increase movement speed slightly)

- A large majority of the players didn't like the double tap a direction to dash. Some said they would prefer if the dash was mapped to a button instead. (Change dash so it's mapped to a button)

As predicted however, it was a little hard for testers to give feedback on Strike style given a lot of the animations for the character were missing. A lot of them mentioned the character sliding around while shooting looked weird, which it does. (Finish animating as well as figure out how it's going to work!!)

That about does it for work over this past month, it's been very busy and I've had a lot to do. Being realistic everything I wanted to do isn't going to get done as I made the scope of the game a little too big. However, what I have got is a lot and I've learnt a lot so right now I'm happy with it. Plans of action are get as much work done as I possibly can before the deadline. Body of work blog post will be up tomorrow. Time to down some energy drinks, it's gonna be a loooooong night.

Alpha Mask Stiker Update 9: Level Design - Area 3: Alien Territory

Alpha Mask Striker 

Level Design: Area 3 - Alien Territory

Intention

- Continue expanding gameplay through introducing more items and powerups, stealth segments and navigational gimmicks (Jump Pads, Dash Panels etc).

- Provide more difficult challenges for the player to tackle

- Offer a round of play that satisfyingly concludes the game while also making the player want more.

- Give the player shortcuts back to the other two areas, Mystic Rooftops and Downtown Invasion to be able to locate secrets they may of missed

Objective

1. Same objective, further expand gameplay to keep player engaged

2. Provide a large task for the player that allows them to explore many different areas of the alien territory before reaching the final segment of the level.

3. Have an end level boss to conclude the game (Only a possibility, if I have time to implement it)

Map Design

The Alien Territory will all take place in an interior environment. The player will move through many different rooms, some rooms will be locked, be hidden away as a secret, or will go on lockdown once the player enters, meaning the player must complete a certain task to be able to unlock the room they are trapped in. Towards the end of the level the map design will split off at an intersection into 3 separate paths. The player must reach the end of these pathways to locate a key. They require all 3 keys to reach the end of the level. These pathways will loop back on themselves, providing shortcuts back to the intersection.

Walkthrough Screenshots

Top Down Overview

Area 3 Setting

In the Alien Territory the aliens have set up strange buildings where they plan their attacks as well as perform experiments on whatever creatures they abduct. Expect to see magic, technological machinery, laboratory equipment, storage rooms and clone pods. This area should be weird, dark and creepy. The player should be discovering narrative elements through gameplay by observing their environment.

13.

After dropping down the hole in the ground from section 12 the player will land in a large, castle like room. Aliens will inhabit the area and will immediately ambush the player once they arrive in the room. An Alien Lockdown wall will be blocking the way to proceed, to open this door the player must locate the switches around the room and activate them (general areas of switches highlighted in red)

14.

The next room contains 3 pathways the player can go, the red arrow leads to a room where the player gets trapped inside and ambushed by aliens. Defeating these aliens will reveal a treasure chest and allow them to leave the room. Following the black arrow leads to section 15, the aliens in the room must be defeated before being able to go there though. Just next to the door leading to section 15 is a window that the player can see through, showing a special item. Below the bridge leading to section 15 is green poison gas. If the player falls into it their health will begin to slowly deplete. They can quickly jump back up to prevent dying. However there is a secret area in the gas cloud that leads to the special item behind the window.

15. 

Getting past the poison gas room leads to a spiraling stair case that connects to section 16. On the way down the stairs there will be a secret wall that the player can walk straight through. The wall will stand out with a different texture, making this secret stand out more to players.

16.

At the bottom of the spiral staircase is a corridor leading to this room. Aliens will be around this area and will attack the player once they notice them. This room will look like a cave, with flowing water streaming through the middle. Advancing through this cave leads to a staircase that goes up to section 17.

17.

Section 17 is a rounded room with a large door as it's center piece, the door has 3 large padlocks on it and requires 3 keys to open. Transparent unbreakable windows reveal the large mothership behind the locked door. Beside this door will be another shop for the player to buy items. The room has 3 routes that the player can take, with each of the routes having a key at the end of them. The player can take these routes in any order they like, but for the sake of documentation we will go through the left red pathway first, then the green pathway to the right and then onto the blue platform that takes you through the roof and into an upper area.

(Section 18 for Red Path)
(Skip to Section 21 for Green Path)
(Skip to Section 27 for Blue Path)

18.

The left pathway at section 17 will lead to a large room with a dark pit down below, the player must jump across the platforms and avoid falling into the pit. At the end of the room is a jump pad that shoots the player through a tunnel and into section 19.

19.

After shooting out of the tunnel the player will arrive in this area. Aliens will be placed around the area for the player to defeat. There are 3 directions the player can head towards. The bottom route and the high route both lead to section 20 but at different vantage points. The route on the far right leads to a secret room.

20.

Section 20 will have a large corridor with aliens hiding behind walls that will attack the player from afar. Heading down the corridor will lead to the large room you see in the screenshot above. A treasure chest rests on a podium in the center of the room. As the player heads towards the chest aliens will smash through some walls on the left and ambush the player. After the aliens have been taken care of the player can open the chest and obtain a key. After the key has been collected a door will open revealing a room with a teleporter that teleports the player back to section 17 with the triple padlocked door.

On to Section 21

21.

Heading right from Section 17 leads to a dark room that goes on lockdown as soon as the player enters. Aliens will attack the player and must be defeated to enter the lift mechanism shown in the screenshot above. Inside the lift will be 2 large buttons, one pointing up and one pointing down. Shooting the buttons will cause the lift to move in that direction to another floor. Shooting the down button leads to a secret room, whereas shooting the up button leads to section 22.

22.

Exiting the lift will lead into a large room with multiple staircases, the player must defeat the aliens blocking the way and ascend the staircases to reach the next section. If they continue going up past the entrance to section 23 they can find a hidden item way high up.

23.

After ascending the stairs the player will reach an area with a dangerous pit down below with poison gas, they must stay on the narrow platforms and not fall off.  If they do fall off they must quickly rush back to the steps that take them back to safety before their health is completely depleted by the poison. While crossing the narrow platforms aliens will try to push the player off, defeat them to open an alien door and progress to section 24.

24.

After getting past the alien door a jump pad will shoot the player through a wall and into a room with aliens. The aliens will attack immediately. There will be another small room that connects to this one nearby, in that room is a window that reveals a secret item from another room. The glow of the item can be seen through the window, attracting players towards it. To get the item the player must break through the secret wall shown above to loop around and enter the secret room through another pathway. After defeating the aliens a switch must be pressed on the high ground to allow 4 platforms to emerge from the ground. (Switch and platforms highlighted in red) These platforms are then used to jump on and get to section 25. 

25.

The player enters a large room with another dangerous pit down below. The player must avoid falling and get across by jumping across the spinning platforms nearby. Flying aliens will bother the player and attempt to push them into the pit. After getting across the pit, follow the pathway to section 26.

26.

Following the pathway leads to a treasure chest with a key inside. After obtaining the key a nearby vent can be smashed through, which leads directly back to Section 17.

On to Section 27

27.

Jumping on the blue highlighted platform in Section 17 causes the platform to fly up towards a hole in the ceiling, leading to a new area. After arriving in the new area the player will find an empty square room with the words "Lift Stop" on the wall. They can't do anything here yet so they can leave and carry on to the large room on the right with the 4 squares. A door blocks the way to section 28, a switch is guarded by a large alien in the top room. After defeating the alien the player can activate the switch which opens the door leading to Section 28. If the player looks behind the back of the room a very small lever can also be found, pulling this lever opens another door that leads to a secret room on the right that will contain a lot of useful items.

28.

Section 28 introduces a stealth segment where the player must avoid spotlights, security cameras and huge beast aliens to be able to get by. If the player is spotted, then a horde of aliens will attack the player and a secret item will be locked away. If the player gets by the security without being detected they can obtain the secret item easily. If they do get detected then they must locate a hidden switch to be able to retrieve the secret item. This area will contain alien clone pods and a pool of green ooze with strange creatures inside. These creatures will stare at the player as they navigate this section. Jumping up and around as shown above will lead to more platforms to jump up, leading to section 29.

29.

After ascending the platforms and stairs in this room the player will reach an intersection. One path leads to a treasure chest being guarded by an alien beast. While the other takes the player over a narrow pathway above the green ooze mentioned before. The creatures inside will continue to stare at the player. Alien machinery will be operating around the narrow walkway and can get in the player's way as well as push them into the ooze down below. If the player falls into the green ooze the creatures go crazy and kill the player character immediately. Getting past the narrow walkway safely will lead around a corner and to an air vent. Breaking through the air vent will lead to section 30.

30.

After breaking through the air vent the player will be at the opposite side of the room from section 28. An alien door blocks the way to section 31. If the player hasn't alerted any enemies the player can sneak into a nearby security guard room, silently kill the guard inside and pull the lever to open the alien door. If the player has alerted enemies the guard will be waiting for the player and will attack immediately as they enter the room. After opening the alien door they can head through and will enter a lift that will automatically close the door behind them and take them upwards to section 31.

31.

The lift takes the player to a large circular room with a treasure chest at the end of the room. When the player tries to open the chest it is revealed to be a trap, the door to the lift is locked and they are ambushed by a horde of aliens that fall in from holes in the ceiling. After defeating all of the aliens the real treasure chest will appear with a key inside and the lift door will reopen. After the player obtains the key a button will flash green inside the lift. Pressing this button make the lift take the player back to the lift stop described in section 27. From here they can jump back on the platform that leads them back to section 17.

32.

Now that the player has all 3 keys the large door can be unlocked. A cutscene plays of the door being opened and the player can finally enter.

33.

The door leads to a long, final corridor that leads to the abduction beam of the alien mothership. The player heads directly towards the beam and floats upwards to enter the mothership.

One of two things could now happen here...

Cutscene: On the way up to the mothership the main character is advised to set the charges for explosives. After a brief pause the character emerges from the alien mothership and lands in a nearby area. The mothership can then be seen exploding in the distance. Mission Accomplished.

Boss Battle: Preferably I would like there to be a boss battle with the alien leader inside the mothership which will be a large round battle arena. After defeating the alien leader the character then places the charges and blows up the mothership, then it's mission accomplished.

The game will most likely be ended with the cutscene, however in an ideal world I know it would be much more satisfying to end the adventure with a climatic boss battle. I would take gameplay over a cutscene any day.

End of Game


Current Plan of Action

Gameplay Elements to Level
Now that the level design is documented I can go back into unreal engine and start to add the gameplay elements to the level such as jump pads, traps, shops, pickups, enemies etc

First Playthroughs & Feedback
After that, the first playthroughs of the game can be played by testers, I will receive feedback and then change, improve and alter the game based on feedback.

Animations & Enemies
During these tasks I will also be modelling some very simple enemies and animating them as well as touching up player character animations where I can.

Adding Colour, Last Minute Polish
Lastly I will add some colour to the level and try to make it look as good as I can. I'm no artist though so this is lowest priority, gameplay comes first.

Essay...
Oh yeah, I've also got my essay to finish, will work on getting that done this week.