Update on the UE4 project
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19 Feb 2015, 00:26
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Journals
A while ago I posted about my plans for a UE4 project with Quake-like movement.
I am still focusing on bringing my current game to mobile and finishing it up, so I don't really want to go public with it just yet, but I thought I'd give you a quick update already.
THEME
One thing I wasn't sure about yet when I made the previous posting is what kind of theme the game would use. All I knew was that I wanted it to be rather abstract and simple, so I could focus on the gameplay instead of realism and detail. I have now made a choice, and the theme will be "toys" (think LEGO or Micro Machines). This may sound silly to you, but I believe it is the perfect theme for many reasons:
- It makes sense with unrealistic movement. The more realistic your characters are, the more silly it looks when they strafejump around the map at 90 mph. I don't want to make any concessions to the movement though, so a realistic theme was never really in the cards.
- There is no way I could compete with AAA on graphics or immersion, so I am not going to try. Those games have their place and I love them, but this game is different. It's a mechanics-based shooter, not an immersion-based shooter.
- It allows me to create art assets relatively quickly, as I can go for simple shapes with simple materials. This is also good for performance, and it's extremely important to me that the game runs well on as many computers as possible. Even on high-end computers I'd prefer if the game runs at 300 FPS solid rather than 60 FPS with awesome graphics.
- It also works well with the competitive nature of the game, since details tend to just get in the way (there is a reason why most players' Quake or even ET config looks like LEGO anyway...).
- It's actually kind of cool, and there is no limit to the creativity for map building. After all, there is nothing you couldn't build a toy version of...
- It's better than completely abstract shapes.
That said, don't expect the game to have silly weapons or anything like that because of the theme. You can think of it as a Lego/toy version of Counter Strike, with faster gameplay and more interesting movement.
So it's not going to be all that much like RTCW, but I still hope that most of you will enjoy the gameplay. The way I see it, it's in the same genre of teamplay shooters with low TTK skill-based weapons and equally skill-based Q3-like movement.
MOVEMENT
The movement is pretty much finalised now and I am really happy with how it turned out. The current features are:
- Q3-like strafejumping / circlejumping physics
- Q2-like ramp jumps and ledge jumps
- Some CPMA style air control while only the forward key is held down (so you can strafe or get air control, not both at the same time)
- Walljumping. This works similarly to Urban Terror, where you hold jump while touching a wall to jump off it. Together with Q2-like double jump behaviour this allows you to "boost" of a wall for extra height.
- Stamina system to keep it all in check. Again this works similarly to Urban Terror, in that it limits the number of times you can jump and gain speed consecutively. I probably won't add a sprint function though, so jumping is the only way to gain speed. If you ever played Urban Terror, you know that this works a lot better than the ET stamina system. You actually have to think about conserving your stamina for sticky situations.
The movement also has a good bit of inertia/friction, so while you can do pretty crazy trick jumps, dodging shots is not so easy.
To facilitate all this, maps will be build with movement tricks in mind. E.g. I don't plan to have any ladders (or jump pads) in favour of using ramps or walljumps to gain height.
GAME MODES
I intend to focus on two game modes: Parkour and Teamplay.
Teamplay will be round-based (like Counter Strike) with a CTF objective. It's very straight forward really. I also plan to have a simple buy system between rounds, but I haven't worked out the details of this yet.
Parkour will be a single player speedrun mode. The goal is to capture the objective as fast as possible, while collecting gems for extra stars. Guards will be placed around the map which don't move but only leave you a short time to react before they shoot at you. This can be played on normal multiplayer maps or on special challenge maps.
I think both modes have a good balance of simplicity and interesting elements. I like to have the Parkour mode because it will be great for early prototypes and can be played at anytime whether there are active servers or not. Speedrunning in general has become quite popular and it fits in perfectly with the skill based movement.
Other gamemodes could be added for practice and fun, but I want there to be only one (multiplayer) gametype for competition.
DEVELOPMENT & PROGRESS
The first thing I want to release is a Parkour movement prototype. This is essentially working already, but I will have to polish it up and make a decent map for it, which will probably happen soon after I am finally done with my current game.
The next step will be to add shooting mechanics and guards, and the final step will be multiplayer. Because the design of the game is so simple, I hope to release prototypes early and often as I go along. The first protypes will most likely be open to everybody to get the largest amount of feedback, and afterwards I will decide whether to have a closed alpha or keep developing it in the open.
The business model will most likely be similar to CS:GO, with a typical indie price point (15-20 USD with frequent sales) and an optional market for cosmetic items (i.e. custom weapon skins or custom heads for your player char). Making it free to play is tempting, but probably not the best choice for a number of reasons.
IRON SIGHTS?!
No.
I am still focusing on bringing my current game to mobile and finishing it up, so I don't really want to go public with it just yet, but I thought I'd give you a quick update already.
THEME
One thing I wasn't sure about yet when I made the previous posting is what kind of theme the game would use. All I knew was that I wanted it to be rather abstract and simple, so I could focus on the gameplay instead of realism and detail. I have now made a choice, and the theme will be "toys" (think LEGO or Micro Machines). This may sound silly to you, but I believe it is the perfect theme for many reasons:
- It makes sense with unrealistic movement. The more realistic your characters are, the more silly it looks when they strafejump around the map at 90 mph. I don't want to make any concessions to the movement though, so a realistic theme was never really in the cards.
- There is no way I could compete with AAA on graphics or immersion, so I am not going to try. Those games have their place and I love them, but this game is different. It's a mechanics-based shooter, not an immersion-based shooter.
- It allows me to create art assets relatively quickly, as I can go for simple shapes with simple materials. This is also good for performance, and it's extremely important to me that the game runs well on as many computers as possible. Even on high-end computers I'd prefer if the game runs at 300 FPS solid rather than 60 FPS with awesome graphics.
- It also works well with the competitive nature of the game, since details tend to just get in the way (there is a reason why most players' Quake or even ET config looks like LEGO anyway...).
- It's actually kind of cool, and there is no limit to the creativity for map building. After all, there is nothing you couldn't build a toy version of...
- It's better than completely abstract shapes.
That said, don't expect the game to have silly weapons or anything like that because of the theme. You can think of it as a Lego/toy version of Counter Strike, with faster gameplay and more interesting movement.
So it's not going to be all that much like RTCW, but I still hope that most of you will enjoy the gameplay. The way I see it, it's in the same genre of teamplay shooters with low TTK skill-based weapons and equally skill-based Q3-like movement.
MOVEMENT
The movement is pretty much finalised now and I am really happy with how it turned out. The current features are:
- Q3-like strafejumping / circlejumping physics
- Q2-like ramp jumps and ledge jumps
- Some CPMA style air control while only the forward key is held down (so you can strafe or get air control, not both at the same time)
- Walljumping. This works similarly to Urban Terror, where you hold jump while touching a wall to jump off it. Together with Q2-like double jump behaviour this allows you to "boost" of a wall for extra height.
- Stamina system to keep it all in check. Again this works similarly to Urban Terror, in that it limits the number of times you can jump and gain speed consecutively. I probably won't add a sprint function though, so jumping is the only way to gain speed. If you ever played Urban Terror, you know that this works a lot better than the ET stamina system. You actually have to think about conserving your stamina for sticky situations.
The movement also has a good bit of inertia/friction, so while you can do pretty crazy trick jumps, dodging shots is not so easy.
To facilitate all this, maps will be build with movement tricks in mind. E.g. I don't plan to have any ladders (or jump pads) in favour of using ramps or walljumps to gain height.
GAME MODES
I intend to focus on two game modes: Parkour and Teamplay.
Teamplay will be round-based (like Counter Strike) with a CTF objective. It's very straight forward really. I also plan to have a simple buy system between rounds, but I haven't worked out the details of this yet.
Parkour will be a single player speedrun mode. The goal is to capture the objective as fast as possible, while collecting gems for extra stars. Guards will be placed around the map which don't move but only leave you a short time to react before they shoot at you. This can be played on normal multiplayer maps or on special challenge maps.
I think both modes have a good balance of simplicity and interesting elements. I like to have the Parkour mode because it will be great for early prototypes and can be played at anytime whether there are active servers or not. Speedrunning in general has become quite popular and it fits in perfectly with the skill based movement.
Other gamemodes could be added for practice and fun, but I want there to be only one (multiplayer) gametype for competition.
DEVELOPMENT & PROGRESS
The first thing I want to release is a Parkour movement prototype. This is essentially working already, but I will have to polish it up and make a decent map for it, which will probably happen soon after I am finally done with my current game.
The next step will be to add shooting mechanics and guards, and the final step will be multiplayer. Because the design of the game is so simple, I hope to release prototypes early and often as I go along. The first protypes will most likely be open to everybody to get the largest amount of feedback, and afterwards I will decide whether to have a closed alpha or keep developing it in the open.
The business model will most likely be similar to CS:GO, with a typical indie price point (15-20 USD with frequent sales) and an optional market for cosmetic items (i.e. custom weapon skins or custom heads for your player char). Making it free to play is tempting, but probably not the best choice for a number of reasons.
IRON SIGHTS?!
No.
Putting a new layer of paint on it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Games don't need to look super realistic to be popular anyway, just look at minecraft or geometry wars (both games which wouldn't make much sense with realistic graphics). Games like that are viable, and that's where I personally see the future of the old-school shooter. Games which define themselves over the gameplay mechanics, not over the realism or immersiveness of their graphics.