Velocity Rush
For this project we were given the base mechanics of multiple game genres and had a short time frame to work in teams to add mechanics, feedback, and fix bugs until we had a full prototype for a new game. We were given one week create mechanics and a working level, and then a second week to add feedback and fix any major bugs from the first week. Teams were also randomly assigned, which meant we had to quickly learn how to work with new people while also trying to meet our deadline. My team chose the FPS mechanics and created a fast-paced, futuristic level where players must diffuse a bomb before time runs out.
Level
Blockmesh
Given only a week to plan and create our project, we didn’t have much time to plan out a level from the typical stages of moodboards and level maps. In addition, my team originally planned to have a small, one room level and have waves of enemies spawn for the player to defeat. However, as the deadline drew closer it was clear we didn’t have time to fully create this system, so the night before the deadline I created the blockout for this level. The limited time and lack of planning created a unique challenge for creating this level, however I found myself able to focus solely on how our games’ mechanics allow the player to navigate the levela, rather than any artistic vision I might have created from planning.
Final Touches
For the second week of the project the entire team was focused on polish and adding as much player feedback as we could. This was also a chance for me to add more refined assets to our level and give it a more specific artistic direction. As a team we decided to go with a futuristic setting since it made the most sense with our current mechanics and I knew we had access to plenty of assets that would fit the theme.
Mechanics
Enemies
The biggest mechanic I worked on for this project was the basic enemies and the boss enemies. The base mechanics we were given for the FPS system included a basic enemy that could move and shoot, however this enemy had a number of bugs that needed to be fixed in order for us to fully utilize it. One major bug was that the enemy would sink partway into the floor whenever it started it’s navigation path. Besides the obvious issues this causes with the visuals of the enemy, this would also occasionally prevent the enemies from shooting at the player, making them functionally broken. After some research and playtesting I found out this was due to the pawn movement component that the enemies had. After recreating the enemies as characters instead of pawns the problem was completely fixed.
The boss enemies had the same functionality as the basic ones, so for them it was only a matter of changing their mesh, health, and damage amount. When replacing the meshes of our enemies our team wanted to keep our futuristic theme. We used the basic Unreal Mannequin for the basic enemies since it already has a robotic feel and used other robot assets for the boss enemies. The size of the boss enemies mesh initially broke it’s navigation, but it turned out to only need it’s capsule collision to be moved away from the ground.
Stun Grenades
One of the mechanics I worked on for this project was the stun grenades. Since our game came with the base shooting mechanic I was able to use the normal projectiles as a reference when making mine to ensure they functioned in a similar way. Once the velocity of the grenades was equal to 0 they set off a sphere trace to find if any enemies are in the radius. If there are no enemies the actor is destroyed after a 1 second delay. If the trace returns a hit, then each enemy in range is disabled for 3 seconds and the grenade destroys itself.
When it came to player feedback I focused on the effects of the grenade in order to communicate its path and it’s purpose to the player. The spark trail was intended to help the player track where their grenade landed and the flash effect will show the exact moment the grenade detonates. If I had more time to work on the effects I probably would’ve added something to communicate the range or added additional feedback to the enemies to show that they’re stunned, however the debug setting on the sphere trace were able to accomplish this for the sake of this prototype.