I've negotiated the involvement of an artist that has contributed to some AAA games and upon hearing the internal details for what we're planning for this game, they decided to jump aboard Our Ghosts of War. Today was their first day on the job and they've been tasked to create Point Du Hoc. This is their progress for the day. I'll keep you updated.
Important update. I've reached out to three all around talented artists whose help the project could definitely use. Although they're interested in contributing to Our Ghosts of War they're hesitant to join until we show some gameplay. So I'm banging out a 1024 x 1024 level that we're going to apply all our finished gameplay to. It's a simple level divided by a river in the middle.
This level should be done in 2-3 days and then forwarded to our coders who will begin to apply all the gameplay systems they've created so far to the level. We'd then run some multiplayer tests and based on crits from inside the team we would continue to refine our gameplay.
After reviewing performance issues, I will make a new 2k map and we'd repeat the process. This is important because as we increase the scale of the game the odds of players running into each other shrinks dramatically and that's something we need to consider as it directly affects the feel of the game. Once we expand that to 400km2 the experience will become far different than something like Rust or Ark which usually have far, far smaller map sizes.
Really liking the mood you have going on right now, and that mud texture looks awesome. The stones feel like they're a bit small compared to the rest of the scene, but without anything to really base scale on, I could be wrong. But keep it up, I love the progress so far.
Our plan has been to scour the net first to get the basic animations we need like walking, running, crouching, going prone, etc. Both the Unreal Marketplace and the Unity Asset Store are great resources. Retargeting purchased animations requires a skilled hand and our rigger Dragan has done a wonderful job of rising to the occasion. I couldn't be more proud to have him on the team.
Once we incorporate all the relevant animations from the Marketplace and Asset Store we'll do an inventory of the animations that still need to be completed. With that list in hand we'll begin our hiring process to get someone on the team that could take care of that for us. We'll see how it goes although I have a few really good looking reels and portfolios bookmarked.
The old system used ISM (Instanced Static Mesh Components) but the new one just uses normal skeletal mesh components. There isn't another way of having birds with animations from the best of my knowledge. Here's a new update. They avoid buildings as you can now see. If someone knows another way of having bird animations but with a cheaper solution then please let us know.
If I remember right Epic used vertex animated birds somewhere, maybe in UT or one of the sample projects.
Also, don't forget to change the screen percentage in the PP volume to match the high resolution screenshot, other way it won't affect the parts that are outside of the norma 1080p area (you can see this in your latest ingame render). Also worth to mention that the high res screenshot doesn't use TAA. (that is crucial for SSR for example)
Btw brilliant atmosphere, can't wait to see some gameplay!
Yes Epic tends to use a lot vertex animation for stuff like that. Check out the last UE4 stream on youtube about Zen Garden project to see how they animated all the fishes just with vertex animation. I'm pretty sure you could have a very decent looking animation for birds just with vertex anim as well and the performance gain is huge for crowds like that! keep it up!
This looks awesome. I love the realistic lighting you are getting with the grass shader. Could you possible share some specifics on how that grass was created?
I have been following your project without commenting, but I have too now , you r really coming up with some amazing stuff. Looking forward for more. Thanks for sharing
We could look into having the birds be vertex animation and then switch to a mesh when shot or when they land on top buildings or tanks. I think in general most survival games are guilty of feeling like empty sandboxes rather than living worlds and it's something I intend to address in Our Ghosts of War. In a world where things like Red Dead Redemption exist we should strive to be the best we can even with our limited resources instead of settling. With the Unity Asset Store and Unreal Marketplace at our disposal in 2016 there is no reason we can't at least prototype a living world.
that character is looking beyond awesome! maybe the skin shader is blurring out the facial features a tad much, I think you lost some of the definitions from the original sculpt, other then that, looks great!
that character is looking beyond awesome! maybe the skin shader is blurring out the facial features a tad much, I think you lost some of the definitions from the original sculpt, other then that, looks great!
It seems like the default skin shader in UE4 does it, Paragon has similar issues.
This our first attempt at an Our Ghosts of War title screen. The music will definitely be replaced. We are experimenting with the kind of ambiance we want to set when players first start up the game. Additional rain and water VFX are being worked on.
The whole title menu will be dynamic. The first time players play the game there won't be any crosses. Just a plain old empty field. Then as a player dies a new cross will get added to the title screen with that dead character's name on the cross. Eventually the whole field will be filled with crosses.
Idle Animation - 99% finished. It's subtle but we're going for as realistic as we can make it. That goes right down to the soft breathing of the soldiers (which is only noticeable from the side perspective).
The whole title menu will be dynamic. The first time players play the game there won't be any crosses. Just a plain old empty field. Then as a player dies a new cross will get added to the title screen with that dead character's name on the cross. Eventually the whole field will be filled with crosses.
https://twitter.com/ourghostsofwar - Here is a new screenshot from our first test level. Working hard to get this playable soon. Also I wanted to ask if anyone wants to support this project that you follow us on Twitter and help spread the word out about it. It would mean a lot to me. Thank you.
Florian and I review his progress with the German Tiger I tank. We're at the moment going for the most realistic depiction of tank combat we can manage. If this however ends up not being as much fun for players we'll end up toning the simulation aspect down for playability. And as always we would be ever grateful if you could help us get the word out about the game. Thanks for checking us out.
I'm loving the way this is coming along, the Tiger video looks soooo sexy. I must warn you though, having so many gears could potentially make driving a bit of a hassle. I know you guys want realism to come first, but when it comes to these simulators, you have to find a good balance between realism and fun. I have more than enough confidence that you guys will be able to find that sweet spot. Will be following this project!
My god, I love looking at your work, it s mind blowing!!! Didn't like at all the 2 crosses, but after reading the plan you have, I love it, after hours of game play, it will be a field of crosses . The soft breathing I think is way the subtle, almost impossible to read... A part from that, I cant give anymore constructive comments, everything is spot on so far I think
That test level shot you posted I feel needs more tall grass or something, it's almost like the groundskeeper went and cut the grass the day before. Otherwise it looks fantastic! I'm looking forward to your first gameplay video!
Also, your tank video isn't viewable for me, I assume you took it down for some reason, will we be able to see it again?
We're very excited to have brought on Fernando yesterday. He is a very talented gameplay coder who reached out to us on the Unreal forums to handle movement for us. So far we have walking, crouching, running, and swimming wrapped up. More to come soon.
That test level shot you posted I feel needs more tall grass or something, it's almost like the groundskeeper went and cut the grass the day before. Otherwise it looks fantastic! I'm looking forward to your first gameplay video!
Also, your tank video isn't viewable for me, I assume you took it down for some reason, will we be able to see it again?
This game has a bright future, I'm sure. I'm loving how much thought you put into the tank mechanics, and I hope you do the same with the survival aspects of the game. Most survival games are more like inventory management simulators with an eat-every-5-minutes-or-lose-1hp-per-second-rule. I think these superficial survival elements make for a boring experience, as they only detract from the rest of the gameplay by distracting you with menial chores instead of doing what you want to be doing. I have some ideas if you want them.
P.S. When you make animation previews like that last post, make sure the normal maps aren't flipped on the green channel
Thanks for bring up the inventory management aspect of the game. We don't intend to hamper gameplay by making inventory management the primary point of Our Ghosts of War. I think most survival games use inventory management as a crutch for a lack of actual gameplay. We're spending a bunch of time figuring out our gunplay systems and designing player progress so the entire game ends up being satisfying rather an exercise in redundancy. Depth and complexity is fundamental.
If you have any ideas feel free to share. Once we launch on Steam Greenlight we intend to heavily involve our community in the game design process so we can give them exactly what they want. Why not start now?
Also just struck a deal. We're working exclusively with Quixel now. The level of fidelity we can now deliver WILL make your jaw drop. #Megascans here we come.
Replies
Our mud material in-engine.
https://i.gyazo.com/44ad772dd83f4208acad97f115d697a8.mp4
Keep up the good work!
https://zippy.gfycat.com/LinearDazzlingChrysalis.webm
Also, don't forget to change the screen percentage in the PP volume to match the high resolution screenshot, other way it won't affect the parts that are outside of the norma 1080p area (you can see this in your latest ingame render). Also worth to mention that the high res screenshot doesn't use TAA. (that is crucial for SSR for example)
Btw brilliant atmosphere, can't wait to see some gameplay!
keep it up!
Keep up the good work!
Finished Character!
The plan with the birds to allow players to shoot them out of the sky. Something like this.
We could look into having the birds be vertex animation and then switch to a mesh when shot or when they land on top buildings or tanks. I think in general most survival games are guilty of feeling like empty sandboxes rather than living worlds and it's something I intend to address in Our Ghosts of War. In a world where things like Red Dead Redemption exist we should strive to be the best we can even with our limited resources instead of settling. With the Unity Asset Store and Unreal Marketplace at our disposal in 2016 there is no reason we can't at least prototype a living world.
I really like this idea.
Florian and I review his progress with the German Tiger I tank. We're at the moment going for the most realistic depiction of tank combat we can manage. If this however ends up not being as much fun for players we'll end up toning the simulation aspect down for playability. And as always we would be ever grateful if you could help us get the word out about the game. Thanks for checking us out.
Also, your tank video isn't viewable for me, I assume you took it down for some reason, will we be able to see it again?
We're very excited to have brought on Fernando yesterday. He is a very talented gameplay coder who reached out to us on the Unreal forums to handle movement for us. So far we have walking, crouching, running, and swimming wrapped up. More to come soon.
Tank video is uploaded again. Sorry about that.
Thanks for bring up the inventory management aspect of the game. We don't intend to hamper gameplay by making inventory management the primary point of Our Ghosts of War. I think most survival games use inventory management as a crutch for a lack of actual gameplay. We're spending a bunch of time figuring out our gunplay systems and designing player progress so the entire game ends up being satisfying rather an exercise in redundancy. Depth and complexity is fundamental.
If you have any ideas feel free to share. Once we launch on Steam Greenlight we intend to heavily involve our community in the game design process so we can give them exactly what they want. Why not start now?
Keep up the good work!