What if light is equal to life?
You have to shine
Or only shadows you'll provide.
[W.I.P] [UE4] BtL - game project
polycounter lvl 11
Hi! These strange times made me rethink some points of my life and I decided to resurrect idea, that was buried more than 2 years ago - single player, story driven adventure game. Better to try and lose, than not to try at all)) Project is a “bit” ambitious for me and will take all my patience and for sure all my spare time.
Storyline intro:
Young lady found herself in the deep shadows on the seashore after the shipwreck. A thin flow of a golden light bleeds from her wounded hand...
Core gameplay:
~70% 3rd person adventure with puzzles, realtime tactical battles (concept is not finished).
~30% 2d platformer with big accent on action
Setting:
Medieval times with a pinch of steampunk. In few words - combination of witcher 3 and dishonored.
Map structure will be more or less similar to old PC1 game “Medievil”. Not open world, but player can travel back and forth between levels. New areas will be unavailable until you’ll get necessary skills or objects - some sort of Metroidvania.
So… I’m not lacking too much of knowledge or experience in 3d in general, also have a background of ~30 years as a gamer (yes, I’m getting old already:), but have no real practice in game development at all. I did few apps in UE4 previously (check my portfolio on artstation), but that’s not the same level of complexity))) My main goal is to create a prototype and move it to potential investors and/or kickstarter when it’s done.
I divided this goal into 2 stages:
Stage 01:
1) To test out all aspects of level creation (3rd person adventure part)
a - modular kits
b - maximum usage of trim sheets and tileable textures with minimum of unique sets.
c - finalize visual style
d - level design and puzzles concept should work together
e - camera movement (free and fixed for “puzzle moments”)
2) Extended storyline intro
3) Finalize concepts of the game mechanics:
a - levels and transition between them
3) Finalize concepts of the game mechanics:
a - levels and transition between them
b - main char (MC) skills
c - interactions and puzzles
d - tactical combat system
e - action combat system
f - health, damage and recovery systems
Stage 02:
1) Concepts and posters
a - MC
b - 3-5 NPC
c - 5-10 enemies
d - global map of the world
e - 2-3 images for each level
f - 2 beauty posters
g - sketches for representation of the MC skills and abilities
h - UI
2) Finalize one full level of adventure part. It have to be fully playable with some puzzles and other interactions, few combats included
a - environment models and textures
b - character and enemies
c - vfx
d - lighting
e - sound
f - animations
g - interactions and combat
h - UI
3) Plants - will be important element in the storytelling. Special system should be build for them
4) 3-5 smaller examples of other levels (teasers, visual representation only)
5) Short playable 2d platformer section (in 3d, but fixed camera in 2 axis)
a - modular 2d set
b - MC move set for platformer mode
c - unique interactions, secrets
d - 20-40 sec of gameplay total
6) Music - main theme for trailer
7) Additional info for pitching
a - detailed story (with spoilers:)
b - storyboard or screenplay
For Stage 01 I’m alone, but luckily have many spare time)) Hopefully, at the 2nd stage we will become a small team (4+ members).
Here are a few refboards for the game world and one blockout of a chosen level for a demo. Please, don’t judge me too much for my painting skill - it’s horrible… but still helps me to finalize my vision and move forward till I get nice concept artist in my hands)))
Few tileable materials are done in Designer. Currently I’ve started new set for landscapes.
And that’s a first modular set. One of at least 6 for that level. Meanwhile I'm trying not to overdo the number of blocks and will make more if needed. I’ll add damaged modules when whole set will be finished.
I know, it’s probably too early to comment or criticize, but still I’ll be happy to get feedback or any of your thoughts! Thanks!
Replies
First pavement material and tested out how master mat works with different settings.
Currently I build a material that can choose which segment to use
That means that only way I can use all 25 shapes is to create 25 instance materials and that's not what I like so much. Maybe there is a way to transfer somehow into Dacal object in UE parameters "U tile decal" and "V Tile Decal"? So in the end there will be only 1 material, but coordinates controls will be inside decal. Something like that:)
Many modules are still missing and I'll definitely need more sets in the end. But for now it's seems to be ok to start putting things together and check if everything works correctly.
Here is a sketch of the main character. Face is an almost default zbrush girl and will be replaced later.
Hey! Thread is not dead!)))
I was forced to make changes in my priorities (2020 in all it’s beauty), so all of my previous plans are not so actual now. But!!! I’m glad to reveal the first cinematic teaser and showcase the main characters of the game.
Character concept art was done by Ekaterina Mikhailova according to my guidelines. Was truly a nice experience to work together!
Meanwhile I finished the script, world description and game mechanics. Started to write BP code for player abilities. Still in the very early phase, but that part gets my main focus since the teaser is out.
Hope you like it!
Gonna be honest here so bucle up.
That cinematic is great but it tells me almost nothing about the game. We see a few different scenes that have no connection to eachother and nothing about gameplay. To me, it makes sense to focus on prototyping the game mechanics and gameplay instead of the graphics and trailers. I get that you want to attract with eye candy but its the taste of the candy that really matters, not the wrapper.
Having said that, i hope this sees the (green) light of day.
Yep… it’s been a while))) Please, take a look at the first devlog and share your thoughts! I’ll be glad to hear feedback, positive or negative. Have to find the best way for me to move the project forward.
Decipher is a tool that drains blood from the carrier and converts it to a beam of light energy. Not a regular blood of course, but the one called "liquid light".
Custom modules can improve or change the way the base device works.