WIP of a lil' something...

Oh no... What is this?!

Camera Move Research

For our boss battle pitch, we need to research a real camera move that we could use in our trailer.
For the end, I want the characters to attack each other/fly at each other like this:

LINK!

and... This following shot for our fireballs from Sucker Punch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNaeXuLyF2o&t=1m40s

Spyro the Dragon - Toasty - Level Iso

Here it is!

Boss Analysis - Toasty, Spyro The Dragon

Link to video of  a playthrough!

For my boss analysis, I chose the level "Toasty" from Spyro the Dragon, which is the first boss level in the game.

When you first approach Toasty's portal, it's protect by a large dragon head.

...Which only unlocks after you save a certain amount of dragons. So after the basic mechanics are taught, you get the option of experiencing a challenge with linear rules, as opposed to the free-roaming playstyle of the other spyro levels.

After advancing through the portal, and the beginning part of the level, which teaches you about the general enemies of the level (and a unique enemy that is slightly more difficult than the regular ones).

The player reaches the first save point in the level, which is a dragon named Nevin. 

He tells you that Toasty is the "fearsome" evil force of the land, and to be careful.

That being said, you walk to the right and see... This pumpkin-head guy.

While this pumpkin-guy, who we presume is toasty due to his boss-esque (large size, big weapon, sorta scary) demeanor, sits in the back and swaggers around, he stands behind a single dog enemy, which was proven in the earlier part of the level to be difficult to overcome. The player must use their flame breath to torch them, and then destroy them with a second blast before the dog charges at them.

When the player defeats the dog, it gives them free range to attack Toasty. Toasty, being a large enemy, cannot be defeated by a charge attack. This was made apparent from earlier gameplay. So, running towards Toasty and getting him with flame breath causes him to be injured and run into the next room, which opens the gate.

The next room has the same mechanics, except there are two dogs.

The final room has three dogs, and after being torched in the previous room, Toasty's guise is burnt to a crisp and he is revealed to be... A sheep. On stilts.

A true terror. One last torch and he's through.

After killing him, the player is rewarded with an explosion of gems, as well as the portal home.

Toy - More In-Depth

For number seven, I did something simple.
I created an environment that players need to explore and find an item in. Once they find that item, the gate will open:

The story of this is sort of an "Indiana Jones" concept. You search for runes that are displayed on the wall. After collecting them all, the door opens. It's sorta based off of the old MAC/DOS game of Indiana Jones.
Once you open the door, you get a tomb full of gold. Yay!

More to come.

"TOY" or Mechanic Ideas - Game Design

Brainstorming time for potential mechanics!

1. Interchangeable Environment - Press a button and the environment around you changes. Could be super easy to incorporate this into a story. Top down, or third person would work best for this.
2. Shapeshifting - Player character or another enemy changes shape when you confront it or press a button.
3. Transform non-sentient items into sentient - Button you press/weapon that turns inanimate objects into minions that follow you. Most likely thinking of something like boulders or kitchen items.
4. Edible Weapon - A weapon you can use to attack, but also can consume when you run low on health. Once you consume, it's gone, though.
5. Enemies that change with environment - Change in lighting (i.e. spyro dark level enemies), change in water, change in lava, etc. etc.
6. Puzzle that requires using clues in the environment to solve - Arrange tiles in a certain way based on things that appear in the environment
7. Puzzle that requires searching for objects and then placing them - Ancient tomb or something that needs tablets to open with certain designs on them
8. Sighting - Finding hidden objects/seeing them and receiving points. In a large environment with many buildings, tiny animals or sculptures
9. + 10. - Spotlights/Climbable Assets - Tall assets to climb up with spotlights that, if you're caught in, you have to start over. Must make it to the top to win.

Craggy Valley - Multiplayer Level Overview

Craggy Valley PICTURE TO COME!

Craggy Valley takes place in... A Craggy valley. Lots of rocks, rugged terrain. There'll be lots of slopes and hills, giving players vantage points and disadvantage points. The focus of the level is a large hill with two flags atop it.
There are three main assets that make up this level: one tree (that'll steal from my biome), round rocks, and the flags.
There are also little fences, but those can come later/last.

Craggy Valley acts as a beginner level, or one of the easier, smaller multiplayer levels that would exist in a larger game. The Valley is a piece of land/territory that would give either team an extraordinary advantage in one of the upcoming larger battles. The two teams have a unplanned scrap in order to see who gets to claim the Valley for themselves and have the upper hand in the next fight.

Here's some real world reference!:

TF2 - Turbine Level Layout

Here's a level layout I created in part with the analysis I did!

Multiplayer FPS Analysis: Team Fortress 2 (CTF, Turbine)

Back again with a quick Analysis of TF2's Capture the Flag Level, Turbine!

Turbine was one of the first community-made levels to be officially published/released by Valve. Yay!

Team Fortress 2 is an obscenely popular multiplayer FPS available for all consoles, but was originally created, and preferably played, on the PC. The game is comprised of many different level styles, some created by Valve, and some created by the community. There are eight different types of games (capture the flag, king of the hill, payload, etc.) but today I'll be talking about this Capture the Flag level in particular.

When you choose a level, you pick a team: red or blu. After you pick a team, you pick from one of the three classes, which are categorized into offensive, defensive, and support. In Offensive, there is: the scout, the soldier, and the pyro, in Defensive there is: the demoman, the heavy, and the engineer, and in support, there is the medic, the sniper, and the spy. You pick based on whatever your particular favorite playstyle is.

First of all, TF2 has a very basic UI. You have a health meter (in the bottom left corner) and slightly above that is a chat box that allows you to communicate with other players. In the bottom center is the number of "intelligence", or flags, each team has captured. There are two teams; red and blu. The blue side indicates the number of intelligence "blu" has captured, and the red side indicates the number red has captured. In the right bottom corner is your ammo and other things related to your weapons. On the top is the amount of time allotted for the rest of the game.

You move around using the mouse to aim your camera and WASD to move around. Space is jump, left click is shoot. You can press 1, 2, or 3 to switch weapons, or use your scrollwheel. I figured it out pretty quickly, having not played TF2 in a while.

The goal of the turbine map is to basically capture the other team's "intelligence", or flag. In order to do so, you must run into the other base, run into their suitcase, and run back to your "intelligence" location, or base, to capture it. However, you must do all this without being blown up by the other team, which is difficult.

The turbine map in particular is very simple. Each side is the exact same as the other (no variations, like some maps have), with the same vantage points and large area in the middle. Most of the blood is shed in the center, when one of the other team tries to take a brave stand and run over to the other side (see me pictured above).

Besides this, the entryway to the center room is protected by a temporary door, which opens when you get close to it. This is probably to help keep players from being sniped/immediately shot at when they walk down the stairs. It gives the player temporary cover so they aren't blown up immediately; just shortly after.

Each side also has a small ventilation shaft to sneak through. Unfortunately, this makes you an easy target for spies (one of the nine classes you can pick from), which I died to more than a couple of times.

The vent has three entrances/exits, one of which is a drop down into the intelligence room, and is unenterable after you jump down, and the other two entrances are right into the large room, and one right outside the two player's starting areas.

Littered around the level are plenty of ammo boxes and health chocolate bars (and halloween boxes? not sure if seasonal), which can be used strategically while you're fighting in mid or needing a quick recovery.

If you run low on health or ammo at any point, you can also run straight back to the spawn spot, where there are several lockers that will restore your ammo and health back to maximum.

Stay classy!

2D Sidescroller Layout - Jumpin' Jim's Food Collectin' Adventure

My level layout! I wanted to focus on leading the player with collectables that award different levels of points. My only problem is figuring out how the points will reward the player, coding wise.

• The Conflict: You are Jumpin' Jim, a misunderstood antihero. All you ever wanted was for the labs to be trash-free, and by trash-free you're not only referring to old food articles. You need to eliminate reckless students from the labs in order to keep the place safe and clean for others- and find the main source of the outbreak (the boss).
• The Twist: The final boss is actually A TEACHER, whose neglect has influenced the students and corrupted them. He planted spikes and deadly traps in order to stop you, but your revenge will not be sated until the labs are safe once again.
• Where is it?: The Ulla Searing Labs, depicted in background art and color.
• What time of year is it?: Fall Semester, midway.
• What time of day is it?: Who knows? It's in the labs.
• Who Else lives here?: CA students, GAD students, and a few confused freshmen.
• What does their architecture look like: Modern Floridan on the outside, industrial, roof-less buildings on the inside.
• What happened to the environment prior to the player getting there?: It was trashed by the reckless students. You need to pick up trash and collect the points- the more hazardous the trash, the more points you receive.
• How did the player arrive to the environment?: He works there.

Mega Man Zero - Level Analysis (Part Two)

Here's a level layout of the first level I analyzed earlier!

This layout shows where each enemy is located throughout the level, and how the platforms/level of the terrain changes throughout.

2D SideScroller Analysis (Part One)

For my sidescroller analysis, I chose Mega Man Zero!

Mega Man Zero came out in 2002, but I didn't end up playing it until I was older. Mega Man Zero is the ~third~ official spinoff of the original Mega Man series, but this particular spinoff plays in a different way than it's predecessors (Mega Man X and the original Mega Man games). This series was more challenging and had a complex storyline with intractable characters and more linear missions.

In the original Mega Man games, you're presented with a level selection screen, and that's it. It's up to the player which level they chose first.

(The Mega Man 2 Level Select Screen)

There was no notable "tutorial" level until Mega Man X, where you were dropped in a starting level when you started the game for the first time. After you beat the first level, you were presented with the level select screen like above. Mega Man Zero continues this tradition with it's own introductory level, or "tutorial" level.

(Apologies ahead of time for the Japanese screenshots, long story short it's the only version I could find! There is an english version out there. I figured the language in the screenshots wouldn't hinder the understanding of the mechanics and explanations and blah, blah... blah...)

The first mechanic used to teach the player how to play is story elements. The game begins with a cutscene, which briefly explains the backstory of the hero character, Zero. Ciel, the pink girl character, sets off to find him in order to revive him so he can supposedly save her dying rebel organization. However, she was chased by the dictator's minions, and all her crewmates were slaughtered, leaving Zero her only hope for salvation.

The reason why the story alone is a teaching mechanic is because it clearly identifies the blue robots as enemies that you, the player (Zero), need to destroy. It also gives you a clear directive as far as what your goal is: you need to help Ciel escape.

The first instinct of most gamers (when given no actual direction) in a situation like this (enemies in front of you) is to slam buttons. After standing a while, I noticed that the first three enemies don't shoot or attempt to attack you. They run back and forth in a specific pattern, which gives the player time to figure out /which button shoots./ After a while of slamming buttons, B is what shoots off the stereotypical Mega Man "lemon" bullet. Now the player knows how to shoot.

Throughout the rest of the level, it's mostly just shooting.

The next enemy you encounter is a hoard of these spiders that pop out of a nest. If you shoot the spiders, more spawn out of the nest. This teaches you that if you don't wanna get destroyed by some freaky little robot arachnids, you need to kill their nest. (Not pictured, sorry. But you can see them forming in the corner.)

After you kill (most) enemies, they drop little green and sometimes red boxes. If you run straight into these (since there's nowhere to go but right), you regain health (or gain whatever the green boxes do, which isn't actually explained in the first level unfortunately. BAD DESIGN!)

Either way, most instincts tell you that collecting things is good, because the noise that sounds when you pick something up is a pleasant one. Positive reinforcement.

After a while, you start to see the same enemies (larger spiders, too), but they're more advanced, or have different mechanics. So the player recognizes that these are enemies that can hurt you, but with slight variations. The blue robots now only have a melee attack (hence the visual arm cane-thing), and the spiders can now climb down from walls and shoot webs at you that trap you (on the left). This is the game's way of preparing you for the ridiculous learning curve that the game throws at you after you advance beyond the training level. (Which is somewhat irrelevant, but... It's true. This game gets difficult fast.)

Towards the end of the actual level, another mechanic is introduced that the player needs to find out on their own. The orange, floating object in the first image is actually a bomb. And it moves up and down very quickly. Since you have a gun, you can shoot it (hence the right image) and it'll explode. If you're anywhere near it, it'll hurt you. HOWEVER! You can shoot it while it's around enemies (like in the left screenshot) and it'll BLOW THEM TO PIECES. Which is always fun.

Another mechanic taught to you is the dash. Most early Mega Man players don't realize this is a function until they mess around with the GBA's controls, because this ability was only recently implemented at the beginning of the game. The player is presented with a pit full of spiders, and it's impossible to shoot and/or aim at them. So the only smart thing to do would be to jump over it, but in order to get distance, you need to dash over the hole, as pictured. This becomes incredibly important later, hence platforming and relative distance.

Once you're safely on the other side, you can shoot the bugs.

Finally, at the very end of the level, Ciel (the girl) is kidnapped by a big robot. When the cutscene ends, a loud blaring noise and a "WARNING!" appears on screen. This indicates a boss battle along with a change of music, and a health bar on the opposite side of your own.

Not only are you taught boss mechanics, but new weapon mechanics as well. Once you have the boss at half health, this weird glowy sprite thing (seen on the left) tosses you a sword. With no justification whatsoever. And says "USE IT." So the game is basically trying to tell you that your sword might do a better job of killing the boss than your gun would. Now, once you get it, as seen on the right, you get a sword icon under the "shot" icon, which implies that you can now switch to a different weapon. Sounds easy enough.

Once that's all over and done, you get to a final screen that shows your ranking, which the entire game's difficulty level is based on. This becomes clearer as you go on, but introducing this ranking system early helps the player get a feel for how well they're progressing, and even lowers the difficulty for players who did worse in the tutorial level. (In this one, I got 91 points (91p) out of a possible 100, so I got an A ranking. The A ranking would make the game much more difficult for me.)

And that's pretty much a summary of the basic mechanics introduced in the tutorial level!

Wildstar Plushie - Personal Work

Happy summer, y'all! Here's what I've been working on lately:

I wanted to make some art in the style of Wildstar, so I made this little plushie thing in Maya 2014. Took around 6 hours. Enjoy!

Scripting time!

For programming, we've been learning MEL and Python. We were asked to come up with 10 possible Pyth scripts that we could have use for later. These are mine:

-A Script that hides everything except the selection in all viewports
-A script that selects all the edges  around a loop (as opposed to shift double clicking, which occasionally dosen't work)
-A script that relaxes all selected verts by a certain percentage (as if you were vertex painting maybe?)
-A script that toggles backface culling on in all viewports
-A separate script that toggles backface culling off in all viewports (I like keeping it separate so I dont get confused)
-A script that forces all the selected verts to a certain place on the grid
-A script that quickly applies a new material to a certain object (to tell them apart)
-A script that selects all the edges in a loop and deletes them right after (to add onto the other)
-A script that immediately planar maps UVs onto something and then unfolds them. (this is probably stupid.)
-A script that automatically forces all viewports to fit the object into the viewport (as opposed to clicking f multiple times)
-A script that duplicates an object, puts it in a new layer and hides it


The bold text are my top three, the italicized are my second choice.

Racing Game Trailer - My Favorite

So for class we needed to find a racing game trailer with ACTUAL FOOTAGE. Not prerendered stuff. Because you know, that actually exists.

While I did find some actual trailers, there were some that were a lot more resourceful, like F-Zero GX's game intro:

But an honest to goodness trailer that I enjoy that came out recently is Mario Kart 8's trailer:

I like that it is solely in-game stuff. All of the art in the game is well polished and the trailer shows various interesting camera angles, all that keep the watcher interested.
There appears to be about 5 seconds between each shot change, which keeps our eye busy. All of the shots are from the side of the car or from a floating camera outside of the track.

HUD time!

Alright, so for class we all have to design a unique HUD based around our car and our level.

So the first thing I started researching was the old Mercedes wagon speedometer (Because my car is a 1995 Mercedes Wagon, of course), which I remember looking very 70s-esque with the tacky fake wood and everything.
Well.. I was right!

 

 It's not too cheesy. But one thing I noted was that the displays were all rounded. Which... We have yet to figure out in programming. So, I came up with a compromise.

In my first pass artwork, I made things similar to the default HUD our teacher created. Except I made the speedometer's shape less linear, and more rounded, with ticks similar to the ones shown in the image above.

Additionally, I looked up the HUDs from games like Crazy Taxi and Grand Theft Auto. I liked the way GTA crams their "general"(money, health, time, etc) bar in the corner so there's more room in the game to see. I'll be experimenting to see how I can get the most viewspace while making the "BOOST" appearance very obvious.

...And as a bit of a bonus, I thought it'd be funny to have faces representing the speed you're going (maybe instead of numbers?) I sketched something up quickly to represent it:

Don't think I'll be going through with it, due to how much space it takes up, but it's the thought that counts.

My Particles

Here is my firefly particle! In real time cus that's the true way to see them.

Particle Research and Progress

 I recently finished (for the most part!) my firefly particles, so I'm currently working on my dust clouds and a new particle just for fun: butterflies. Butterflies /could/ work in the biome parts of my level. I don't entirely plan on using them because the draw might ruin my framerate, but I would like to create them to test my subuv animation skills.

I got the inspiration for these particles from Rayman 2: The Great Escape for the psone. In the forest levels, they have occasional particles that flap their wings in subuv animation, and it's really cute.

(Pictured: The iOS version apparently?...)

Just for reference, I also looked up some firefly/dust tutorials and examples, to get a scope for what mine should look like:

Next Project: Particles

There are a few particles I want/need to do in order to make my racing game more ~immersive~ and believable.

First of all, I'd like to do a stereotypical "lightning bug" sort of particle, to give my level more depth. Something like this:

Real world example

Second of all, I'd like to make a universal "dust" particle. One that I can use for my goat 'splosion, and another I can use for rocks falling and stalagmites in my level. (Here's the original game example I referenced for my goats)

Dusty rock example (not too good about the landing, though)

Going for an effect like the first rock hitting the cliffside in the beginning.

DESTRUCTION!

So my stunt did not work /entirely/ the way I wanted to, but... Well. Just watch the video.
(Just for the record, the slowing down of the glass isn't because of the FPS, I did it for dramatic effect.)

Apex Destruction!

Building on a stunt in my level where the biome glass shatters.

Exploding Goat!

Poor guy just can't get a break.

(He has a helmet on, took it off temporarily for testing reasons)

I programmed the basics for him blowing up: When he hits the ground, a dust texture occurs, and after a while, he explodes. He has yet to get his radial damage working though. Still debating on whether or not I want this thing to cause damage.

Nothing personal....

Here's a short video of my progress.

Game Design: A Racing Level Intro I really Like

Bowser Castle #1 (Remake of the GBA version)

(Link to Specific Part of Video)

The most recent Mario Kart game, Mario Kart 7 (for the 3DS), has a plethora of good intros. So, I just chose one of my favorite levels as an example.

The different camera angles are broken up into three important views for the player: 

• an overall, wideshot of the entire level
• a close-up of an obstacle or mechanic the player will be facing frequently
• and finally, a view of the start line

Most of the Mario Kart 7 fly-throughs that I watched maintain this basic formula. A good thing to keep in mind for when I compose my matinees.

Explosive Idea

Explosive garden goat ...gnomes?

In my concept art I drew some goats on the side of the hill. Since I designed my level as an alien residency/care center, I thought it'd be funny to have something designed around the animals that live there.

First Pass - Level Design and Stunt Research

New year new start! This year's project is a small scope racing level. Pre-production time.

Lately, I've been influenced by bright, colorful enviroments... Particularly scenes seen in the mountains.
When I went home for winter break (I live in Virginia), I noticed the colors of the tundra-y environment were amazing, and rarely captured. (At least in my opinion.)
Dark, dark sky with bright oranges, faded greens and yellows with a bit of white. These are things that I want to represent in my level.

Dark, Dark blues in background and light, bright colors in Foreground

With our spaceship theme, I struggled a bit trying to figure out how to incorporate something like this with a... spacestation. After looking through a few books, I noticed that a lot of mountainous regions have the same color schemes, and AMAZING shots above the clouds.

So... I decided to do a biome-esque level with a racetrack/landing pad sort of design incorporated in it.

My concept art so far... Aaaand... My Isometric first pass:

More to come!