Even more prototyping!

A quick recap Last week we talked about who we are, how our idea came to be, and how we intend to implement it. We already started some small-scale prototype projects, tested some possible implementations, and mostly focussed on confirming/contradicting the theories as well as research we did towards various subjects. We shared some of the conclusions and insights and showed some very primitive/early gameplay as well as a look at our celshader. Interested in a more detailed report of what we found out? Check out our previous development log https://nielsbernaerdt.itch.io/group-15/devlog/352651/1-introduction-post 

The Engine We will catch up right where we ended 7 days ago. The Engine.
To spare you from a series of arguments between team members, (Don't worry, we still love each other 😉) we concluded to use:

The Unreal Engine 4.

A lot of “What is best?” and “What do we want?” or even some “What is easiest?” went around the past 2,5 weeks. We had a hard time making a decision, so we went back to the basics and asked ourselves a very basic question: “How do we see our project become the best version of itself?”.  And that is where we found our answer to be UE4. 

Now we got rid of that problem: what else did we work on this week? This week was all be about the design process, prototyping on those designs, and combining/iterating existing mechanics.

Character Design:
Even with the decision being a “2D race platform fighter” a whole lot is still to be decided. We wanted to keep it simple and funny and, after a brainstorming moment with the team, we came up with: squirrels racing up a tree.

Level Design:
Racing away from each other kind of ruins the whole 'fighting game' experience. This is where the level design comes in. Special platforms placed in a carefully thought-out level design will be a very, if not the most, important part of making the game fun to play. As they will play a principal role in getting players back in close combat range to each other, as well as keep all the players in the race. 

Hud Design:

So okay… a 2D background, 3D game objects… but how about the HUD? Well, we decided to go with a 2D HUD to preserve the contrast created between decor and game objects. A wooden style is chosen because it fits well with the theme of the game.

Platform Models:

And how do we have these 3D game objects in mind? Well, here you go! Some simple platforms (left and right) as well as a prototype for the bouncy platform (center). These leaves combined with a shader to make them sway will already add up to quite a result!

Parallax:

This week's devlog was all about the artists and their magnificent designs, but also the programmers created something new in between iterating. A parallax camera object to replace the normal camera.  Very useful to create an illusion of speed & create an easy, but powerful, way to introduce depth to the game.

Coming soon

• No more prototyping. We will start working on the game itself using the acquired knowledge through researching and prototyping
• Tasks will be set up and distributed for the coming production sprint