Derelict 9 Prototype

**Solid Snake** · 12-22-2009, 06:52 AM

All of my current prototypes have been rolled into this one.

The Contrast prototype was fun, but as I continued to develop it, I found it less and less appealing to me. For some reasons, I much prefer to created games with projectile weaponry than medieval melee weaponry. None the less, a lot of code from Contrast has been rolled into Derelict 9.

Derelict 9's prototype pitch is goes along the lines of being a multiplayer top down shooter taking aspects from old Amiga games like Chaos Engine and Alien Breed. For those unfamiliar with Chaos Engine or Alien Breed, you can watch the game play of them here and here. It'll be cooperative action with AI buddies against AI enemies and devious puzzles.

The main thing I was interested in for this prototype was to create random levels. I think I've pulled it off with pretty decent results.

Surprisingly, even without path noding, the enemy AI is able to find the player reasonably well. Not as well as smart AI bots ... but they don't need to be that clever, since it's mostly about them being in vast numbers. Thanks to SlainChild for some of the texture art. Next it to get the random levels working across the network. I've done some preliminary tests to ensure it'll work ... but I still need to do the actual work.

**immortius** · 12-22-2009, 06:59 AM

So sort of like Alien Swarm then?

Random levels is a nice touch though.

**gokzor** · 12-22-2009, 07:11 AM

Looking cool man !

**TheSpaceMan** · 12-22-2009, 02:11 PM

Would be nice with some kind of coopish campaign.

So you have a feeling moving forward as well.

**Solid Snake** · 12-23-2009, 12:32 AM

So sort of like Alien Swarm then?

Yes. I did play Alien Swarm a little, and some of their ideas were really nice as well.

Random levels is a nice touch though.

Thanks. Here's hoping that the random level generator can produce some pretty levels as it is functional at the moment, but not complex enough to produce interesting levels just yet.

Looking cool man !

Thanks!

Would be nice with some kind of coopish campaign.

What I hope to do, is to have a random coop campaign generated for players.

**TheSpaceMan** · 12-23-2009, 05:30 AM

Maybe some of the complex level generation can be moved out into dllbind now that that exists. If the main issue is that it's slow. Maybe...

**Eildalior** · 12-23-2009, 06:22 AM

Yeah I like the idead about using a system to create random level for each new party...as Diablo 2 ^^
To day, more and more players are interested by cooperative games !
Have a good continuation !

**Solid Snake** · 12-23-2009, 02:27 PM

Maybe some of the complex level generation can be moved out into dllbind now that that exists. If the main issue is that it's slow. Maybe...

Generating a level like the one above takes about 0.7seconds according to the logs.

**LordsWarrior** · 12-23-2009, 06:43 PM

Nice man

This is getting close to what Im working on also, (Alienbreed/diablo/UFO enemky unknown mix)
When you say random mapo, is it generating this map on startup? If so can you explain how you are doing that? Is it a kismet thing or a map generating class youve made?

Also...for multiplay, how are you connecting clients?

Lastly... are you extending from UTPawn, UTDeathmatch etc?

THanks heaps

-LW

**mmast0** · 12-23-2009, 09:06 PM

looks amazing keep up the great work

**Solid Snake** · 12-24-2009, 08:38 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwgreDUpIwM

Fixed how shadows were being done. They now blend into each other properly rather than overlapping.
Made some basic monsters that chase you around and explode on contact
Fixed up multiplayer! Wandering around a randomly generated map in multiplayer is fun!

When you say random mapo, is it generating this map on startup?

The maps are generated at start up.

If so can you explain how you are doing that?

I spawn a sector. A sector is only allowed to have one rectangular floor and four walls. It randomizes which wall is going to have a door. When the sector is generated it creates the meshes required. Then it will attempt to generate another sector if one of the wall has a door. If it fails to generate another sector it will place a door mesh within the doorway. That's about all the rules there are for now. Later in future more interesting rules can lead to more interesting levels being procedurally generated.

Is it a kismet thing or a map generating class youve made?

Unrealscript. I only ever use Kismet for specific level triggers and so forth. It is unlikely that Kismet would be used in a project like this.

Also...for multiplay, how are you connecting clients?

As I have stated earlier before, I create a dedicated server then connect to it with the several machines I have here.

Lastly... are you extending from UTPawn, UTDeathmatch etc?

I extend from UTGame at the moment, but this is likely to change as the prototype develops further.

looks amazing keep up the great work

Thank you!

**Fallen667** · 12-24-2009, 10:50 AM

really nice.. didnt get it from the screenshots.. but video says it all..
im doing something similar, different style and all.. soooo, few questions..
How did you do that only floor gets detected under the cursor? im get everything which really sucks cause - lets say in your map - the cursor is jumping on the walls and door frames etc..
Are you using navmeshes or path nodes for bots..
I forgot oter questions from pure awesomeness

**Solid Snake** · 12-24-2009, 03:40 PM

How did you do that only floor gets detected under the cursor?

I have a blocking volume all the way at the bottom of the map that is very, very large. The blocking volume is a new class which extends blocking volume. I use the TraceActors iterator to only detect this extended class. Since there is only one volume that TraceActors could possibly react to, I only ever get one result.

Are you using navmeshes or path nodes for bots..

I'm not using anything. This is what surprised me. I guess for now because the levels are very, very sparse, there isn't much to block enemies from just doing a straight bee line for me. As I lay more stuff done in the levels, then it will probably be more pronounced that they don't actually have any pathing.

I forgot oter questions from pure awesomeness

Thanks

**Lord Banshee** · 12-26-2009, 01:57 AM

Very cool :P

I like the game-play style and the random maps... I can't wait to see more.

**CupcakeMan** · 12-26-2009, 02:01 AM

Procedural map generation is cool!

**TheSpaceMan** · 12-26-2009, 05:43 AM

cool, will be nice to see how you extend this.

The main problem with procedural generation is that if it should make sense and have a largy varity of rules it can take a long time to generate. But when it works it really works.

I am still thinking about introversions subversion, the one where they have relseased the city generation movie. I am rambeling, i hope you will get the result you want out of your generation.

**Tag@gears** · 12-26-2009, 08:29 AM

nicely done.
very cool that you can generate maps on the fly with the unreal engine.

one minor point of small critique, are the tiled textures.
but off course there are ways around it i guess, besides its still a prototype.
a very promising one, i might want too add.

**mainframe** · 12-26-2009, 09:10 AM

Wow this is turning out well....... Solid.............

**Solid Snake** · 12-26-2009, 05:14 PM

Very cool :P

Thanks!

Procedural map generation is cool!

Yeah, I quite enjoy writing procedural map generation algorithms. I did a lot of them for my own projects last year, although they were written in my own engines back then.

The main problem with procedural generation is that if it should make sense and have a largy varity of rules it can take a long time to generate. But when it works it really works.

Well, it depends on the theme of the maps. To create a cohesive map, you really want a few key rules that stick to a central theme. Otherwise maps just become too cluttered with too many different rules that simply don't work well with each other. Certainly maps could take some time to generate, but I don't think they would take so long that it would surpass a standard level load (considering that most levels can take minutes to load these days).

I am still thinking about introversions subversion, the one where they have relseased the city generation movie. I am rambeling, i hope you will get the result you want out of your generation.

I think one thing to remember is that Introversion wanted to generate a believable city, where as mine can be as random as I want. After all, how many of us have been on abandoned space ships before? So in order to create a believable city, many rules would have had to be introduced to do simplistic things such as creating the road network. Buildings would have to make sense where they were placed, etc. I just create rooms with random dimensions and join them all together. The scale is also very different.

nicely done. very cool that you can generate maps on the fly with the unreal engine.

Yes. I was interested to see how good the results would be. I knew it was possible, as I played around with this back in UT2004. However, the results were not as good in Unreal Engine 2. Meshes couldn't be lit very well (vertex lighting!), shadowing was pretty poor, textures could not be tiled freely... and so on.

one minor point of small critique, are the tiled textures. but off course there are ways around it i guess, besides its still a prototype. a very promising one, i might want too add.

A simplistic approach to solving this problem is to create extra tiles on the floor which help to break up the monotony of the single texture that is currently applied and tiled across the mesh. Another way is to place meshes of interest to help make the scene less sparse. And as you've indicated, it is a prototype, so my current interest is to test the main game mechanics first. If the prototype is fun, then I can move on and solve some of these other issues later on.

Wow this is turning out well....... Solid.............

Thank you!

**Solid Snake** · 12-29-2009, 06:51 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_H9l1PmiE0

Playing as the Preacher. The Preacher is able to bounce bullets and is 100% accurate.

Playing as the Gentleman. The Gentleman is able to pierce multiple enemies with a single shot.

Playing as the Mercenary. The Mercenary is able to shoot multiple times per single shot.

There is also Navy, Brigand and Thug that aren't shown here. Each class alter how the same weapon behaves, which hopefully is kind of a neat game mechanic as some weapon types will naturally be better for some classes than others, and can add to better team dynamics perhaps.

Basic game objective system is now done. Two objectives have been created, one being to destroy an energy core which I have done here, and the objective is to return back to the extraction zone.

Still more things to do with this prototype, but the list is becoming smaller. I still have to write Professions and Special Powers. After that we'll test it a lot on multiplayer and see if it is fun. If the core game mechanics are pretty fun, then we'll move into expanding the random map generator, add in new game objectives and so on.

So far, compared to the other game prototypes I've made so far, this one is promising.

**Denny** · 12-29-2009, 08:25 AM

That looks really solid, snake.

**LordsWarrior** · 12-30-2009, 02:43 AM

So good!!! Jealous!

-LW

**Solid Snake** · 01-09-2010, 07:25 AM

Still working on the random level generator. This current iteration is much better than the previous version as it can also generate non box rooms. There are still some bugs I need to resolve however, but it is looking pretty good.

**Jade-Phoenix** · 01-11-2010, 07:07 PM

It actually reminds me of quite a improved Gauntlet Game.

**McTavish** · 01-11-2010, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by Denny

That looks really solid, snake.

heh

I dont mean to at all be condescending or anything but you thought about sticking in a MiniMap yeh ? Maybe some fog of war ? Theres a tutorial on Mini-Map on the UDK official reference site and some Fog Of War discussion around the forums. Anyway Im sure you have thought of all this and are just busying yourself with other mechanics currently.

Thumbs up though dude, great work, definitely one of the projects on the forums that really looks like its going somewhere.

Regards, McT

**Solid Snake** · 01-12-2010, 11:50 PM

I dont mean to at all be condescending or anything but you thought about sticking in a MiniMap yeh ?

I'm having a think about how to exactly handle mini maps. I know I can do it pretty easily with scripted textures, but Sacren tells me that they are possibly broken at this point. Common methods for doing a mini map at this point usually rely on creating the actual mini map before hand, but because these levels are created dynamically at runtime I won't be able to do that. Still I haven't had the time to really look into mini maps yet.

Maybe some fog of war ?

Fog of war is actually kind of difficult in Unreal Engine 3. We did it back for USkaarj in UT2004 using the PokeTerrain functionality and that worked pretty well. Doing actual fog of war could again be possible if scripted textures work, but I'm not sure if fog of war particularly fits with the game that I am designing.

Thumbs up though dude, great work, definitely one of the projects on the forums that really looks like its going somewhere.

Thank you!

. I hope to keep refining the random level generator. I've come across a pretty big stumbling block at the moment, but I think I have a fix for it.

**John J** · 01-13-2010, 05:41 PM

Solid Snake,
How are your controls set up? Are you using WASD for movement and mouse for firing or some other scheme. I'm messing with some schemes myself and most WASD for movement and mouse for aiming ones that I have done are clunky. ;-)

John

**McTavish** · 01-13-2010, 06:03 PM

MiniMap Stuff from Official UDN Site Reference Thingy

Hope this might help you out !

**AcP2142** · 01-13-2010, 06:35 PM

Hey Solid,
That is some amazing stuff you have come up with so far. All I can see wrong with it at this point is the predictability oft the random level generator. Once you get that working and creating some unique levels this game will have some amazing potential. What kind of game are you looking to create exactly? With the classes it gives it an almost Diablo like feel but at the same time it looks like it is shaping out to be a survival horror game. Anyway, good luck with this project. I will follow it and offer as much input as I possibly can.

AcP2142

**Solid Snake** · 01-14-2010, 01:31 AM

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Maste...INIMAP%20CLASS

Notice how they premade the mini map texture? I can't do that part ...

**Denny** · 01-14-2010, 03:37 AM

You could use a SceneCaptureActor which takes a snapshot at the beginning of the level and use that texture for your minimap.

**Solid Snake** · 01-15-2010, 01:05 AM

That's possible Denny, but suffers from a few problems such as clarity and perspective. Drawing onto a ScriptedTexture would be the best solution, but I haven't done much work to be honest on a mini map yet ... or if I even want one.

**McTavish** · 01-15-2010, 02:06 PM

Ah ofcourse, sorry ^^;;;

cant wait to play a demo of this though mate

**struckin42** · 01-15-2010, 05:33 PM

Solid,

I´m going to be very honest: I envy you! I must say what an incredible work you are doing!!!
I used to play Amiga games and Chaos Engine still is one of the best.
I´ve started learning Unreal/UDK a few weeks ago and I have started prototyping a Chaos Engine based game (3 worlds 4 levels each and only four classes).
I am a long way before I have something playable, but I hope to get there soon.

Once again congratulations and please keep on rockin´!!!!

P.S.: Can´t wait to play it!!!

**Solid Snake** · 01-26-2010, 05:03 AM

Been working on the level generator more. I've finally gotten round to make some meshes and discovered quite a few problems with how I've been previously doing it. The newer version of the level generator has less problems and is a little less complicated due to how I create the room meshes now. I've also tested the lighting by adding some proper lights and it looks pretty good now.

Hard to see it in this screenshot, but thats actually two sectors joined together. It's not noticable like it was last time as I fixed all the issues with lighting and so on.

Once I get the corners to work properly, I think it will start to look better and better. I've been a bit lazy with how I've been generating the meshes as I've wasted a lot of polygons, but it's perfectly fine for now. When things start to shape up, those issues can be resolved later since I plan to have the walls a lot more intricate.

I also decided to change the setting to a haunted mansion. I think that will be more interesting than yet another generic sci fi shooter.

struckin42

Thanks! I'm working hard on this game, so hopefully it comes to something in the end.

**sueds** · 01-26-2010, 05:37 AM

this is a really soft light. Did you just tweak the ini files ? Maybe it's because the camera is far away but it look really good. I'm please to your change of direction art.

keep posting

cheers

**spin** · 01-26-2010, 11:37 AM

Probably not really all that relevant, but with the top down view, mention of a haunted house I can't help but think of Atic Attack, from ultimate back in the 8 bit days.

What sort of visual style were you thinking of going for? Photoreal, stylised?

If you would like any assistance with meshes or anything I would be happy to lend some assistance (long time modder, looking only to work for my own entertainment/learning)..previous work: Tactical Ops, Domain2049, TO:Crossfire.

**Solid Snake** · 01-26-2010, 04:27 PM

this is a really soft light. Did you just tweak the ini files ? Maybe it's because the camera is far away but it look really good. I'm please to your change of direction art.

keep posting

cheers

I haven't tweaked the ini files at all. It could be perhaps that this is all dynamic lighting, or that I've adjusted the color and brightness to produce that sort of soft lighting. It could also be due to the shadow giving that impression. Yeah, another space sci-fi game probably wouldn't work so well since it's been done so many times now a days.

What sort of visual style were you thinking of going for? Photoreal, stylised?

At this point I will be shooting for a semi-realistic art style. Trying to stay away from too much brown (as in that gray-brown that many new games go for) but rather the wood hues. Otherwise paintings, and so forth will help some of those areas.

If you would like any assistance with meshes or anything I would be happy to lend some assistance (long time modder, looking only to work for my own entertainment/learning)..previous work: Tactical Ops, Domain2049, TO:Crossfire.

I'm currently hiring an artist to create my art. Due to the commercial intent of the project, I will be paying people up front. However, that does mean that I simply can't accept volunteer work. That is unless you're willing to sign a contract which would be very unfair on you, as I would simply own everything you created (I've been in too many mod teams in the past where things fell apart due to a team member leaving and taking all of his/her work with him/her).

**spin** · 01-27-2010, 05:51 AM

Fair enough, I'm just bumming around aimlessly looking for something to get my teeth into, but nothing too serious and liked the look of where you are heading with this.

I look forward to seeing the progress all the same.

**Solid Snake** · 01-28-2010, 06:24 AM

The sectors now corner up pretty nicely. The meshes UV Mapping for the inner corner mesh is messed up a little hence why I'm getting some of the lighting bugs. I will probably fix this later on tomorrow.

Getting there, but I'm getting some weird shadow mapping bugs if I move the lights around. Haven't quite figured out why yet, but I'm sure it's due to a pretty silly reason. Seems like if I put them dead centre they're ok.

Thread: Derelict 9 Prototype

Thread Tools

Display

Derelict 9 Prototype

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions