Attero (Updated!)

[taylor_s]

(((Still a work-in-progress; expect this thread to get updated as we develop our features.)))

UPDATE #1 Abilities (2-20-2010) http://forums.epicgames.com/showthre...=717528&page=3

What is Attero?

Attero is a fast-paced, competitive multiplayer game created using the UDK featuring a fearlessly colorful and handcrafted art scheme. Teams made up of four player classes traditionally found in the RPG and MMO genres duke it out in a FPS style match using their unique class abilities to work together to achieve victory in various classic FPS multiplayer game modes.

What is the setting for Attero?

Attero takes place in a fantasy-themed world recently saved from the brink of oblivion. The inhabitants of this world paid a terrible and costly price to save themselves from an apocalyptic fate. Governments have dissolved, alliances shattered, and virtually entire populations wiped out.

Why make Attero?

While many fantasy RPG and MMO titles have included objective based competitive multiplayer game modes as part of their feature set, Attero makes that aspect of gameplay its sole focus. We are aiming to make the fantasy genre, and PvP oriented content accessible to a wider audience of gamers.

The vast majority of our assets are custom-made and digitally hand-painted



Attero will feature both melee combat as well as ranged.



As you can see, our GUI's attack bar (lower right) will show you when a cool-down on a special attack is up

As stated above, Attero will feature four classes. (Three of which are viewable at this time):

The Knight is our Tank Class - High Endurance / High Physical Damage Reduction / Melee Combat



The Shaman is our Healer Class - Quick / Drains life via a beam attack and fires a burst weapon that heals his allies.



The Evoker is our Area of Effect Damage Dealer / Lightly Armored / Lower Health / Can deal Fire damage to multiple enemies at once

Detailed Character Images:

The Knight:



The Shaman:


The Evoker:



About The Project Team

We are all students of varying years of study and majors, attending the University of Advancing Technology (UAT) in Tempe, AZ. We love what we do, and work on this project every day. We will be attending this upcoming GDC, and should be able to be found roaming the conference floor with our project shirts on.

Expect more updates relatively soon....

[BorisK]

photoshop!!!!

ahahaha kiddin. im pretty jealous right now. good work guys

[warlord57]

Nice work, I hope my RPG will look as good as this Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more and eventually play

[micahpharoh]

So is it basically class based, then? Or are there RPG elements of leveling up, etc?

[taylor_s]

We do away with most of the "scary" numbers and stats that put people off traditional RPG's.

This is strictly a pick up and go multiplayer game; no leveling up or stats to worry about. When you pick a class, you are picking a team role / play-style you enjoy.

Aside from the abilities, and team roles, there are only slight difference in the classes; speed, health, and damage / damage reduction (physical and magic). This is far simpler than having to worry about specific stats.

[LeECO]

totally cool, keep going good work guys :X

[Denny]

This looks awesome, I can't wait to see it in motion.

[mordentral]

Very close to what I am doing, and I am happy to see the genre receive more attention with the UDK.

Good luck, you are off to a great start.

[marcusmattingly]

Very cool looking! Keep us updated on this.

[Drevlin]

Nice start, could be a cool project.

Some feedback:

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-42-59-24.jpg
You got some missalligned textures in the environment (bricks not being alligned on different sides of the mesh) and some of the normals looks a bit weird. The edges of the low wall on the leftis simply compleatly off. Looks like the upper edge of the wall has an L shape rather than a 7 edge, if you get me drift. The wooden walls could be alot more intresting... They are all straight lines at the moment, try adding some more interesting shapes with slanting slopes, some shorter than other and some and supporting assets. I would assume that the poles would be tied together with either some type of rope or additional wood parts? That might just be me tho.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...showoff/ss.jpg
Wall textures doesnt hold up well here and needs more detail in the geometry.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-43-55-11.jpg
Grass looks way off. Try adding a plane underneath everything, alligned with the floor, with a grass texture that fades off at the edges of the plane. Itll make it less obvious that the grass is all made up of planes when seen from above. Is the white part of the ground snow? Play around more with specular values to really bring it out. Make it shine and use another normal/diffuse for it!

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-43-33-58.jpg
The stacks of grass looks really bad... its a thorn in my eye when you can clearly see the planes with alpha sticking out like that. Make em smaller and add more of them to give it a nice bushy-ness.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-47-37-83.jpg
Weird having the same wall texture in different sizes. Either make em uniform size across the environment or make a new texture with bigger rocks and make em more different. Do you have a set Pixel-per-meter ratio? If not, i suggest you set one. Its really easy ending up with very varying sizes otherwise (say a 2 meter wall with a 512x512 texture next to a 2 meter wall with a 2048x2048, for example.) I can see some more examples of textures not having a uniform pixel-per-meter ratio in the environment but you are most likly aware of where.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab254/attero_showoff/UDK2010-02-0820-50-05-60.jpg
Who built this place? Giants? :P Look at the size of them bricks! Makes the scale a bit weird... Uniform scale of bricks, plz.

Overall its a good start though. You could do with alot more supporting props to really set the scale of the environment though.

Keeping my eyes on this one.

[JCoelho]

Nice start, could be a cool project.

Some feedback:
(...huge text...)

Dude, chill, it's still in an early stage, and I'm pretty sure he's aware of all those problems


Good to see a game in an advanced state. Keep focused

[taylor_s]

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-42-59-24.jpg
You got some missalligned textures in the environment (bricks not being alligned on different sides of the mesh) and some of the normals looks a bit weird. The edges of the low wall on the leftis simply compleatly off. Looks like the upper edge of the wall has an L shape rather than a 7 edge, if you get me drift. The wooden walls could be alot more intresting... They are all straight lines at the moment, try adding some more interesting shapes with slanting slopes, some shorter than other and some and supporting assets. I would assume that the poles would be tied together with either some type of rope or additional wood parts? That might just be me tho.

The misaligned textures are something we are aware of as those bricks are everywhere, and we are currently working to resolve the issue. Good point on the palisade fence; I'll look into getting something else on there.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-43-55-11.jpg
Grass looks way off. Try adding a plane underneath everything, alligned with the floor, with a grass texture that fades off at the edges of the plane. Itll make it less obvious that the grass is all made up of planes when seen from above. Is the white part of the ground snow? Play around more with specular values to really bring it out. Make it shine and use another normal/diffuse for it!

Upon seeing that I posted screenshots, the team member that did the grass immediately went back to work on making it better . My attempt at using this forum as a motivational tool appears to be working. Our ground textures are all temporary, but thank you for the advice on the snow.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-43-33-58.jpg
The stacks of grass looks really bad... its a thorn in my eye when you can clearly see the planes with alpha sticking out like that. Make em smaller and add more of them to give it a nice bushy-ness.

That is actually supposed to be a stack of hay. The ase file had been changed to something that didn't have those really obvious intersecting planes at the top. It had not been imported into the package though. That is my fault.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-47-37-83.jpg
Weird having the same wall texture in different sizes. Either make em uniform size across the environment or make a new texture with bigger rocks and make em more different. Do you have a set Pixel-per-meter ratio? If not, i suggest you set one. Its really easy ending up with very varying sizes otherwise (say a 2 meter wall with a 512x512 texture next to a 2 meter wall with a 2048x2048, for example.) I can see some more examples of textures not having a uniform pixel-per-meter ratio in the environment but you are most likly aware of where.

We are indeed aware of the problem. Setting a ratio is a good idea and I will make sure our texture artists read this thread.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab254/attero_showoff/UDK2010-02-0820-50-05-60.jpg
Who built this place? Giants? :P Look at the size of them bricks! Makes the scale a bit weird... Uniform scale of bricks, plz.

This one is a bad screenshot. The shards that float around the evoker had not been animated as of yet and were arranged in a neat little row to the right of her head. I was attempting to use a wall / camera angle to hide this and wound up accentuating our texture scale problem even further.

Overall its a good start though. You could do with alot more supporting props to really set the scale of the environment though.

Keeping my eyes on this one.

Thank you for taking the time to critique our work. It's very much welcomed and appreciated

And a big thank you to all who have shown support thus far.

[Drevlin]

Dude, chill, it's still in an early stage, and I'm pretty sure he's aware of all those problems


Good to see a game in an advanced state. Keep focused

Chill? Are you under the impression that Im hot? If so, thanks.


taylor_s, you're welcome. I dont take time to crituqe alot of projects but this one caught my eye. Keep it up!

[danimal']

The artwork looks hawt, I'm impressed that you guys have got that much going so fast. Kudos, it's looking great!

[Hibame]

Looks good, I can't wait to see more.

[ShadeMistress]

Sounds like a simplified version of the system I have been piecing together with my brother.

Other than a few texture anomalies (textures not aligning properly or oddly scaled) the game is looking quite amazing.

In particular, I am glad you are going for a colorful theme as opposed to the road many games are taking with the "gritty realism" these days, or better put, desaturating all of the color from everything and making it look like people have forgotten how to take care of their equipment.

A question though: Do you plan to include any sort of Campaign/Story mode, or does the game play solely as a multiplayer experience? Your write up is a little vague there, maybe for good reason, lol.

[TheAgent]

Looks very good, ill keep an eye on this one :P

[Budgieboy]

Will you be releasing the code one day?

Give us other folk a chance to make a similar game one day since there's mostly rolling balls games being developed at the moment.

[taylor_s]

A question though: Do you plan to include any sort of Campaign/Story mode, or does the game play solely as a multiplayer experience? Your write up is a little vague there, maybe for good reason, lol.

This is strictly a multi-player experience. We're going for something thats very fun and very easy to just pick up and play with some friends without the need to worry about grinding out levels on your character, collecting high-end gear, spec'ing your character the right way, or questing before you can get into some real pvp action.

I plan on updating within the next week with a more in-depth write up and some information on what abilities each of the 4 classes have.

[iniside]

Just one question. When demo will go out ? .
Really like the idea.Not innovative, but also.. not overused. Last such game I remember is Rune (at least it is first that come on my mind).

[taylor_s]

I thought I would update the thread with a list of the abilities (weapons) the player classes have, as well as some new screenshots. There are a total of 16 abilities.

Every character has a primary attack that has no cool-down aside from attack speed that they can use at will. This attack is always bound the Left Mouse button.

Every character also has a total of 3 special abilities on varying cool-downs that are bound to the right mouse button and can be scrolled through using the scroll-wheel on the mouse or selected using the number keys at the top of your keyboard.

Attacks marked with an “ * ” are in the game and functioning as of this post. This will get updated as more abilities roll out.

The Knight

*Sword Swing – This is the Knight’s primary fire. He swings his sword in a wide arc and damages any opponents unlucky enough to be caught in his swords path.


*Sword Lunge – This is the Knights first special attack and has a cool-down period. The Knight lunges forward a good distance, skewering opponents with his sword and causing a moderate amount of damage.

*Shield Bash – Another special attack, The Knight throws his shield out wide, knocking back enemies in front of him and stunning them momentarily. This attack has a moderate cool-down period.

* Shield Grapple - The Knight fires a grappling hook from the front of his shield at a target, if he scores a hit, the enemy is stunned and jerked back violently toward the Knight’s melee range. This attack has a large cool-down.


The Evoker

*Fireball – This is the Evoker’s primary weapon. It is an area of effect ability. The Evoker conjures up a mass of chaotic energy that transforms into a fiery blast on impact. This can either be fired off quickly for a small amount of splash damage by clicking the right mouse button, OR can be held down for more damage /splash radius for each second the mouse button is held down to a maximum of 5 seconds. Evoker character speed is reduced significantly while holding this charge.

*Circle of Chaos – The Evoker conjures up a large circle of chaotic energy below her feet that slows down enemies who run through / are caught in it by 50%. This has a moderately sized cool-down.

Chaos Claws – The Evoker grows blades made of pure energy from her hands that she can use to damage foes in a pinch. These do a small amount of damage. This attack has no cool-down.

Teleport – The Evoker places a runic circle on the floor that lasts for a limited amount of time. She can then teleport back to this place once within the allotted amount of time if she is within range.

The Shaman

*Dark Lightning – This is the shaman’s primary attack. The Shaman unleashes a beam of energy from his juju stick, damaging his target for a small amount of damage each second. It has an unlimited duration. This attack also fuels his ability to cast his mending wave ability, and heals the shaman for a very small amount each second it is damaging an opponent.

*Mending Wave – The Shaman fires off a burst of his stored life energy that he has been draining from his opponents. This energy heals any allies in its splash radius on impact with another character or object. The shaman must use his dark lightning attack to generate ammo for this attack. There is no cool down for this ability.

* Tiki of Fate – The Shaman calls forth a spiritual tiki idol that emanates the essence of the natural balance for short period of time. Any allies in the radius of the essence receive healing per second. Any enemies within the radius take damage per second. There is a moderate cool down for this ability.

*Panther Claw – Using the panther paw that has been grafted onto the Shaman’s right wrist, the Shaman releases a pulse of energy upon a target he can touch. This energy momentarily stops his enemy’s heart. It deals a small amount of damage and stuns the opponent for a small period of time. This has a moderate cool-down.


The Huntress

***Details regarding the Final Class will be released with a week’s time.***


Class Auras

Every class has an aura that applies a positive effect upon team-mates within range. All of these auras stack with each other, and when playing as a team within close proximity to one another, the effect’s are very apparent. Applications of the same aura cannot stack more than once, and a player cannot receive his own buff. For example; a Shaman will not receive two Knight buffs if he is within proximity of both, but the two Knight’s will receive each others' buff. Buffs currently on the character will be displayed as icons in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

Inspired Resolve – All team members within 40ft of the Knight receive a 10% bonus to physical damage reduction.

Chaotic Refraction – All team members within 40ft of the Evoker receive a 10% bonus to magical damage reduction.

Jungle Vigor – All team members within 40ft of the Shaman receive temporary health / a boost to max health.

Precise Striking - All players within 40ft of the Huntress deal a small amount of extra damage with their attacks.

[taylor_s]

More Random Screens!

[Denny]

Everything looks really good, I can't wait to see things in motion.

[taylor_s]

Everything looks really good, I can't wait to see things in motion.

Thank you! As soon as we have more particle effects / attack animations in, we will post video.

[LeECO]

Great work!!!

Can u tell me how to add your character in the game instead of the default robot in UDK. I have my own character but i dont know how to do as your work. 3rd view look from behind out main character.

Thanks

[Piranhi]

Great work guys, keep it up.

[Hibame]

Great work!!!

Can u tell me how to add your character in the game instead of the default robot in UDK. I have my own character but i dont know how to do as your work. 3rd view look from behind out main character.

Thanks

A quick way to do it if you are extending UTGame is to add some of the information (like the animation tree) in the Pawn class then add the a family info for that pawn and add the animation set, and mesh there. As for the camera you can make your own camera class and mess with the position it offsets from the default position for a third person camera.

[taylor_s]

As promised, Here is info regarding the final class:
(once again a * indicates a functioning ability)

The Huntress

*Crossbow Shot - The huntress fires a bolt from her crossbow, dealing a moderate amount of damage over a long range.

*Poison Shot - The Huntress fires a bolt from her crossbow that poisons her target, dealing initial physical damage, then dealing a small amount of magic damage over time. This attack has a moderate cool-down.

*Hunting Knife - The Huntress pulls out her enchanted Hunting Knife that does light damage. She can not use any of her ranged attacks with the knife equipped but gains a substantial increase to run speed.

Explosive Shot - The Huntress fires a bolt that sticks to targets or surfaces. This bolt then explodes after a short period of time, dealing splash damage to nearby enemies. This attack has a lengthy cooldown.

In-Game Sexiness


Detailed character image (modeled and textured by Andrew Dyksterhouse)

[Denny]

I knew something was missing, no fantasy without archers!

[Grom]

This is looking cool, and your enthusiasm is a big reason why I can see you going far with this project. It's great that you're actually implementing stuff rather than just talking about it - that's the way to polished gameplay.

My one criticism would be relating to how you're implementing your art style. I like the handpainted idea but I feel your levels are simply too dark and contrast-less to show it off to its best advantage. Maybe it's just because the level is supposed to be at night but I think some richer and brighter lights, concentrated on two or three key colours, would really accentuate the visual style.

[mordentral]

I knew something was missing, no fantasy without archers!

And bewbs

I agree with the poster above however, I like the art style however the detail is lost with how washed out the colors and environment is.

[taylor_s]

And bewbs

I agree with the poster above however, I like the art style however the detail is lost with how washed out the colors and environment is.

We are playing around with turning the lights up / adding some more colored lights. We will post once we have results.

Also, The Huntress post has been updated with a better SS /w textured crossbow, and now indicates which attacks are functioning as of today.

[taylor_s]

Here is the video over-view for Attero:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8puGm4jMXqY

[Piranhi]

Great video guys, I really hope the game works out for you. If you ever need a beta tester just give me a shout.

[Denny]

Great video, looks really interesting. I hope you get/got some good response from showing that around. Good luck with the game.