Eye of the Abyss - WIP#1

[AmyP]

I'd suggest just making the thread. Its a great way to both motivate and usually is quite assuring that art is never as bad as you think. I made this thread originally when I had no art and was having basic coding trouble!

Also, if you're interested, I'm begining pre-production on a new project, check it out if you feel like it.
https://forums.unrealengine.com/show...-Stranded-Game

You're right. I even don't know why I didn't open a thread until now. Maybe because I was obsessed with gameplay balance and I was afraid of don't post any stuff weekly.

Cool! I will follow your project in the Trello site (Do you believe I still don't have an account in the Unreal forums, and only in UDK forums?).
I found those alien creatures concepts really amazing from this project.

[ArcanisLupus]

Many thanks! The atmosphere was something that I was intent on nailing from the beginning.

[ArcanisLupus]

I'd suggest just making the thread. Its a great way to both motivate and usually is quite assuring that art is never as bad as you think. I made this thread originally when I had no art and was having basic coding trouble!

Also, if you're interested, I'm begining pre-production on a new project, check it out if you feel like it.
https://forums.unrealengine.com/show...-Stranded-Game

[monkeypuzzle]

Nice! Loving the dark forest atmosphere.

[AmyP]

A difficulty setting is always an option, though I lean towards games without it, like Zelda, Mario, GoldenEye etc. Learn or die. I think my death screen had a chance of throwing up a hint.

It's a very good idea! And you are a merciful game designer, because there is a bunch of games that drive us crazy to discover what is the trick to win.

It's a good thought, discussing Mechanics. Gameplay and the like, I guess they don't have specific forums for it here since they aren't restricted to the Unreal Engine. I think there are some good communities other-where on the web, reddit.com/r/gamedev comes to mind. And Extra Credits on YouTube has been a massive help to me also.

I'm a member of IndieGamer because they have a good basis with experienced indie dev members. It is a good place to talk about game designing.
(Hey, moderator! I don't know if we can talk about another site here, so, please, let me know if I have to delete my post. Please, inform it before banishing me).

Regarding making sacrifices to get a thing done: it hurts but it needs to be done sometimes. And don't let people who complain about graphics stifle your production. People will always have something to complain about, I'll take gameplay over graphics any day.

You're right! I'm struggling with the graphics (time consuming) and it is holding me back to open my WIP thread. And I agree with you when you pick gameplay over the graphics. I take the story element over the graphics too.

[ArcanisLupus]

A difficulty setting is always an option, though I lean towards games without it, like Zelda, Mario, GoldenEye etc. Learn or die. I think my death screen had a chance of throwing up a hint.

It's a good thought, discussing Mechanics. Gameplay and the like, I guess they don't have specific forums for it here since they aren't restricted to the Unreal Engine. I think there are some good communities other-where on the web, reddit.com/r/gamedev comes to mind. And Extra Credits on YouTube has been a massive help to me also.

Regarding making sacrifices to get a thing done: it hurts but it needs to be done sometimes. And don't let people who complain about graphics stifle your production. People will always have something to complain about, I'll take gameplay over graphics any day.

[AmyP]

With the playtest(s) I did, the testers were very divided between those who had no problem with the boss (usually people who were gamers. A mirror shield is almost a troupe these days) and those who couldnt beat the boss at all (non-gamers).

It is interesting! Maybe you can manage a solution with levels of difficulty. For an easy level, the player has an obvious hint, but for harder level, they will suffer to discover the trick. This suggestion has a weak point in the part of how the player will play the game, if the player chooses the Easy level first, then go to the Hard level after clearing the level, the player will know what to do... But, the suggestion is here ^^
I know UDK forum is a place for technical issues, but it would be nice if we have a Gameplay/Game Design and Mechanics section for discussions here. As we are having now.

About opening a thread in U4 forum, I understand completely. With time UDK will be used less and less for indie development. (But I'll invite you to check my thread here when I open it, ho ho ^^. I'm struggling with the decision if I scale down the graphics and redo with less realistic and more stylized graphics to give me a chance to end the game. It is torturing me because it is a thriller with some horror elements, and people have a problem with stylized graphics for this kind of game genre).

[ArcanisLupus]

Thanks Amy! It's great to see you around again. Glad to hear that life shenanigans are resolved (along with the UDK ones too). And very much thanks for the feedback! Probably the best I've ever received!

CON:
-I had mixed feelings with Boss battle. I would like to discover the mirror trick against the boss (Snow White, right?), and don't have it in my hand. It would be nice die a couple of times until discovering it.

Are you preparing the port for U4? I read you will take your game to PAX, so I wish you good luck

With the playtest(s) I did, the testers were very divided between those who had no problem with the boss (usually people who were gamers. A mirror shield is almost a troupe these days) and those who couldnt beat the boss at all (non-gamers).

I have had a poke around in UE4 with my old content, with some promising results. As it is a different project has caught my attention within UE4 (ill be making a thread about it in the shiney new forums soon, though it is much less exciting) but I still have hopes of getting this to PAX either extended within the UKD3 or ported to UE4.

[AmyP]

I've played the game, including the "test arena". It had a funny joke with wall answering about the colors ^^

I didn't experience any bug problem, so no bug report from my part.
PRO:
-Atmosphere! The background style is amazing.
-Music and sound effects make a strong link between the level and the player.
-Cutscene direction. I like how you make the timing. The scenes go to the point, without ******* me off with an unnecessary delaying and giving the information, mood and feeling, I really liked it. Adding actors for voicing will bring it to the next level (it's a pity this part is the very last part in a game development).
-Mixed feelings with the Boss battle, the good part was the mechanic itself, a logic extension from the minor foes, defending and attacking when the player can do it, and presentation, of course.

CON:
-I had mixed feelings with Boss battle. I would like to discover the mirror trick against the boss (Snow White, right?), and don't have it in my hand. It would be nice die a couple of times until discovering it.

Are you preparing the port for U4? I read you will take your game to PAX, so I wish you good luck

[AmyP]

Hi Nicholas! Man, congrats for your graduation!
(sorry about my absence, I had a hard time here with a very big problem, but everything was solved).

I've downloaded The eye of the Abyss and my Chrome warned as a malicious file. I don't know why, but I think it would be good inform you about it. I keep it of course and I'm going to install to play later
I found a solution for every UDK game installed, which messes with my game input and config (it happened even with my default edited). Copying all the Config folder, it can be restored when another UDK game has installed. Now, I can install your game.
See you later!

[ArcanisLupus]

Thought I'd pop back for one last post for a bit, the game now has its own website for you all to check out:

http://www.eyeoftheabyssgame.com/

Give it a lookie and enjoy yourselves!

[ArcanisLupus]

[shot]http://www.nicholas-ferrar.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Version-Release1.png[/shot]
That's right! The day has come and the assessment has been submitted! Eye of the Abyss version 0.2.9 is ready for any and all to play.
Grab it here! (586 MB) https://mega.co.nz/#!CsIjxKxD!h_oXnc...5lsxeTj2gkeehk
Additionally, I have thrown together a teaser for the game as it stands now. Have a watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vup365Wh9jY

The music featured in the teaser and throughout the game is the work of the fantastic Sergiu Muresan (http://www.sergiumuresan.com), who did fantastically in making Eye of the Abyss better than I ever could have.

Additionally, in a week I will have a website for the game exclusively up and running at http://www.eyeoftheabyssgame.com

So, what for the future?

Short term Eye of the Abyss will go on hold, as Uni finishes and I have to move and go to PAX and enter the real world.

Long term, Eye of the abyss will be continued eventually, as I intend to port it over to UE4 and continue work there.

So for now, play it, spread it, talk about it. I will see you all again soon.

Nic.


Good old changelog from last week:

(12/10/2014)
-New music all in place (THANKS SERGIU)
-Can only spawn ESnow one at a time in test level
-lockon camrera made infinitly better (THANKS RANDOM BUG)
-removed enemy death particles for now because framerates
-Stun icons now appear above enemy head when appropriate
-Esnow is now more aggressive and only has a 25% chance to circle more than once
-so many textures dropped in resolution for performance

(13/10/2014)
-New pretty buttons put into Main Menu (a bit pixel difficient)
-PSnow weights cleaned, all good now.
-Pixel quota replenished via vectors, menus now pretty enough (GAME DONE FOR NOW)

TD0.2.9 (15/10/2014)
-Hurt texture now appears when you get hurt!
-hid version number and numerical health from HUD
-New intro animation for dark forests added, infinitly better now
-ESnow hurt particles sudden;y started working. Did not inspect gift horses mouth
-Brother has correct sheild cutscene anim
-Sister now actually stabs ESnow
-Sister lockon idle now doesnt flip the shield upside down (game actually done for now?)

TO DO:
-CUTSCENES (so ******* repetetive)
-FINAL FONTS (Emma?) -
-Dialogue background textures (Emma?)
-brother gets shield anim
==============FOOTSTEPS
----
-First person eye height
-cutscene sword fight
-reflection issues
-settings menu, not looking good.
-more menu design
-tree portal!
-cutscene lighting
----
Brothers eyebrows are broken (Day forest)
His mouth is also too slow (day forest)
Sword fight is terrible (Day forest)
Sword Drawing looks terrible (Day forest)
The tree doesnt eat right (day forest)
"Where is my brother?!" has no lip movement (day forest)
Stop Sis Swinging Early at ESnow (Sis throne)
Sis stab misses (Sis Throne)
sounds for ESNow Kill (throne)
Sis Shield Upside Down in lockon idle
Stop PSnow Mouth movign when helping Sis up (Sis trail)
Elbows through all the shields (everywhere)

[ArcanisLupus]

Version 0.2.8 Release

0.2.8 is out and ready for the masses to play with! This version contains full cutscenes, beautifully designed dialogue and pause menus (the work of the lovely Emma Smith, who also created the above logo) and is a whopping 6.5MB in size.

Grab it here!

This marks the whole game reaching a baseline of completion. It has some bugs here and there (pending testing) but is otherwise complete. All the pieces are in place. You can play the whole thing through and see all the scenes and return to the beginning again.

This week saw a lot of work done in preparation for the alpha test tomorrow, and the handing in of my final assessment in SEVEN DAYS.

I am actually feeling pretty good about the whole thing now, as everything has finally come together beautifully, almost like I had a plan or something.

You’ll notice in the changelog below that the to-do list has grown considerably. As the game has gotten closer and closer to the final build, the margin of “acceptable” has shrunk. That said the cut off for work is fast approaching, and most if not all of the listed issues will only be worked on after submission. At that point this won’t be an assessment, it will be a side project (or if I magically make monies it will be my gainful work?).

Here are some pics of the new menus followed by the changelog:

[Shot]http://www.nicholas-ferrar.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014-10-10_00001.png[/Shot]
[Shot]http://www.nicholas-ferrar.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014-10-10_00003.png[/Shot]

Chagelog:

(04/10/2014)
-Sis intro filler cleaned
-Sis dark intro filler cleaned
-bro intro filler cleaned
-bro dark intro filler cleaned (thats all of them folks!)
-All of those things imported into UDK and confirmed working.

(05/10/2014)
-Bro stabs ESnow cutscene added.
-Sis stabs ESnow cutscene added
-Sis meets PSnow Cutscene done. sister arc baseline complete!

TD0.2.8(06/10/2014)
-Bro meets PSnow cutscene done. Brother arc baseline complete!

(07/10/2014)
-New placeholder dialogue textures in
-Dialogue defaults changed to ease implementation.
-New magic ball mesh, now with particles
-ESnow now holds the magic ball when preppering her spell
-Fixed a new bug (credit to Emma the game breaker) where you could play tennis with the wall and crash the game.
-Unrelated, but added invisible walls to throne rooms to stop people (Emma) jumping behind the pillars with ESnows knockback attack.

(09/10/14)
-Evil dude animation replaced with newer in both forest scenes (full game baseline reached, pending menus and music)
-New dialogue menus in place, so pretty (THANKS EMMA)
-New pause menu in place (THANKS EMMA)
-Pause logic changed, now cannot pause and **** around when in a cutscene (THANKS INTERNET)
-Temp endscreen added (THANKS ME)

TO DO:
-CUTSCENES (so ******* repetetive)
-FINAL FONTS (Emma?) –
-Dialogue background textures (Emma?)
-brother gets shield anim
==============FOOTSTEPS
—-
-First person eye height
-cutscene sword fight
-reflection issues
-settings menu, not looking good.
-more menu design
-tree portal!
-cutscene lighting
—-
Brothers eyebrows are broken (Day forest)
His mouth is also too slow (day forest)
Sword fight is terrible (Day forest)
Sword Drawing looks terrible (Day forest)
The tree doesnt eat right (day forest)
“Where is my brother?!” has no lip movement (day forest)
Particles when Evil spreads (day forest)
Leaf Alphas
Stop Sis Swinging Early at ESnow (Sis throne)
Sis stab misses (Sis Throne)
sounds for ESNow Kill (throne)
Sis Shield Upside Down in lockon idle
Stop PSnow Mouth movign when helping Sis up (Sis trail)
Elbows through all the shields (everywhere)

[ArcanisLupus]

MoCap, Mo Work, Mo Everything

The mo the merrier. Mo is the winter of our discontent.

October is here, and with it the deadline for Eye of the Abyss draws nigh. This past week has been productive and the project will well on course to completion by the set date.

A touch of work on the paper aside, I was entirely focused on getting the last remaining motion capture data into the game, and cleaning it as quickly as possible. To the end all of the animation captured has being cleaned and is ready for use. Over the weekend I will be putting it all into the game so that by next week I will have a final build ready for playtesting. After the playtesting I will have one additional week to fix anything that comes up in the playtest, implement finals sounds and music, finish a paper, make a trailer and webpage for teasing the masses and maybe throw some sleep in for good measure.

Its gonna be fun on the bun!

PS: It turns out the last published version of Eye of the Abyss is kaput, I forgot to update the DefaultEngine.ini after switching to a new Main Menu, so it all crashes on start. Disregard 0.2.7!

Changelog for those who like reading my ramblings.

(29/09/2014)
-Evil v Brother anim cleaned
-Evil v Sister anim cleaned
-Brother dark filler ready to clean
-Brother intro filler ready to clean
-Sister Dark intro ready to clean
-Sister intro filler ready to clean

(30/09/2014)
-Bro meet Pure Snow ready to clean
-Bro stab ESnow ready to clean
-ESnow stabbed ready to clean
-Yes MotionBuilder I'm very sorry I didn't name the femur correctly. PSnow and brother scene ready to clean.
-PSnow and Sis ready to clean
-Sis stab ESnow ready to clean
-Sis meet PSnow ready to clean

(01/10/2014)
-AHAHAH THE MONTH IS UPON US
-ESnow Stabbed cleaned, ready for import
-Brother stabs ESnow Cleaned, ready for import

(02/10/2014)
-Brother chats to PSnow cleaned

(03/10/2014)
-PSnow chats to Brother cleaned
-Sis stabs ESnow cleaned
-Sis meets PSnow cleaned
-PSnow chats to Sis cleaned

TO DO:
-CUTSCENES (so ******* repetetive)
-FINAL FONTS (Emma?) -
-Dialogue background textures (Emma?)
-brother gets shield anim
----
-First person eye height
-cutscene sword fight
-reflection issues
-settings menu, not looking good.
-more menu design
-tree portal!
-cutscene lighting

[ArcanisLupus]

Man, I'll pest some friend to lend me his PC, and then I'll be able to play EotA demo once for all. I want to test it!

I wouldn't bother with the last build, it is crash.