Zulu Response

[yummy-vegetables]

Hi folks thought I might post details of our single and 8 person multiplayer realistic tactical FPS.

It's based off true stories from the 1879 British/Zulu war and is being developed in conjunction with No 1 Military author Damien Lewis.

From a technical viewpoint the challenge has been developing the AI squad that allows each player (British or Zulu) to command a detachment of AI soldiers or warriors around the battlefield. The AI can be split into smaller groups as each BOT can be commanded individually.

We've just released a new game trailer video or if you'd like to read more please see our IndieDB site or ZuluResponse game site.

Cheers.

p.s.

I did consider UE4 last year as development started just prior to the UE4 availabiltiy announcement but we thought it was better to proceed with UDK cause some of the stuff we are doing is not the straight out of the box stuff which we knew we could do with UDK but not with UE4.

[frankit]

Interesting... What couldn't be done in UE4, like to know more about why UDK won the day...?

As I watched the cut-scene I couldn't help but think about the classic Michael Caine movie: Zulu...
Zulu, as films go, even by today has landmark edge-of-your-seat tension!
But it probably wouldn't even get made now, or they'd hand it over to Michael Bay to kill!

Your game has all the makings of a true work of art!
From the soldiers to the landscape, it all feels authentic!
Best of luck with this...
.

[yummy-vegetables]

Cheers, thanks. Yes Zulu the movie helped to inspire ....

The game relies heavily on the players being able to control the AI. The Mouse Interface was one thing that concerned me at the time (e.g. setting rally points) as well as the HUD and how the player interacted and set commands. Also the game has large landscapes and quite alot of meshes, e.g. grass and bushes and then couple that with many in game bots (which can all be individually controlled) plus players I was concerned about performance.

It just seemed an all round safer bet at the time, I think I read a post of yours which on reading would seem to justify my caution.

[Neongho]

I already saw your project in indie db time ago, i think it looks very sympathic, the art it's already looking solid, and the gameplay of it aswell.

With my 2 -3 year experience with UDK on all roles, mainly unrealscript coder i see things have lot more potential, so im sure that if you keep working on it, it can look a lot better and it can be played a lot better.


For the AI here is my tip so far, to not overload the processing unit don't use tick use timers nobody thinks at the speed of a the frame rate of a game.

One timer to control Defensive actions, " such as take cover, cease fire, jump "....
another one dedicated to the firing system, " shoot when on aim, aim up down "
another dedicated to melee Fighting, bayonet " i don't know if you have played RO2, but it's an UDK(Game) awsome reference for bayonet meleefight.
another one dedicated to the movement.

And timers that would determinate the coolDowns of these actions, to change the difficulty rationally of the AI using a float var.

Kinda abstract i know but it's if not a possible orientation to do some things.

Those 4 latent timers in every state so far .

[yummy-vegetables]

Actually I drive the Bots actions through the hear noise event (makenoise is useful) and set a few flags from the PC if a player wants to order them or if they need to perform an action under their own control. I find it works well.

[yummy-vegetables]

Been a while so thought I'd do a quick update. Recently added a feature where spears can sometimes impale themselves in a soldier.

[shot]http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/191/190835/auto/impa9.JPG[/shot] [shot]http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/191/190835/auto/impa8.JPG[/shot]

Also a video of some action including a player using hotkeys to position and command firing for his squad of AI as they battle.

[frankit]

Love this project! Hope we can freely roam around and get lost in the landscape...
How many people on your dev team are working on this full-time if its ok to ask?

[yummy-vegetables]

A voice actor, 1 character models + some initial coding, another guy did the gun models and all the rest: environment models (trees, grass etc), maps, gameplay, UI, AI coding etc all by me.

Maps vary in size but yes you can roam around to a degree (some maps encourage it as part of gameplay whereas in others not so much).

[Neongho]

It looks awsome can't wait to play it. It truly looks like you enjoy making it hehe. UDK suits your project i belive. Do you extend from UT ?

[yummy-vegetables]

Thanks, no UDK.
Enjoying making ... hmm, I guess anyone has gotta enjoy it to make a game, mind you this is my 2nd PC game so I could be mad

[frankit]

What was your 1st PC game about, something totally different or a trial-run for something like Zulu?

[yummy-vegetables]

Toy Wars Invasion, 4 person FPS co-op and singleplayer. Here's the link to the Steam store.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/346490

[gaz661]

looking good.loved the films.love the idea of a game.

just been checking out toy wars invasion and spotted 1 of my meshes.thats a first in a released game.

[yummy-vegetables]

Yeah thanks. Going off memory I guess it was those industry packages you uploaded to that free content thread way back ...