Wednesday 30 May 2018

LO4: Producing the First Level of a New Computer/Console Game

Final Product



Evidence of Programming by Alister Martin




Test Plan


LO3: Creating Elements for use in Our Level

Character Models

As this game is played from a first person perspective, we decided that we only need to create the arms for the protagonist. Below is the arm created for the Duelist class. 


Backgrounds

In our tutorial level there we only needed two textures for the environment. The following are the textures that we used for both the floor and walls, as well as multiple assets that were made from similar materials. The texture on the left was used for the wooden walls in the basement as well as any wooden parts on the assets. This texture was created by myself using layer effects in Adobe Photoshop. The texture on the right was used for the walls and ceilings in the basement. 
 


The door asset shown above was placed on the walls of the basement at different points to allow the player access to the other room and also as a trigger to continue the quest.

Props & Assets

Weapons:

Paladin's Mace & Shield





Props:

Bed & Pillow




Candle & Holder




Chest



Table



Torch




LO2: Ideas and Planning

Game Synopsis & Mechanics

Synopsis:

The game is set in the fictional world of Medolth, inspired by the fantasy games such as; The Elder Scrolls Series and World of Warcraft. The world is in peril, being ruled over by an evil overlord. The game revolves around a single protagonist that starts from nothing and works his way to becoming a hero, eventually saving the world from its evil ruler. 

The tutorial level that we are creating will take place in the protagonist's home. This will be set in the basement of a tavern, where he lives. The player will start next to their bed, as if they had just woken up, and be prompted to go check upstairs to see what if anything is happening in the town that day. Upon trying to leave the basement the player will then be prompted to grab one of their weapons to take with them. The player will then be directed to a table from which they can pick up and test multiple different weapons. Once the player has chosen their weapon they will then be prompted to leave the basement and continue their day. This will be where the tutorial level will end.

Game Mechanics:

This will be a first person adventure game. The overall idea for the game is that it is an open-world for the player to explore and progress different quest-lines while taking on multiple side-quests and challenges along the way. The open world will make it so that the player will feel like they have total freedom over where their character is going and will hopefully make them bond with their protagonist throughout their journey together. 

Combat will be entirely dictated by the weapon choice of the player. This could range from melee sword fighting to long ranged archery and spell-casting. Loot in the game will be semi-randomised with weapons, armour and trinkets that will drop having parts and prefixes that will be different every time. This will add a level of replay-ability to the game as the player will not feel like it is the same game each time they play as parts of the world around them will be randomised and also affected by the choices they have made in their previous adventures.  

Areas in the world will have different themes based on the race or types of creatures that live there. Some of these areas may also be randomised to add even more replay-ability to the game.

Target Audience

Our game is targeted at 16+ year olds with a 70:30 ratio of male to female. Our game will be easily accessible to anyone with access to the internet. This means that our main audience will be primarily in towns and citys, with some possible customers in rural countryside locations. The game would be cheap, around £15, as our target audience will be in the NRS social grades C2 to E. Customers that fall under the E grade will most likely be teenagers in full-time education and will therefore have to rely on their parents income to purchase the game. 

Samuel Finch is an 18 year old male who spends most his day at college studying media studies, his goal is to be a programmer by the end of university. In his spare time he mostly plays on his PC with friends, he plays game like World of Warcraft and the Elder Scrolls Series. He enjoys fantasy as a genre and will play most games within this genre. He prefers games that are played from the point of view of the protagonist. The fantasy genre also influences the films he watches, as he enjoys The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. He's employed so has a decent income that he can use on games as well as save up for his own future.

Character Profiles and Designs

There are 3 main character class ideas that we have for our game; Paladin, Warlock and Duelist. The following are the sketches created by Taighlor McNally to show our concepts for the characters. 

Paladin:

The paladin will wear heavy, plate metal armour and wield the larger weapons in the world. Anything from a shield and mace (as shown in the sketch) to a large two-handed axe. There is also the possibility of the Paladin being able to use Holy magic as part of their arsenal. 

Warlock:



The warlock will be our spell caster class in the game. They will not use any physical weapons, but will be able to harness the arcane elements through spell-casting focuses (e.g. a ring/amulet)  to create devastating spells as their primary method of attack. They will wear much lighter cloth armour and will not have the physical strength to be able to use some of the heavier weapons in the world.

Duelist: 



The duelist will be a quick and nimble class, taking advantage of light leather armour and smaller weapons such as a Rapier or a Dagger. The Duelist, like the Warlock, will not have the physical strength to use the heavier armour class or weapons in the world and will therefore have to rely on their agility to avoid damage in combat. 


Background & Environment Visuals

The tutorial level for our game will be set in the basement of a tavern. This is where the protagonist of the game lives so there will be a small area dedicated to their personal belongings and another section that may be used for storage for the tavern above. Below is a general plan of the level we are going to create. 




Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the tutorial level will be created by Alister Martin using Garage Band. The music will take inspiration from the soundtracks of other fantasy games and films. 

Props & Assets

The following are the sketches created by Taighlor McNally for all of the props that we will be creating for our tutorial level. 




Cutscenes

As this will be a tutorial level for a game we will not be creating any animated cutscenes for it. However, in the full release of the game there would be fully scripted cutscenes for important parts of the story. 

Programming

The level will be designed and programmed using Unreal Engine 4's UDK (Unreal Development Kit). This is because UDK has good integration with Blender, the program we will be using to make our assets, allowing us to easily import, test and tweak our assets as we further develop the level. 

Functionality