Teesside University Final Year Project
For my Final Year Project I decided to design and create a functioning Medieval Archery game using UDK. The level would feature a working custom weapon with basic animations, and the game would allow the player to participate in a shooting range minigame that would track highscores.
Game Mechanics and Concept
The main mechanic for the custom weapon will be the aquisition of points based on how quickly the player releases the shot. This is intended to require some skill on the players part as he will not be able to simply draw the bow and hold it for a while before firing, this will result in a decline of points the player may potentially aquire and eventually the show will be cancelled out.
This ties in with the scoring system, being based on accuracy (shots fired - shots hit), time spent holding a shot, and time taken to complete a course. Using these 3 variables, the player will then be given an overall score.
The level will be a small-medium size and will feature the aforementioned archery mini-game (with varying difficulty levels), and will allow the player to explore and interact with various objects/area's in the game world.
Initial Level Concept and Current Level Concept
Initially, during the pre-production stage, it was planned out that the level would be made realistically, with strong research to tie the level to a specific period for authenticity. The textures would be slightly stylised as to not be too realistic so they would be easier on the players eyes when spotting targets during gameplay.
This however led to various complications largely attributed to the time limit of the project and my own skill as a 3D Artist. Since I would want to focus on scripting level elements and interaction, this forced me to alter my initial idea.
Since then, the concept has shifted to less of a focus on realism and the game will now include various fantasy/horror elements. This is both easier and more fun to do as it lessens the seriousness of the game concept and allows for more diverse scenarios to take place within the level.
As of January 2014, the game will now feature a tutorial to teach the player how the weapon works, an archery mini-game that the player can play and place highscores in, and an explorable area of the level littered with scripted events the player can interact with. The explorable area will be both an exercise of scripting capability, and an insight into the potential Game Concept that could be made from a simple design.
Initial Assets used for testing purposes
During the early stages of the project, basic assets were modelled and textured to give me something to use for scripting purposes.
Shortbow (Player Weapon)
This asset was the first one to be made as it was a high priority requirement for the game concept.
The model was incredibly low-poly, as the requirement only needed a basic model to work with. It featured no string and only 5 bones for animating with.
The texture itself was also very rough, with no high degree of detail anywhere, this minimised the time spent aquiring the asset and allowed me to spend more time working on implementing it.
As is very clear, this asset will undergo a complete re-model and re-texture once all the main requirements for the project are complete. This assures that if there isn't time to update it, there will still be a weapon in the game that the player will use.
Archery Targets
This asset was modelled slightly better than the shortbow. The reasoning behind this is it was an easier asset to model in general. The design would be some planks with a target crudely painted on it, held up with some rope.
The difficult part of the asset was the rope sections, which were modelled directly onto the poles instead of being a seperate object.
This meant that texturing the rope was an incredibly difficult process, and as a result the quality suffered slightly.
This asset may be re-modelled and re-textured, but is a low priority as the current model and texture works as it is.
Castle Gate
This asset will be the one used both in the level and on the main menu screen.
The main function of this asset was originally going to just be on the main menu screen, and animated to open and have a camera pass through it when the player pressed 'PLAY'.
Later I decided to use this asset within the actual level for rooms that require a larger door than just a simple wooden one.
The main issue with this asset is that it currently does not fit into any wall or asset piece and open without clipping, as such an 'archway' asset is needed to be modelled and placed around it to allow it to fit into walls and look natural.
A lot of detail was put into the texturing of this asset and as the model and textures are both of decent quality, no further revisions will be needed at a later date.
Castle Banner
This asset was made as a test for cloth simulation in UDK.
The reason for testing cloth simulation and modelling an asset to use it so early was that as a Designer I am limited in animating assets, and as such I needed a cheap and easy way to have moving objects in the level to prevent the level from looking too static and boring.
Cloth simulation within UDK provided a small solution to that problem. With the ability to now create moving cloth in the level, a plethora of potential scripted sequences and secrets within the level have been unveiled.
The model and texture are both very basic for this asset, although the model itself seems to be fine and do its job.
The texture on the other hand can be improved drastically, and will be updated at a later date.
Castle Tower (Untextured)
The Castle Tower asset has been modelled but is currently without a texture.
It is unwrapped, however no further progress has been made on it as I am unsure on whether to fake the interior of the tower with a texture, remove the window, or model a basic interior.
The player currently does not enter any of the castle towers as the level design has been set out so the player never see's beyond the castle walls. The reasoning for this is to cut down on assets, terrain, textures, and rendering distance needed for the level.
Since the player will never see over the walls, nothing needs to be placed beyond what is seen from the main menu screen.
The tower scale has been set up in relation with all other assets and fits well with the Castle Wall pieces. It's simple design and low poly count allows it to be used multiple times throughout the level and not impact performance.
Castle Wall Pieces
The castle walls have been split up into 3 asset pieces that can fit together perfectly to form a wall.
The 3 assets are a straight line piece, a corner piece at a 90 degree angle, and a corner piece at a 45 degree angle.
These pieces allow for easy changes to the boundaries of the level, and makes designing the level easier should any changes need to happen.
As of now only 1 of the pieces have their UVW's successfully unwrapped (the straight line piece), the other two are still unfinished.
All 3 assets currently have no texture but are quite a high priority for being finished.
I've purposely kept the assets low-poly and with minimal detail to allow for the additions to happen within the level editor for a more hand-crafted look. If detail was modelled directly into the walls then changes would be harder to make and every wall piece would look the same by the end of the project.
QuickDraw - Final Product Result
As the year went by, work took up the majority of my time and I could no longer keep a work diary of the progress made on the project. As a result, from this point onwards will focus on the final product, including features added to the game, concepts or ideas that were scrapped, and obstacles encountered during the project.
Various demonstrations of the game in action will also be provided.
QuickDraw Trailer Concept
Above is a teaser trailer made for the project. It was created largely as an experiment in creating game trailers and generating an interesting viewing experience while at the same time advertising the game.
QuickDraw Gameplay Examples
Zombie Horde Minigame
Above is a recorded playthrough of the minigame mode 'Zombie Horde' in QuickDraw. The video shows how to access the game mode, how one would play the mode, as well as the ending and fail states.
How the minigame works:
The player spawns into a closed arena and starts the waves by pressing 'Enter' on his/her keyboard.
After which, a 5 minute timer starts and the player must kill as many zombies and collect as many pickups as possible to score the highest points possible.
The zombies will roam freely around the arena until they spot the player, upon which they will run or walk towards the player. If they touch the player, the player takes damage. The most dangerous way for a player to die is to be cornered or surrounded by a large group of zombies, so continually moving and kiting the zombies is the best tactic when playing solo.
Health can be regained by collecting health packs which are dropped by zombies during the mode.
If the player dies at any point, the round ends and the player is given his/her final score.
If the player survives until the timer reaches 0, then the game stops spawning zombies.
Once all remaining zombies are killed, the player is given his/her final score.
Every couple of seconds a Giant Zombie will spawn. This zombie gives the most points, a guaranteed health pickup, and a weapon powerup. It is also the slowest, toughest, and strongest zombie in the level, allowing it to act as a risk/reward variable during gameplay. (Prioritising the Giant Zombie in a risky position can often lead to getting cornered or surrounded).
IMPORTANT NOTE:
This demo is a proof of concept only. It is not indicative of how the ideal final product would be and only showcases the essential concepts for the game.
