June 23, 2021
Getting Started Again & Backlog
We started this project in ARVR 300, Spring 2021, and finished the quarter with a fully designed and playable game level with really cool player mechanics and abilities. However, we did not have any UI elements, we needed to polish our environment layout, fix some tech issues with traps and overall, have a game that finishes from start to end. We will be continuing to work on tech issues and debugging, finalizing our game level layout/environment, implementing UI elements and sounds, and finishing a few new assets. We created a backlog list for everything we needed to do to finish and polish our game for this summer:
TECH
- Make an .exe
- Working “trap charge” indication
- Working bubbles (shrines)
- Trap destruction working
- Code traps to leave after a certain amount of time
- Make sure soft-locking is not possible (Trap limits, ability respawns)
- Working portal
- Solid end screen UI with visual cohesion
- Control/tutorial screen (in world, not widget)
- explains how to play, diegetic
- Working invisibility
- Refresh blueprint to make all aspects of character invisible
- Tweak variable timing to make invisibility viable
- Make the shader actually invisible to the god
- New traps
- squid that you squeeze, ink makes footprints visible
- shell spikes shooting from ground
- More ‘activatable’ traps (pull, squeeze)
- More traps/better god game feel
- Tweak god movement speed/method
- Clear and simple trap access (Diegetic HUD for trap selection)
- add haptic feedback for vr controllers
- Make tentacle test where its landing
- bounding box for VR player movement
ART
- Start screen
- 2D art for Splash Screen
- Art for buttons, menu backgrounds, and UI
- UI elements scripted and working with settings/menus
- End screen
- Art for End screen
- Death screen
- Art for death screen
- Character death animation
- Implement sound effects for (footsteps, portal, temple power up, shrine bubbles)
- God animations (Hand clenching pose, destruction animation for God Head)
- Shrine ambience
- Getting rid of tile gaps
- general geometry clipping pass over tiles
- make sure traps can be placed without overlapping anything significant or hindering
- Control screen designs
- Squid trap model
- Replace the trap trace with a mesh and material instance
- Horizon line updated for VR player
- Bubble material
POST PRODUCTION/DESIGN
- Cementing power dynamic
- As of now, the god is limited by the power and time limitations of the traps. This dynamic could be improved by increasing the immediacy of certain traps and perhaps giving him an “ace in the hole” ability that gives the PC player a reason to avoid his line of sight.
- Tutorial/Menu
- Both players have a lot of dynamic abilities that aren’t super clear at the moment. A well defined, well written tutorial screen will give both players the tool to battle fairly and competitively.
- Clarify “playground” (separating background assets from actual play space)
- Because the traps and abilities work on a ‘grid’ system, these grids need to be well defined and have a good game-feel. As of now certain decorative elements blur the line between what is a playable space and what isn’t. A thorough planning and decorating process for the environment should be done.