Practical Skills

Floorplanner.com

Here is a floorplan for my level, later on in the project I found I needed a base concept to compare my project to in the evaluation, so I created this, as this was already in my rooms and just had to add a few boxes to flesh it out. As you can see I deviated a bit from this design; I mirrored the door to the other side. This was because I felt it just fit to have it this way, later in the project however I changed the corridor to be further down the corridor to create some more space.

Initial Room Design:

I wanted to do the room in 3ds Max, but when I imported it into Unreal it become alot more difficult to make changes to its geometry. So I dedcided to scrap the 3ds Max FBX and do it all in Unreal Engine. This was because I didn't like that I couldn't change the geometry if it didn't feel right, making the process inefficient and arduous.

Unreal Iteration:

In unreal I am able to change the player space to make it more roomful, I threw some filing cabinets into walls to make it look as if it has been raided. I also have logged what has happened so the creation of the story is easier and has less loopholes. I also added the objects to just see how it would look while playing, I was happy with the outcome of this test as it looked like an "Indie" game, I actually think this looks like a game called "Dormatarbis", it's on gamejolt. The textures really nail this feel.

Paper Reading Effects:

When you go near readable paper in the game a few effects go off, Chromatic Aberration, grain jitter and some bloom to create a dream-like effect, I plan to add distant bullet sounds and a door kicking noise at each paper.

Roadblock:

I however hit a small setback, my Unreal Engine had crashed and my save was reverted to the 3ds max room. I took the opportunity to recreate the room in the best way possible. Allowing me to work on my key mechanic: letter reading.

03/05 Tuesday

I have gotten to a good point in my work but I need to do a lot of work and I have about 6 days to get my letters written, so I will work to get another 4 letters done.

I've finished these letters as of 08/05, giving the game some story and context to follow while observing your surroundings.

Current Level:

My game has a working environment and lighting changes, mixed with some Post Processing to lead the player to the interactables.

However I feel the game lacks polish (no pun intended), so I will make the lighting a bit moodier and add a window or 2 for atmosphere.

Lighting Updates:

I have made some lighting changes to give the game more feel. Adding a Ray Tracing Post process and turning off the rest of the lights for atmosphere. I have given the light a nice yellow tint to give the area some depth.

Lighting Updates:

I really like the effect that this has, as it can give the player clues as where to look for the letters. Also the colour of the light at the end room is slightly lighter, like it's later in the day. And I feel the way that the dust and ray tracing have with each other to give it that much more immersion.

Post-Evaluation:

Once I had finished my evaluation and looked through my research I saw that I had planned a few more mechanics and models, and so I plan to do those now and get a bit more out of the time I have:

- Battering Ram

- Evidence Bags with Guns

- Shells on the ground

- A simple interact with item button with an image of the model and a subtitled prompt about said item

I aim to get these done either in the resub or right before it.