Intro

The first sprint is nearing its end and some progress was made. We started replacing our blockouts with real props and textures and worked hard to implement as many platform functionalities as we could. We also started working on interacting with certain types of platforms and the basic elements of the sabotage mechanics.

The artists were busy modeling and texturing, but also hammering down the robot design. Since we started off extremely abstract it was necessary for us to think how exactly we would integrate the platforms into a real mechanical body, as well as what the individual modular parts would look like. It turned out our 2D approach made it significantly more difficult to come up with logical platform alignments - since we didn't just wanna go for a robot that has some platforms slapped on top of it. We wanted it to feel as if the players were actually climbing its body parts. In hindsight, the decision to make the game full 2D proved to be shortsighted, as it made things harder for the artists.

Nevertheless, we tried out best to come up with good designs with the restraints we made for ourselves and hope the final product will still reflect out original vision that we found so cool.

The Robot 

With the Translation of platforms in 2D proving to be quite the challenge the team has had to take a lot of liberties and is still working on finding an efficient way to communicate both the titan as a whole and the various platforms that the player can interact with.

The Platforms 

This week we finished up modelling the two left over platforms. 

After that we immediately went to work with the texturing. We wanted stylized and detailed textures, keeping in mind the colours on the design sheet, with material definition to distinguish them as hero assets from other objects in the scene.

The Character

Once the platforms were completed, we moved on to sculpting the character for our game. Our usual approach was to start with a blockout and gradually refine it with more details.

During the process, we experimented with different eyes, as each one gave the character a distinct vibe.

 

After finalizing the eyes, we sought feedback from other teammembers. One member suggested tweaking the face shape, which we promptly did. While awaiting feedback, we added a jacket and initially incorporated tears, but eventually decided to swap them out for a piece of gum and a lollipop to give the impression that the character had been scavenging in the trash.

Here is the final result of the character. 

Finally, we retopologized and unwrapped the character to prepare for texturing and rigging next week.

The Background

We continued working on the models we would arrange in the background to create our city scene.  Now, with most of the modular parts done, we could begin assembling the backdrop layers.

Traps

This week, we have also initiated the process of developing the traps that will be utilized throughout the level. The primary function of these traps is to provide a competitive advantage to the player by obstructing the progress of the other players, ultimately resulting in a favourable outcome.

Button

These buttons will be used to activate the various traps throughout the level. They will be placed near the trap they activate.

Disappearing Platform

This platform will, when activated, retract into the level. This way, any player standing on this platform will fall off if they're not fast enough. It will also alter the path other players will have to take to progress through the level.

During this first production sprint we found out we're still learning a lot about general organization of our work. Unreal and Perforce still had a lot in store for us when it comes to unexpected surprises but we intend to take this experience and conclude this sprint with flying colors next week.

Multiplayer

On the player side of things we needed to ad in the multi player aspect, seeing as it is a local coop game it is a pretty big part of the game so we needed to get multiple people in the same level controlling different characters with different controllers , and also making sure they are all still in frame

Multi controllers

Starting with the controllers: it was a pain  and a struggle. we had already looked at this a little during the holiday but it didnt lead to anything specific and we focused on finishing the other parts we had planned for that week of production. but giving it more time didnt simplify things, in the end it is working and functional with currently 3 players that spawn in at the start of the game , 1 on keyboard and 2 with controllers.

Multi camera

For the camera it is relatively simple for now as it is (for now atleast) more to keep track of the players as they move around the level and test the other mechanics that will be implemented. currently it just takes the position of all the players on the 2D plane  and gets an average of that, then we add a few offsets to it to get the desired angle and viola: working camera. in accord to our design this wont be the last we see of the camera but it is already a great start and we are glad this was implemented still this week