First Week Back In Newport

The past week we have all been working from our new house. Since moving in we have made much better progress compared to when we were all working from home. The communication is much better and I feel much more motivated to work if the people around me are working as well.

The past week has mainly been spent prototyping new ideas. Many of these ideas are physics based and they could open up many different possibilities, but I feel we shouldn't move too far away from what we already have because the game may lose it's identity.

We have also made the decision to move away from the futuristic theme and try to create something that feel s like a toy world. This is mainly because the futuristic idea has been done many times and it is very difficult to get right. the toy world idea is something that is not seen in first person games and it fits with what we already have, in terms of the look of the environments and the way objects behave. The toy world idea could work well , but I feel we should be carefull. The game may feel like a Toy world in the way objects behave and players may draw comparisons with a toy world but if it is too explicit it may feel a bit cheap.

Rotating Physics Prototype

New idea for a rotating physics puzzle. The idea is to get the blue cube form where it starts to the small platform in the centre of the room. To make the goal of the puzzle clearer there is a semi transparent to show where the cube has to go. The player is not able to move the cube directly. Instead they have to use the red cubes to move it into place.
This is an early prototype so there is a lot that would need to be changed. At the moment the physics for the block are not right and will need to tweaked in order for it to work better. It should also be possible to reset the puzzle if the player makes a wrong move.

Watch Video

New Level Structure

This Video shows the new Level structure. In the previous version the level structure was completely linear which was very repetitive and if a player could not work out a particular puzzle, then they would be stuck in that level. The new level structure will allow the player to select which level they want to play and if they get stuck then they can return to the main room and try a different one. This means the game is a lot more open ended the player has more choice and is less likely to stuck. It will also be less repetitive, as long as the level selection rooms are not all the same.

In this example the player has to complete all three puzzles in order to go to the next stage, but in later levels they will all be open from the start and they will only have to complete a certain number to progress (e.g 2/3 puzzles).

This level structure will also greatly improve work flow because it will be possible to work on individual levels then move them into the right place on the map without disrupting the rest of the build.

Loading Level

New Environments

New Ideas

UDK August Build Front End Error