Ethyn.net

game loop concept explanation


To summarise, I aim to follow a scene creation system that is modular and doesn’t rely on the surrounding experiences, providing freeform exploration in whatever we desire as developers. I am aware that my development style can be somewhat sporadic and chaotic, so I want to do this in order to minimise the chances of dragging my teammates' work down in any way, shape, or form!

• WEEKLY QUESTION #2

This is my favourite game ever, Fable (2004) released on the original XBOX.
It’s a B-grade medieval life simulation game set in the fictional world of Albion (a mimicry of medieval England).

When I was very young, I was inexplicably drawn to this game. I loved the idea of living in a digital world, buying homes, working jobs, and building relationships with villagers, even going so far as marrying and having children with them. The main mechanic of the game that stood out was its MORALITY system. Every action either had a good or bad consequence to the players' KARMA. If the player continuously was evil, they would start growing devil horns, attracting swarms of bugs, and scaring anyone in their path. And in the same way, if they were always GOOD, the players' skin would glow with mana, a halo would form above their head, and the villagers of the world would begin to absolutely adore them.

Mapping Fable to the colours of game design seems pretty straight forward...

I would map Fable as a mix between Fantasy and Toy, resulting in SIMULATION.
At a foundational level, the game aims to give players a fantasy world to experiment in, simulating their own role and seeing how it causes a ripple effect in the outer simulation and therefore the overarching systems of the game. 


It's always helpful for me to break down greater concepts, such as the genre of game, into mappable charts in this way. This allows me to view my games’ mechanics and systems from a “top-down” perspective, combing and seeing the results of play before going forward into implementation. I absolutely believe it is insightful and helpful!

Final Elevator Exterior design
(I especially like how the red texture warps depending on which angle the player is viewing it from)

I started by creating a room with matching livery to the elevator, with a slot for a window.

Next I made an interigation room of complete opposite hue, with a one sided window

To begin, I started screenshotting interesting characters I found on Kroad via Google Earth. I believe this is a fast-paced way of capturing the humanity I aim to represent. I believe it is also ethical to do so because Google Earth censors and therefore anonymises them, leaving only their recognisable archetypes. I found so much enjoyment in this that I continued to scout out iconic souls! 

Civilain Sheet 2

Below are my first explorations in animating a civilian using only a single image of them.
To do this, I warped, layered via cut, and flipped the limbs of the character, using Photoshop’s timeline to morph the still image into a basic walk cycle which I believe encapsulates the personality of the person being represented.

I implemented the block and first character into the unity scene as a 2D billboard sprite which always faces the player camera using a simple custom script.
I am blown away at how good it looks already!

Using the same methods, I created 6 more civilians with their own animations vaguely representing their archetype. This took a decent amount of time but very clearly was worth the exploration.

I started getting slightly carried away, adding more NPC’s, a daynight cycle, roads, pavement, AND A DRIVABLE VEHICLE

Finally, for the cherry on the top, I added an Iphone camera allowing for observations true to life.

Auckland “GTAified” map
While on the topic of digitally capturing Kroad and the general vibe of Auckland city, I designed a compact layout holding all the notable landmarks.
This would be the dream map. If I were able to expand upon the idea I’ve worked on over the last 2 weeks.

FarCry 3 Inspired level early stage
So that's exactly what I did! I created a “devil’s lettuce” plant using imagery online and placed it very densely in a small area. I added the flamethrower UI, animated it to bounce with the player's movement, and created a script which enables an animated fire sprite while holding mouse 1 (left click).

I then added a trigger box in front of the character that is also enabled while holding left click. Whenever a drug crop prefab collides with the fire trigger box, a burn sequence will initiate, causing fire to climb up the prefab and for it to burn to the ground after a set amount of time.

Finally, of course, I added the same Skrillex track to the scene to emulate that feeling I felt at 13.

This was a surprisingly simple yet effective floor/mechanic to implement! Next I will spend time developing my already established floors further.

Kroad Level further development
Earlier this semester I moved out of my parents' house and into a flat closer to uni with people I didn’t know.
During this process I was met with COUNTLESS flat/apartment viewings that were practically unlivable. These places were either unethical leaky shoeboxes, or they cost an arm and a leg! I was feeling the housing crisis hard. And without even thinking about it, I channelled these feelings into designing equally unlivable flats for the Kroad level of my game.

To start, I used the same Trade Me listings I was desperately scouring weeks prior as a resource to create an Auckland Depressing Flat Texture Atlas.

I then UV mapped these textures to simple cube geometry, once again extruding and cutting into areas that geometrically had higher detail.

To wrap up the Far Cry 3-inspired level, I made a small adjustment to the fire script that allowed the flames to climb further up the plants, resulting in a greater simulation, closer to the way it works in Far Cry as well as real life. I also added sounds to the flamethrower when being activated, in addition to each fire sprite outputting a cracking flame sound. Of course, I had to add an exit amongst the plants to be uncovered, and finally, I fixed the surrounding skybox and ground textures, making it match the scene I am attempting to mimic.

Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to add camera/colour effects simulating the player getting “high” in the same way it occurs in FC3.
 Other than that, I believe that I achieved a realistic burning simulation with adequate sound design and simple, straightforward, yet close-ended mechanics.

For the car level I added a pre-driving scene that allows the player to see and hear the vehicle they are about to have a manic episode in.
Once the player collides with the Lamborghini, they are teleported inside, hyper dance music starts playing, and hundreds of cars begin to move towards the player. While they are told “YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON EVER”, I implemented an actual physics-based driving system instead of simply mounting UI to the basic player controller, which allows for drifting, wheelspin, and varying levels of acceleration, as well as sound design to match. I also added rigid body force against any vehicles that collide with the front of the player's car, indicated by an explosion sprite sheet and sound effect; cars are lifted and pushed with massive force forward. 

Reflecting on the scene, I feel it possibly lacks depth, explanation, and assets/graphics to make the experience feel connected to the rest of the game. 
I am excited to move forward!

TWO IS ONE, AND ONE IS NONE!!!