Entry 024 - Moveable Cells & Force-Field

Although a feature might seem easy to program, most of the time it's not. Movable Cells for instance, a simple idea of being able to move certain dedicated cubes. To make them feel new, I made a kind of teleportation system. But in order to get it to work, it took me days of pure frustration... well, for now it is done. There's still a little error, but it's not critical, hence screw it for now and continue working on other parts of the game.

But what are Movable Cells? How do they work? The Cells themselves will lie around all over the map. Once you get close to one it'll glow indicating, that it can be activated.

Foreground: Usable Movable Cell / Background: Force-Field.

Now that it's been marked as active, you can interact with certain platforms on the ground. If triggered using a key, the lastly activated Movable Cell will be teleported to the platform. But there's a little catch: once a Cell has been activated, no other one can be used until the original one has been deactivated.

An activated Movable Cell; on top of a platform.

Other than that, I've done a lot of thinking, mostly about the story and the environment. Especially the last one became boring to look at... don't get me wrong, it worked well but I came up with something different. A sky-box. But a fake one, that is merely some kind of a projection onto the sphere. If you get to close to the sphere, a force-field will appear to show off the levels boundaries.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 023 - Energy Cells gone?

Well, it (again) has been way too much time since the last post and I dearly apologize for that. Let me start with the Energy Cell System: I continued working on it and had a version with a carriable cell that was even throwable AND, if thrown on a cell station, went right in there. It was gorgeous to look at but once I tried implementing more than one cell it all just broke. No matter which cell you grabbed, only the first one to be placed in the map was grabbed. I broke it down the easiest way possible to get rid of the problem, but after almost two weeks of pure despair I gave up... guess that was the point where my programming knowledge ended (since I am designer, not to forget).

Edit: Not to forget, I worked with cells to trigger from a distance. It was alright and functional but... it just didn't feel right hence another two weeks gone. Not wasted, though, since I learned a lot about tracing within the UE4.

The Switch Cell (off/on) and the Movable Cell.

So what to do? For now, all three skills will be accessible using dedicated keys. Once I figure out a way to implement a HUD working great with VR a queue skill-set might be implemented (more on that later... eventually). Other than that I made the textures for switches and a moveable cell working with pressure plates. Besides that some optimizations were made; for instance a better and more flexible checkpoint-system or an enhanced lighting setup etc. Also finally I do have an idea for a great ending of the game, story-wise of course.

After all you can see I was definitely busy even though I was sick with the flu for two weeks. The next things to consider for the project are: getting to a feature finish being close ahead and figuring out the financial part. One consideration might be switching to Patreon or even making a crowdfunding campaign... but only once the features are mostly done and I have started the level design. That's it for now, take care!

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 022 - Energy Cells 2.0

Since last time a few things have happened. First of all the Energy Cell Texture has been improved for the lying around actor. At the same time, the whole blueprint has been redone to get rid of some issues I had. Previously the interaction was defined by an Overlapping event that worked, until the player threw the Cell right in front of him. To fix that, I instead used a Tick event with an "Is Overlapping Actor" that it working alright. This did come with new problems but that is programming I guess...

Left: Common Switch - Right: Energy Cell Station (both wip)

At the same time I started working on the Switches and the Cell Stations, where the Cell itself have to be put in in order to provide any other actor with energy (activate Switches etc.). And that pretty much wraps it up for this time.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 021 - Energy Cells

So last news it spoiled the Energy Cells and well, let's have a look at them. But first: what has changed my mind to implement them after all? The answer to that is simple, I figured out how to make them be in front of everything (no clipping). Within the materials there's an option called "Disable Depth Test" that, combined with a translucent material, does exactly that.

Energy Cell Prototype - Can be Taken and Thrown

The white "stripes" indicate, that the player can interact with the object. So once you get close enough you can use the object and in this case grab it. Once that is done, it'll be displayed close to you:

Energy Cell Prototype - Carried by the Player

I've also managed to make the item throw-able already hence hitting the F key will throw the Energy Cell away. If it does land on the floor, it can be grabbed again. Though if it does fall down, it'll respawn at its initial position. This system works perfect although I did use some tricks...

Besides that a nice material effect has been done that will show off the current energy for the carried Energy Cell itself. And well, only the basic Cell is in the game so far, meaning that in the future the other ones with the actual skills will follow. Last, quick notice: I am currently thinking of removing the Electricity Induction Cubes or re-doing them.

That's all for now, stay tuned for more awesome info!
Greetings,
Dave

PS: The purple cube is being used for the Teleportation Energy Cell.

Entry 020 - PC broken and Packaging Problems

The last few weeks have been a pain in the ass. Beg me pardon for this expression, but truth must be spoken. First of all I have had problems packaging the game, it just never worked. I tried getting rid of all the errors but it just didn't work. A whole week I was devastated until I made the decision, to "redo" SPLIT. But before I even got the chance to do so, my PC (mainboard) broke.

I have had problems before with my board, so that my CPU only used 1,2 instead of 3,4 GHz (i7 2600k). That wasn't perfect but it worked and I hoped it at least would be okay until Skylake (i7 6700K) would arrive... of course, it didn't last. So now I am working with my Notebook, though it does not have enough power to work properly with (especially VR).

Therefore until Skylake is released I have to work with my Notebook and for the last three weeks I did. I am almost done re-creating SPLIT and I am very happy with that since the UE4 finally does package the project properly. But yeah, that's pretty much it. Re-creating SPLIT in a new project (everything newly imported etc.) and trying to set up my Notebook so I can work with it. And well... I did some other stuff like I figured out a way to implement the Energy Cells but that's a news for the next blog entry.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 019 - Prototyped Walkable Mainmenu

This time let me present a short glance of the prototype for a walkable mainmenu. The menu items are being switched/scrolled using the arrow keys or the mouse wheel. To active the currently selected item, left klick or enter is being used. It's but only a little test for now and there are several other ideas worth considering.

Mainmenu Prototype - With Walkable Dummy Options Area

You might be asking, why no news for the Energy Cells? Well, I ran into several issues I couldn't resolve due to engine limitations and VR itself. Therefore I stoped working on it (for now) to clear my head to come up with new ideas... and in the meantime the mainmenu sounded like a sweet idea.

Greetings,

Dave

Entry 018 - Visual Feedback & FX

While still trying to find a solution (almost did it) to the carriable Energy Cell, I did a few things to improve the effects for the Slowmotion and the Player Health. So let's get started with the player health:

Player Health - Visual Feedback (left death, right wounded)

As your health decreases, so does the saturation while the chromatic aberration and the vignette effect decrease. For the Slowmotion instead contrast, bloom and motion blur (only noticable in motion) are being changed to get a brighter and more intense image.

Slowmotion - Visual Feedback (left active, right not active)

So how did I manage to do that? If you remember Entry 16 I figured out the "Make Post Process Settings" function and used it to my advantage. The short version of what happened: after a couple of failures (like one special function for everything) I created many variables and a function that does update the post process settings whenever needed.

Custom Post Process Tick Function using Variables

It basically uses variables to update itself. It's being fired using the Tick Event, BUT: there's a branch checking if it is needed at all. So for instance, if the health is above 100 and there is no effect going on it won't be used saving performance. Now the only thing that's left to do is to change the variables in order to create an effect which can be seen in the image below.

Slowmotion FX using Variables to work with the Custom Function

This is a bit more complicated in order to achieve a fade out once the energy used for the skill is going from 100 towards zero. What can also be seen is another custom function called "Set_PostProcessSettings_Reset" to restore the settings to default if the respective checkbox is checked. All of this is but a tiny glimpse and does only represent a small aspect of the entire solution.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 017 - Health System

As promised, I'd like to introduce you to the simple health system in SPLIT. But first: what do I need a health system for, isn't it better to just use triggers that "kill" you immediately? Most events are like that already, but imagine a fire in a 3D environment that kills you if you get to close, while in other first person games it just decreases your health the longer you stay in there. That's why (and other reasons) I came up with a very basic but flexible solution.

 Player Blueprint & example Actor Blueprint

Within the Player Plueprint is a simple variable that can range from -1 to 100 (clamp). The sequence you see is being triggered by a Tick Event. As long as no invulnerability is active (there's an item to come that makes you invulnerable to any damage except falling) the health variable will be count up to a max of 100. Except the Health Regeneration is being deactivated of course (usefull little addition). Afterwards it is checking the player health <= 0, if so, an event will be triggered. But that event is actually a matinee (death anim), therefore it needs to be sent to another Blueprint (Map Functions) within the map, that then triggers the matinee using an Event Dispatcher.

Now to drain the health you but only need another Blueprint communicating with your Player Blueprint. Simply use the setup shown in the image above and it'll decrease your health by 5 for every tick (the higher the value, the faster you'll tick down).

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 016 - Cube Item, Map Preset and Post Processing

Lately I promised some more information about grabbing items. For the endgame of SPLIT I thought of special Energy Cell Cubes: they are needed to activate switches and can be grabbed and carried through the level. There will even be three different versions in order to create a challenging last third of the game. Originally the only difference between them should have been the dimension in which the player is able to carry them (blue can only be carried in the blue dimension). But that felt a bit boring after quite some time and I was searching for an alternative. Luckily, one night in bed (I almost fell asleep) it hit me: an Energy Cell Cube that buffs the player. That would add a whole new layer to the game, like one cube that makes you invulnerable to damage but slows you down at the same time. This is but only an example of what can be done with this feature. Added the ability to be able to throw the Energy Cells could lead to even more astonishing puzzles!

There's just one design problem for now (not to mention an insane blueprint): how are they carried? I tried several solutions; a cube just being attached to the player, a small icon like cube... but there are clipping issues (cube goes through walls) and considering that SPLIT is being developed to run perfectly with VR there are other issues. The screenshot below shows the current prototype but I'll definitely have to figure out real solution to this.

Map Center and Energy Cell attached to Player POV Camera

What can be seen in the screenshot as well is an advanced preset map with a center. Both cubes in the middle (blue and red) will rotate every time you switch dimensions as kind of an indicator slash mechanism that actually triggers the switch itself. On the left side of the screen you can see green numbers, they represent your current health. Yes, health! I've been busy implementing a health system (more on that later).

"Make Post Process Settings" function in Player Blueprint

While doing the health system I was thinking of a good feedback using post process effects. The slowmotion already uses a plane in front of the player camera with an fx material. The plane switches its visibility hence creating the slowmotion effect itself. But do I wanna add another cheap solution like this for the health feedback? Wouldn't it be cooler to change the post processing using a variable within the player blueprint? So I tried a few things and came up with a great solution (see image above). The "Make Post Process Settings" function offers anything I could dream of. Now I have to just figure out which values to change and the math behind it to create some nice fadings.

Greetings,

Dave

Entry 015 - Back from Vacation

There haven't been any news lately due to the fact that I was on vacation. Being back home, work continues of course. So what's next?

I thought a lot about more and new features to implement. One of them will be worked on within the next days and it'll be some kind of an easy grab item function. Once I've got a first prototype, I'll get a bit more into detail but until then stay tuned.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 014 - The Big Sphere

If you've read all the previous posts and checked either IndieDB or the UE4 Forums, you might have heared about the huge Sphere. If not: it's the sphere that inherits all puzzle- and mini-Spheres. Its scale is just huge and it took a lot of effort to create a prototyped version, but here is a sneak peak of it.

Huge Main-Sphere - First Prototype (Scaling is final though)

It's mainly a huge dome with a sky in it (not final yet) and it works like a solar system. Right in the center will be an energy source (like the sun) and around it you'll find the puzzle-Spheres (like planets). What's yet missing is the mini-Spheres (moons)around the puzzle-Spheres but that'll be there soon.

This biggest challenge is, besides the placement, rotation etc. of the puzzle- and mini-Spheres, the extreme size of the environment. Trying to compile the map uses 31.1GB of memory space, it has already been shrinked due to that! Else, the skybox is kind of tricky. It oughta look like an artificial solar system combined with the "planets" inside. I'm still struggling with the frame around but in my opinion, it supports the "fake"-look I am going for. There is much more to do, but that is what I've accomplished so far (since especially the compiling was a pain in the ass: make the area just a bit bigger and it'll say I don't have enough memory).

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 013 - Documentation and Game Design

So you might be wondering why there haven't been any updates so far. Did I just do nothing or what is it? The simple answer is, that I just haven't had anything to show. Therefore, what have I done?

Well first of all a lot of brainstorming. Came up with new features, new puzzle ideas and new gameplay elements. Besides that I was mostly writing documents to keep a good overview of the project itself. And then I also continued working on the preset map for both the puzzle and the big area, where all the spheres are in. As soon as I have anything new to show, I'll definitely do so, just a few more things to finish first.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 012 - Preset Map and new Cubes

After I've been making SPLIT public using the UE4 Forums and IndieDB, I decided to take a small break. That's why there haven't been any updates for quite some time but that doesn't meen I did nothing at all.

Preset Map

First thing I did is, I started creating a preset map. It includes everything such as an entrance and exit, the dying animation (logo movement), the CheckPoint system and most important: ordered assets within folders (right side of the picture).  This allows for a better workflow where everything can be found easily making the level design process much easier. Oh and I finally managed to enhance the respawn points: until now the direction the player was looking towards when he fell was the same direction he looked at upon spawning since the teleport function (Blueprint) did not affect the rotation. To get rid of that I used a so called "Set Control Rotation" with the "Get Player Controller" and an "Get Actor Rotation" after the inital spawn action and... it finally works (LINK).

Spike Cube and deadly Surface

Second, I created two new types of cubes. The first one is a new, deadly surface being inspired by my Bachelor Thesis Project "Dimensions". It's the black surface with white, glowing edges in the screenshot above. The other new cube is a Spike Cube: it's deadly as well but floating and moving around within a certain area. Using a heightmap and tessellation to achieve a dangerous spikey effect it is clear, that this one should be avoided at all cost.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 011 - First Gameplay Footage

Without further ado, I present to you the first gameplay footage of SPLIT.

First Gameplay Footage of SPLIT (WIP)

Please keep in mind that it only does represent the current status of the game. It's not a finished map but a mere prototype level to showcase some of the projects features and its overall style. Despite the placeholder track running in the background, no sound has yet been created or placed.

What can already be seen is a steadily increasing difficulty. First the Dimension switch is only being used on solid ground, later while jumping and then combined with other mechanics like different Special Cubes and the Jump Boost. Besides the obvious there are other puzzles like the ball example to display the possibilities given... not to mention that changing between Dimensions does not only change certain cubes, it also reshapes certain environments.

In this very prototype you can see this once the player reaches the natural area filled with water. For now it's only a simple effect without any impact on the gameplay whatsoever, but in the future a lot of puzzles will be based on that principle. It may not just be that in one Dimension it is cold (therefore the ice) and in one warm (raining instead of snowing, water instead of ice) but it might be something like changing gravity, light and other parameters. Therefore no level will be the same since you have to find new strategies everytime.

Now you might doubt, why the sphere, how come there are plants in the middle of a cubical environment? Trying not to spoil too much about the story, I'd like to say that these areas have been created as kind of testchambers. Someone or something was trying cross between dimensions and the spheres have been the perfect build to contain probable catastrophies due to the experiments. What experiments? How come the cubes float? How come it is even possible to switch between Dimensions in the first place?

About that and more you'll find out in SPLIT once upon its release.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 010 - Prototype almost done

First of all I'd like to apologize for the lack of information recently. I would have loved to share all I did, but once I've gotten into a certain kind of workflow, there is no time for writing any news... there is but only time for working. So what have I been working on exactly?

In-Editor Screenshot - Current Prototype Status

Actually quite a lot, new features have been implemented while otheres have been improved. And all of that to achieve one big goal: making a working and playable prototype of SPLIT. For the moment I can't tell much except that I am in the polishing phase which is gonna take a bit more time BUT once I am finished, you'll get a full video showing the current state of the project. Anyways, I don't wanna leave you with nothing, therefore the little in-editor screenshot as a little tease.

Stay tuned,
Dave

Entry 009 - Transfer to Unreal Engine 4.7

So today it finally happened, the version 4.7 of the Unreal Engine 4 got released. I've been waiting for this for quite some time, since I've been working with 4.5 until now.

Why am I so interested in the newest version? It does have many new interesting features and an overall better performance, especially for the rift. Therefore I converted SPLIT to 4.7 and haven't run into any issues so far and... may it be just my imagination, but everything feels way more smooth. More infos will follow soon, as always!

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 008 - Working on the New Style

Since I haven't been happy with the old Design anymore, I changed it quite a lot.

New Cubic Design - WIP Editor-Screenshot

As you can see, I am trying to set up a unique array of cubes simply with the use of different placements. Additionally, there are certain types of cubes to create an interesting contrast. On top of that, this kind of architecture allows for an easy implementation of many environmental themes as seen in the screenshot above. It still is work in progress, but there will be more waiting for you in the near future.

Greetings,

Dave

Entry 007 - Design, Design and again... Design

Sometimes it just seems like you're not happy with some of your work anymore. May it be simple mechanics that aren't fun enough or a style that just doesn't feel right. You start questioning yourself and that is what has happened to me for the last few days.

The style of SPLIT just didn't feel right. It's looking cool for quite some time, but after a while it becomes (how to put it) "meh". In addition, some gameplay mechanics didn't fit and it limited the overall possibilities. Hence I did a little pause looking for other methods, to enhance the interior of the inner spheres.

Screenshot from old Bachelor of Arts Presentation

I remembered my old Bachelor Thesis project that worked very well with cubes only. It seperated itself from other games due to its use of contrast and cube design, making it feel unique. Another benefit has been the simplicity: without a big budget you could create amazing puzzles and it just worked.

Cubical Style better suited for VR?

Therefore I created a small test map to see, if cubes would work in the game. It's but a mere perception of how it could look like. Why the Oculus Rift shot? Using simpler materials and models you can save a lot of performance which is a huge plus. Of course the materials used in the screen only consist of a base white, though with a little effort I could create a new style that achieves what my bachelor project once did...

All in all I am still experimenting by mixing a new, cubical style with the hexagons from the previous versions. If it's gonna work? Who knows, I'll just keep testing.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 006 - Feature Implementation: Electricity Induction

In order to be able to create an almost fully functional prototype I started working on the so called "Electricity Induction" feature. What it means is, that the player can induce electricity into a special type of hexagon that then reacts and does something. For now it goes up by a bit, waits and then goes down again.

So how does it work? It's basically like a switch that can be used from far away. Also after a few tests I decided to change it so that a simple click won't be enough. The longer you aim at the hexagon and the longer you hold left mouse, the higher the platform will rise.

Electricity Induction Feature in Action

As seen in the video, once you aim at the hexagon and are close enough, the center starts glowing indicating that the player can interact with it. If you then press left mouse a value will be increased (left side of the screen) depending how long the button is being held. The moment it's being released, the hexagon will rise depending on the value... or in short: the longer you hold left mouse, the higher the hexagon will go up. As a little neat extra I also added a light that is getting brighter to give feedback on how long the left mouse button has been held already.

Making the Feature work within a complex Blueprint.

For anyone of you who's interested in how this all works, the picture above displays the wip Blueprint. It features many complex parts such as a tracing function (is player looking at the object), a distance function (is he close enough), an actual action function (moving the component) and many many more. The comments are a mere reminder for bugs left to fix.

I hope you enjoyed this more in depth news item.

Greetings,
Dave

Edit: I have fixed both problems, "Broken if being looked away" by simply rearranging the order and adding a set electricity amount to 0. "Need check OR is in OverlapTrigger" has been way more complicated at first, though at the end a second check after it's not being looked at did the trick (is overlapping actor branch after looked at and before set visibility and being targeted).

Entry 005 - mini-Spheres

Currently I am working on a different part of the game, the mini-Spheres. They will be way smaller than the puzzle-Spheres and they'll include other areas such as research labs etc.

Possible Design Choices for the mini-Spheres?

Research labs? Huh? Yes and a lot of the story will be explained within these areas. What exactly I won't tell... not yet at least.

As seen in the image above I am trying to find an appropriate style that both stands out from the puzzle-Spheres but also fits the overall design.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 004 - Research

One of the most important steps to create an environment that feels believable and possible is research. Since I am still working on the style for SPLIT, I need to know what I can use.

Like what materials can be used for the architecture? Is carbon fiber the right choise? Might aluminium be better suited? All these questions have to be asked in order to create a world the player can believe in.

Which Material is the better Choice?

In this case, can the sphere be completely made out of carbon fiber? Since it is very expensive and hard to repair, aluminium might be the smarter choice for the basic structural work. Still, for smaller objects carbon fiber might be way more efficient, especially for moveable entities.

Besides basic materials energy plays a big role. The sphere is futuristic and self sustaining, it should work anywhere and without any fossil fuels. Sun energy then? What if it's too far away from any sun? Therefore the current resolution might be cold fusion.

These are just two examples to show, how important it is to research possibilities for any type of game based on its setting. But now I have to get back to... researching.

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 003 - Changed Sphere & Working on Mainmenu

During the weekend I changed a few things, most important: I reworked the inner sphere design. It's actually the same mesh but with a supporting, metallic like structure.

Changed Sphere Mesh

Second, I started working on a fully functional 3D Mainmenu. The clue is, that it does not need any mouse click or key command to work properly. Since SPLIT will be working with the Oculus Rift, looking at a button will trigger it after a few moments.

New 3D Mainmenu Prototype

For now the looking at the button works and is being highlighted by triggering a light in front of the object. Also a rollout and rollin animation has been done same as a simple event for "OnClick" (small movement).

Greetings,
Dave

Entry 002 - Back on Track & Changing Design

I know it has been a while, but for personal reasons I had to take a break. But hey that's life, isn't it?

Anyhow, I continued working on the project and changed the dimensional platforms. Now you can easily see, if you're either looking at a common or influencable entity. (see the cross).

New Design for Dimensional Platforms

Also I changed the FX, when a platform only exists in the other dimension using e.G. tessellation.

Greetings,
Dave