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November #OneGameAMonth (Prototype: Murakami, inspired by Killer7)

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by japtar10101, Oct 15, 2014.

  1. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Hey, guys. As part of a way to develop good habits, I'll try my best to post my progress with my #OneGameAMonth. A few things worth noting:
    • #OneGameAMonth, as the name implies, is about making one game every month. I'm starting this project pretty late for October, so instead the target release date is on the end of November.
    • Due to the short deadline, I will be using a lot of free art assets. For the purpose of prototyping, these assets will suffice.
    • Since this game is more or less a prototype of an idea, I may abandon it very quickly if I think it's not going anywhere.
    With that out of the way, lets get started. I'm cross-posting this from my blog:

    A long time ago (2 weeks back, in fact) I said on my blog that I would make a point & click adventure after being inspired by Ko-op’s GNOG. I’m finally getting started on it, and targeting the end of November for release. First step: get Unity-chan to move to different check points.



    For the code name of this project (I haven’t figured out what to title this game yet), I’m calling it Prototype: Murakami. Like the past code name convention, it’s in reference to an artist and Superflat founder, Takahashi Murakami. The plan is to create a Killer7-esque game with point & click segments, explaining the dark and flat aesthetic for this game. It is admittedly a complex and daunting task, but I’m sure it’s going to be a fun challenge.

    The next set of information was in a different post.

    Today, I implemented a button to turn the character around 180 degrees at any point in the game. Additionally, I cleaned up the running and turning animation so that the character moves very smoothly. Lastly, I updated the physics so that the player can climb and descend hills pretty easily.



    The screenshot above shows my work-in-progress with the rail system. Like Killer7, the intent is to have several branching paths. As of now, the connections between each points are working, but the ability to choose which direction to go when approaching a fork in the road is not. Hopefully that can be implemented tomorrow, making the prototype of a navigation system complete.
     
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  2. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Last time, I was in the middle of the rail system, particularly on setting up a menu that shows up when approaching a fork. Today, I have a prototype of the menu letting you know of the branching paths. Clicking on the buttons in the screenshot below will put Unity-chan down that path. Escaping from the menu is as easy as just turning around with a key-press (currently assigned to shift).



    Next up will be the camera animation. In the screenshot above, it's hard to tell that our heroine reached a fork. Thus it'll be necessary to visually show that the path does indeed split. That's a little hard to do with the current suspenseful camera angle, so triggers will be implemented to pan the camera out.
     
  3. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog.

    Yesterday, I finished the navigation, and had a working menu system to navigate from one path to another. Today, I added in camera animations to provide better view on the paths the character can take. I'm still working on update the buttons to indicate direction, but as you can see in the screenshot below, I've made some progress on that as well.



    Once I fix the buttons (you can tell the text leaking out of the screen), the plan is to start on the Point & Click puzzles. For a week-long effort, it's exciting to see the navigation working, but I still have a long way to go!
     
  4. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Here's a quick update I wrote before the Bacon Game Jam: I fixed the buttons from last time. I've also improved the camera animation to react more quickly. Similar updates has been made to the menus as well. As mentioned earlier, point & click puzzles will be next.



    While I'm working on Bacon Game Jam, there might be a mysterious post that claims it's automated. That's the playable build of Prototype: Murakami! Now that the game is in a testable state, I've configured the automated system to post publicly to this blog. The prototype is, well, in super-early state, but it should bring better context to these development updates.
     
  5. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Today was a an incredibly busy day with the Bacon Game Jam voting period going on and the inauguration of the Tech Valley Game Space. I was able to fit in a few hours for Prototype: Murakami, though, to start on the point & click portion of the game. Behold!



    Alright, I admit it, it's just a plank of wood. And I don't think I'll get any cookies when I say getting to here was a lot harder than I expected. Rest assured the next update will be a lot more interesting. In fact, you can playtest it right now!
     
  6. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Yesterday, I spent some time working on the point & click puzzle portion...and found it a lot more difficult than I expected. The point & click puzzle itself exists in the 3D space, so to convert that space into 2D controls requires a lot more math. So instead, I switched tasks and started on something simpler: being able to look around in third-person aiming mode.



    Similar to Resident Evil 4, this causes your character to stop moving entirely. Additionally, aiming is done using a laser rather than a reticle. Killer7 fans should immediately recognize what this part is for: to emulate the incredibly disjointed combat portion, just in third-person perspective.
     
  7. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    I update the point & click portion of Prototype: Murakami with a rear-view mirror and an inventory space to drop your items into. There's no items per se in the game yet, but the graphics are there for demonstration. At least the plank of wood now doesn't look that bad anymore.



    So what's with the rear-view mirror? Well, the idea is that time doesn't stop when you're approaching a point & click puzzle. While attempting to assess the puzzle, you'll also have to keep track of what's going on behind your character. This means I might put a few jump scares during the puzzle portion...
     
  8. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    After a wave of events that happened at once around this weekend, I've took a bit of break on Tuesday before getting back on Prototype: Murakami. Right now, the current build is very broken, so there won't be an automated post today, but there is a new screenshot to show off.



    Yup, Unity-chan is finally holding a gun. The plan is to have this as an equip-able item during the puzzle sequences, so there may be portions where you have to sacrifice your pistol for a brief moment to get through a certain passage. How thrilling!

    And for early credits, the pistol was created by Lotnik, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.
     
  9. makoto_snkw

    makoto_snkw

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    Wow, I'm impressed.
     
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  10. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Thanks, princeWIGUAN!

    Cross-posted from my blog

    Apologize for the late update. To be honest, I haven't had much time to put into Prototype: Murakami, and the point & click portions are proving to be more difficult than I initially expected. Still, I did add in a new feature: drag & drop into the inventory. The screenshot below demonstrates the pistol dropped into an inventory space. Should Unity-chan leave the puzzle at this state, she will now have the pistol equipped.



    As of right now, this is only a one-way drop. Once the pistol is dropped into the inventory, it can't be take out. I'll be working on making sure the pistol and other items can be dragged out of the inventory. Still, this is a pretty darn good start in my book for an inventory system, especially since I'm programming this from scratch.

    I'm still working on this puzzle portion, but I may have a playable build posted on my blog tonight.
     
  11. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Phew! The automated build is finally up! This time around, I did some re-writes on how the drag & drop is handled between the inventory and puzzle plank-of-wood, meaning now it's possible to pick-up the gun from the inventory and vice versa. Since today is #ScreenshotSaturday, here are all the screenshots!







    I'll be working on ironing out a few more things today, including wonky navigation menus, item placement not being stored at all, and more complex puzzle 3D orientations. Hopefully by next week, I can get started on combat, and with it, learning how to do IK-animations with Unity.
     
  12. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my dev-blog

    Hey, guys. Sorry for the late update. Last time, I said I was going to work on several things, including fixing the menu placement and making items persistent. While there's no save slots to store your progress, you can now carry objects from one location to another with ease. Additionally, when the pistol is in the characters inventory, not only will she be carrying the gun around, she'll carry it with her after entering doors as well! Things are finally shaping up!



    I only have a few more issues related to the point & click puzzle portions to iron out, including the orientation of the items when using them between different locations. I can finally get started on the combat portion very soon.
     
  13. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Today, I finally ironed out a lot of bugs I had left-over on the point & click puzzle portions of the game. The items being dragged around different puzzles now rotate to the correct orientation. The cursor now changes based on what action you take. Finally, the cursor appears in the game only when it needs to, i.e. when buttons appear, or you're in a point & click puzzle portion. This means that I can finally get started on the combat portion of the game.



    Actually, I take that back. I plan on taking a break for a few days due to certain circumstances (a birthday to celebrate, a few unfinished choirs, etc.). At least this time it's a scheduled break from development. I plan to be back on this project Monday next week, so stay tuned!
     
  14. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Today, I've worked on implementing gun fire. Left-clicking while aiming will fire a bullet. Additionally, firing the seventh bullet will cause Unity-chan to reload the gun with its own (terrible) animation. This leaves enemy implementation, combat upgrades, and smoother animations left for the combat portion of the game.



    While major progress is being made on the game, I have to delay it's release to the end of January. Unfortunately, I'm swamped with multiple projects for November and December, and need to shift my focus on them. Until January arrives, you can expect sporadic updated on this project (if any). I apologize for the delay, and thank you for understanding.
     
  15. zenGarden

    zenGarden

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    Promising game.
    Will that turn on a full complete game ? (Pc or android)
     
  16. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    It'll be a short game (15-30 minutes), most likely webplayer and PC, once I get back on it on January.
     
  17. radiantboy

    radiantboy

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    nice, I love Killer7, my game is also inspired by it :) good work
     
  18. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    We've been slowly developing Prototype: Murakami, largely focusing on the enemy functionality and animations. We're pretty happy that the old Game & Watch-like animations for firing and reloading the gun are now gone. Additionally, the enemies now operate correctly, although they currently don't hurt the player.



    The following animations has finally been fixed:
    • Enemies now slowly walks toward you
    • When close to the player, enemies will start sprinting towards you
    • Enemies has a bizarre death animation (which is intended)
    • Firing bullets at enemies will make them briefly stop, along with an accompanying "ouch" animation
    • Player animation for firing bullets is now much more smoother and organic
    • Fixed the player reload animation, which lets you see her face
    Adding blood and explosions is next on the list of things to do. Fun stuff!
     
  19. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Progress has been pretty slow, but we've now got a set of actions and animations to indicate the player is hurt, as well as adding particle effects for the enemy dying. While all of it is still a work-in-progress, the enemy exploding on the player is perhaps the most interesting visual effect:



    Anyways, a lot still needs to be implemented for the enemies. For one, they do not currently have one-hit weakpoints, which makes their 6-hit health points (an entire load-out of your pistol before reloading) absurd. Their hit animation that the enemies play every time the player successfully scores a hit is not very juicy yet. And a lot of sound effects are still missing. There's still a whole lot of material to cover, so stay tuned!
     
  20. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    Cross-posted from my blog

    Lots of progress has been made in making the single most important thing about this game: blood. Lots and lots of it. For #ScreenShotSaturday, we’ve got more red than one can muster!






    Only a little more polish is needed for this effect. From there, we’ll be adding a reload-pistol button, creating enemy spawners, updating the visuals and performance on the puzzle sections, and updating minor visuals on the enemy and pistols. We’re almost ready to start designing levels!
     
  21. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    [Cross-posted from my blog]

    This week, I have two updates to make about Prototype: Murakami. First, I admit to making a mistake: attempting to adding controller support to a point & click game. It's why there's been a 2 week gap between updates. The current game has partial controller support that works while moving the character. The controllers do now work during the point & click puzzle portions, however, so that will require the mouse. Next, I've been improving the UI on the game, largely to make the puzzle portions a lot more efficient. Currently there's a bug with the hint dialog, but that should be resolved shortly. The aiming mechanic is now a lot more dramatic as well.





    A few more polish will be added in a few days before level design takes place, but this completes the important features in the game. We're ready to move on to putting these parts together into a whole game.
     
  22. japtar10101

    japtar10101

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    [Cross-posted from my blog]

    Today's progress report has some good news and some bad. First off, let's go with the good: I've added a few more features. There is now an enemy spawning portal as seen in the screenshot below. They're right now set to spawn up to ten enemies total, largely to prevent farming. Additionally, when aiming, the character will waver, adding more intensity to the game.



    Unfortunately, the project is far behind the expected schedule. Due to the current (financial) circumstances, I'll be switching focus to other projects that can be completed in a shorter amount of time first, before returning to this project. The hope is to have at least a day or two of progress each week. Sorry for the terrible delay.

    While Prototype: Murakami has been punted to a lower-priority project, I do want to share how much progress I’ve made with it. I’ve noticed that the webplayers themselves has been doing poorly (I suspect it’s the Unity deferred lighting setting) so I’ve compiled and zipped the more-stable native builds. Here they are for each platform:

    Windows 32-bit | Windows 64-bit | Mac 32-bit | Mac 64-bit | Linux 32-bit | Linux 64-bit