Search Unity

  1. Megacity Metro Demo now available. Download now.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Unity support for visionOS is now available. Learn more in our blog post.
    Dismiss Notice

Steampunk Air Combat Game

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by roger0, Jun 29, 2015.

  1. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Hello everyone. With my first game complete (Air Guardians). I have been anxious to start another game. It will be another flight combat game, but in a Steampunk setting. I will use the knowledge from the last game and apply it to this one.

    Facebook
    https://www.facebook.com/Steam-Flyers-1456058104695442/timeline/
    Twitter
    https://twitter.com/SteamFlyers








    I am not starting off completely from scratch. I am recycling a lot of code to be used in this game. Although I am heavily readjusting the old code because it was pretty messy.

    What I will do differently that I have not done with the first one is to try and build a following way before the game is released. I am creating a teaser trailer that I will promote to the best of my abilities.

    This will still be a learning project, and I'm probably going to make more mistakes. Although instead of the goal being "Can I create and finish a game? It will be "Can I finish a profitable game?". I am proud that I was able to get my first game on steam, however, the sales were very disappointing. So I am going to work on marketing a lot more this time.

    I removed some images from the thread because of potential spoilers,the thread is now ranking under the name of the game.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2015
    Karearea and DrakkarDev like this.
  2. SpaceMammoth

    SpaceMammoth

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2013
    Posts:
    220
    Has potential, for sure - I love the concept of biplanes landing on a giant train. Very cool.
     
  3. theANMATOR2b

    theANMATOR2b

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2014
    Posts:
    7,790
    Marketing and Polishing. The camera work on Air Guardians is really great, but the audio fx seemed to be a hodge-podge of random sound fx and unbalanced audio clips cut from other sources. Though the fly-by sound fx is nice quality.
    The other element that is a large focus of success in the game is when you shoot down the enemies. I think this part of your new game can really improve over the implementation in Air Guardians. With plane debris, additional particle fx beyond an explosion, better 3D explosion, texture swapping on the planes and flaming bits when the biplanes fall from the sky. That would be really rewarding to the player.

    Good luck - will watch for the next update.
     
  4. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Thanks ASpaceMammoth and ANMATOR.

    I'm working on three trailers for the game. The first one will be the train trailer, I have the 2nd one drafted and I'm still concepting the third. My plan is to release these trailers throughout its development and build a following on facebook and twitter. I will also release screenshots of the game when more models are complete.

    If the trailers spark a large interest then I will proceed to build the actual game.
     
  5. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Here is a rough draft of the 2nd trailer. Non of the models or environment have been made so everything is just placeholders. The animations and sound effects are also still in the works. But this should give you a good idea of what the trailer will look like once its finished. Let me know what you think. Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2015
  6. theANMATOR2b

    theANMATOR2b

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2014
    Posts:
    7,790
    Very nice cinematic camera work. This was done in Unity?
    If so I'd love to hear your workflow on setting this up in engine.

    Nice work.
     
  7. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    It was done in lightwave, but I plan to export and render it in Unity for the final video.

    I will export the lightwave scene as an fbx, then I will parent the finished models to the proxy models that came with the export.
     
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  8. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Today I started work on the airship models and flushed out more details on the designs of the ships. I purchased this ww2 ship pack from the asset store that I plan on using pieces from to help build the details of the airships. Stay tuned.
     
  9. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Here is the first ship of a series of ships I will be working on. This one is a destroyer. It will probably be the most common enemy airship in the game. It's not quite finished, but its getting their.

    I will be making at least 8 airships in total that will all be in the trailer. 2 destroyers, 2 cruisers, 2 battleships, and 2 carriers.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2015
  10. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Here's the next ship i'm working on. The enemy cruiser Airship. I've decided to have the enemy airships very rugged like. They wont have much steampunk glamour to them. Mostly grey colors, fashioned after ww2 ships.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2015
  11. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Here is the allied destroyer. The engines are missing though. More to come later!
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2015
  12. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Here is the allied cruiser. All of the ships have not been completely finished, but I'm getting them mostly finished and into Unity for performance testing as soon as I can. I'm also creating a workflow from blender to Unity. There's been alot of issues getting the materials exported properly.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2015
  13. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    I completed the allied carrier. Here are a few screenshots of it. Its the first capital ship to be worked on. I am getting better at lighting the scene, and discovered using ambient light as the primary light source can create much more realistic daytime scenes.

     
  14. DrakkarDev

    DrakkarDev

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2012
    Posts:
    124
    Concept and models are very cool.
    The shaders are final or still wip?
     
  15. awaterpistol

    awaterpistol

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2015
    Posts:
    25
    The Models look amazing.
     
  16. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    Thanks for the replies. The shades are still work in progress, but the last picture has the most finished shaders. Is there something that you see that can be improved?
     
  17. Guru36

    Guru36

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Posts:
    3
    It's impressive. I was one a interested to play some air war sims and found in Google one of the screenshoots with the steam zeppelins. Unfortunately it in a working stage yet. I hope my interest will be alive when game will run.
     
  18. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
  19. Guru36

    Guru36

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Posts:
    3
    It will be nice if player will able to destroy the mothership by attacking it segments. To say if it has got 5 separated sections, then player must destroy 3 of 5 parts so he can take it down.

    To hand the game charm give it old war style music, some funny gramophone style songs and classical melodies. But you need to listen ton of it on before you can make the proper play-list ;)
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2015
    roger0 likes this.
  20. StarvingIndieDeveloper

    StarvingIndieDeveloper

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2015
    Posts:
    274
    How about "Yes, We Have No Bananas" (from 1923?) and "I Stutter Too Much" (around the same time period) ? ;)
    Here's one of the original recordings of "Yes, We Have No Bananas":
     
    roger0 likes this.
  21. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    I put up a new video showing some early gameplay, what do you think? Thanks!
     
  22. StarvingIndieDeveloper

    StarvingIndieDeveloper

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2015
    Posts:
    274
    Spectacular stuff, especially the convincing physics and the sensation of flying through swarms of fighters. I think this video could easily net you a lot of interest for the game. Two things which you might want to change, however: the radio communications are going to seem strange for a steampunk game (unless it has more of a "dieselpunk" theme); and you might want to make the planes look more exotic (or at least different than historical WWI biplanes).
     
  23. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    I was thinking the same thing. The planes could use some more style. Although I'm just one person and its hard to work on modeling while pushing the rest of the game forward. Once I get performance optimization done I will work on the planes and give them a more stylized look.
     
  24. StarvingIndieDeveloper

    StarvingIndieDeveloper

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2015
    Posts:
    274
    You wouldn't need to change the modeling. Just putting steampunkish insignia on the wings etc and a different color scheme would be an effective way to change the style. Right now, the player's plane has a color scheme which is reminiscent of the P-26 Peashooter from WWII (albeit with double wings), and seemingly no insignia except numbers. Giving it Victorian-style insignia (or some other type of ornate design) would make it look more steampunk, and likewise for a color scheme which looks more Victorian. Or whatever style you're shooting for.
     
  25. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    I created a new gameplay trailer. It's the first video to show combat between airships and fighters!


    I removed some images from the thread because of potential spoilers. The thread is ranking in google under the name of the game.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2015
  26. StarvingIndieDeveloper

    StarvingIndieDeveloper

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2015
    Posts:
    274
    Spectacular video, although it was painful to see poor Jobyna Ralston getting blown up. How did you make the burning / disintegrating hull effects? I assume it's done in the shader? The only thing I would change is the manner in which the hull breaks cleanly in half, which doesn't look right. You could just have the ship fall downwards and list to one end as the hydrogen leaks out or burns off.
     
  27. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    I have 3 damage models that I replace the ship with when its taking damage. Each model has a different amount of pieces removed for each degree of damage. I see what you mean by the hull just breaking in half . It might look better if the middle section explodes into peices instead of just getting cut through.

    Jobyna Ralston is my favorite 1920's actress so I picked her to be on the ship. So no hard feelings :)
     
  28. PenguinEmporium

    PenguinEmporium

    Joined:
    May 30, 2013
    Posts:
    134
    Oh..... you're doing a steampunk air fighter too...... :p

    I'm doing something similar but the art style will be completely different. Keep up the good work though.
     
  29. roger0

    roger0

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    1,208
    I built a new airplane for the game (By modifying one of the others). Here are a few images. Tell me what you think!

    Steampunk Fighter 3.jpg Steampunk Fighter 4.jpg Steampunk Fighter 5.jpg
     
  30. Guru36

    Guru36

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Posts:
    3
    It looks very nice.
    You did a great job both with the landscape and the sky. They seems very realistic.

    It's a funny song. For my opinion a fragment melody can be used in the main menu (without words though). Also bananas may be associated with the airship squadron to put it in one of teaser trailers

    I don't know if Unity3D platform allows doing such things. But I like to see if there's several degree of the airplanes damage. For example: somebody shoot me and my plane has several bullet holes in one of wings and a tail. One of the tail's stabilizer starts being shaken. I can lose it in any moment and the flight control becomes worse. A damaged plane can self destructs too, but also can fight for another 60 seconds.