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[WIP] Apocalypse Z Dev Log #1 Announce

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by ninjacupcake83, Aug 28, 2015.

  1. ninjacupcake83

    ninjacupcake83

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2015
    Posts:
    55
    Summary

    Sent to a Blacksite to re-establish lost contact and retrieve secret research data, your mission takes a turn for the worse. Welcome to Apocalypse Z a 2D hybrid platform style shooter with RPG elements.

    Progress Report
    I have been working on a new project for around a few weeks or so now, and have decided that I should start sharing with the potential players of it.

    It is with great pleasure I announce to you all - Apocalypse Z. Apocalypse Z is a 2D side scroll(ish) shooter/ARPG hybrid game. This - I know - is and will be a far bigger challenge than the little 'throw together an endless runner in 4 weeks' gig that I have previously accomplished with Dungeon Runner!



    I hope you all enjoy the ride along with me, and hope to receive as much feedback over the coming 'however long' it will be :)

    Now on to important things. A little bit of background story for you all...

    Story

    "In a world where Private Military Companies (PMC's) have become more powerful than the government's that rule.

    Blacksites are being created to hide the Black Ops projects that governments are not able to carry out with the regular military means.

    Within these Blacksites, many activities are carried out. From interrogations to highly classified research projects.

    One of these Blacksites has been carrying out a secret research project to create a new breed of super soldier. This project was activated due to a contractual agreement between the Dept. of Defence and your employer. This project was given the codename 'Iron Fist'.

    However, this research Blacksite has now gone offline. No contact has been received from this site for more than 24hrs. Which has now led to emergency protocols being implemented.

    As part of an elite unit, your employer is sending you into this Blacksite. Your mission is to re-establish contact and most importantly retrieve ALL research data related to Project Iron Fist..."

    I hope that has peaked your interest enough for now...

    Meet & Greet

    Time to meet the 'Unit' (Renee is not part of the unit - I have a special plan for her):



    The game blends several styles of play in to one, in that being a 2D side-scroll shoot 'em up with ARPG elements - like Level experience and a loot system etc. I have the basic experience system already in place which when players levels up then increases health and armour (possibly damage too) etc.

    Screen Captures

    Below is a few screenshots of some of the things already in place so far. (Will put up a video at some point of XP system functioning).



    Player HUD WIP: Top left corner is player level. Then Health, Armour, XP, Ammo count, Money (more explained later) and 'Nades... Cos everyone loves grenades!



    Soldier Select Screen WIP: Milla and a bit of background story on her so far. Again very WIP.



    Soldier Select Screen WIP: Jack and his background story. My fave so far.

    The idea is that when you select a player, the info loads into the right panel.



    Added blood particles when enemies or players receive impacts. There is also a kind of pink mist explode for death too.



    Last screen of the evening is of the player in a shooting pose - if you look closely you can see the projectile/bullet. She auto switches correctly to this animation upon player pressing the fire button (so far L Control or X button of Xbox 360 controller)

    Progress

    So far I have the following already in place.
    1. 2D Art (not all)​
    2. The player has been coded to a playable state​
    3. Enemies are slowly being coded (working on a more intelligent enemy)​
    4. Several loading screens​
    5. Main Menu​
    6. Title Screen​
    7. 1 of the playable characters animation nearly implemented​
    8. Currently adding basic experience and level up ability​
    9. Currently working on player HUD​
    10. Keyboard and XBOX 360 controller functions added​
    This list is currently - and growing - endless of what I want to add into this game. I hope to see you all return for more info soon.

    Sorry for the wall of text but hope you enjoy the story snippet.
     
  2. theANMATOR2b

    theANMATOR2b

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2014
    Posts:
    7,790
    Aren't those characters from an asset pack? Either way - looking forward to how you implement them in this. Will watch.
     
  3. ninjacupcake83

    ninjacupcake83

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2015
    Posts:
    55
    They certainly are... From a very talented artist too. :)

    When I saw them I ditched my design efforts as they were near damn what I pictured some of my characters to look like!

    Some say lazy using somebody else's art, but this was to good to pass up on. Allows me to focus more on making a better game to play...
     
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  4. ninjacupcake83

    ninjacupcake83

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2015
    Posts:
    55
    Moving forward from yesterdays first post. Thought I would upload today's progress.



    This video displays VERY early game footage. It is mainly just to test some of the animations on the player so far, as well as XP and money increases. The HUD displays the player progress and up 1 level and then increases the Health and Armour.

    Today has been a slow progress day. Took me a long while to get the run animations working correctly as well as enabling the player to run upon the press of left or right and the Right Bumper button of the Xbox 360 controller.

    I did however, manage to add a floating health bar for the enemies too, so that the player can track what HP is left before enemy death.

    Speaking of enemy death:









    RED MIST!

    Will be looking into now adding ammo drops and adding this to the HUD as well as grenades too.

    The list is growing further and further. With more ideas adding to the note pad every minute I think them up :S...

    • mission/quest style gameplay
    • switchable weapons
    • enemy loot drops
    • change the HUD image with the Player that is selected
    • weapon muzzle flashes
    • hidden rooms - fully explained later in the dev progress.
    • in game shop for in game money (not real money - freemium/pay to win is not my style!
    • save/load feature
    • further develop menu
    • pause screen
    and on... and on... etc.

    If there is something particular you would like to see may be implemented then get in touch here or via the many forms of social medias... :)

    Always open to fresh input.

    Lastly, Apocalypse Z is now on greenlight CONCEPT - check it out, give me a shout/vote and help sway my decision to place it out to the chopping blades on Greenlight itself :D

    Steam GreenLight

    But for now I leave you living in peace getting one day closer to the apocalypse...

    I will try to update this blog of sorts once a day - work life/free time depending - to keep my motivation going.

    Keep gaming and dev-ing? folks.
     
    Defcon44 and theANMATOR2b like this.
  5. ninjacupcake83

    ninjacupcake83

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2015
    Posts:
    55
    I have managed to get a Level Up text to appear over the player when character 'dings'. This makes levelling more obvious now as before it would just happen and the player would be none the wiser, unless they looked at the HUD and saw the Health/Armour bar had shrunk and the level number had changed.


    I have also been working on the opening scene story background, some of the images can be seen here:






    Keep in mind these are still very WIP at present.

    Let's see, what else have I put in place...

    some code tidying... to boring to talk about or go into - pics would be more boring too :p

    The character now has the following abilities:
    • Crouch
    • Climb
    • Jump
    • Idle
    • Walk
    • Run
    • Shoot (while Idle, Walking, Running and Jumping too)
    Next on the list is to get the enemies to attack and randomly act with own initiative... Attacking player on sight, walking etc.

    Once this has been implemented I will then look into the possibility of more weapons for the player to use. As well as give her the ability to Melee an enemy that invades her personal space - all about the personal space folks.

    Before I risk boring you all, I will leave it at that for now.

    Will see you all later with hopefully a big update on progress...
     
  6. ninjacupcake83

    ninjacupcake83

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2015
    Posts:
    55
    Hello again,

    A delayed daily update - work got in the way :(...

    I happened to get a little bored staring at Visual Studio over the last day or so, so I took a break from that monotonous grey screen and decided to throw some colours together within Unity itself.

    Started to set out a little start area of sorts. This area will be designed to guide the player through some of the basic functions/controls to help get our little chibi - Big Heads - heroes safely through and finally out of Blacksite 51 - oooops! Did I say out of Blacksite 51 :S - *SPOILER ALERT* haha!.



    Very WIP and no where near final state, but as stated this will help the player learn the basics from crouching to running, climbing, shooting, melee and jumping...

    The plan for Apocalypse Z is to not be based on a platform style game, where the player has to complete levels to advance through the game. Instead the game will be one huge level. Broken down into individual sections. Sections where the player will transition between by using doors/access tunnels etc. Usable doors will be displayed by either being open already or have little green lock pads beside them. Red lock pads display doors inaccessible to the player, either completely or just at the moment of playing time...

    Decided as an extra treat I would give you all a video demo of things in place so far - by things I only mean SOME... :)


    Last of all for this delayed daily update - Social Medias...

    Guys, I would really appreciate it if you liked what you have seen so far and would like to play this game then please do back me on the many forms of social medias out there (Links Below)

    • Twitter - Help me by following me :)
    • Facebook - The book of faces, give me a like ( I only have 3, no one of them is not my Mum!!) :p
    • Google+ - plus me... Go on, google says it's fun!
    • YouTube - Subscribe for latest updates of vidz
    • Website - This brand new website currently being updated and set up :)
    IMPORTANT STUFF

    One more thing Apocalypse Z is on Steam Greenlight as a concept. I would really appreciate the feedback etc. :)

    That's it for now folks, good night to you all.
     
  7. ninjacupcake83

    ninjacupcake83

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2015
    Posts:
    55


    Summary

    Another late daily update, but excusable I think considering I have achieved a bit with this over the past 2 days =P

    So I have slowly been making more progress. So far things in place:

    • XP system (Functional)
    • Level system (Functional)
    • Health Increase on level up (Completed)
    • Armour increase on level up (Completed)
    • Money system implemented (Functional)
    • Carrying data from one scene to another (Functional)
    • First Playable hero (Functional)
    • 2 playable Pre-Alpha Test Levels (Completed)
    Not much has changed visually right now, the work carried out has been more mechanics than art.

    I have now managed to add the carrying of data through scenes. This means that any XP or health/armour increases that the player gains does not reset on level loading. I have also managed to implement the money system. Bringing me one step closer to another task of an in game item/upgrade shop.

    I have managed to throw together two test levels, these have been designed just to help me test out some of the core mechanics of the game. As well as to allow me to test anything new being added.

    It is VERY WIP (works in progress) but below is a video of todays efforts in place:



    Level Layout:

    I am always open to ideas for laying out some levels or anything else you think would be cool to add. If you want to have your opinion feel free to get in touch...

    Social Media

    Guys, I would really appreciate it if you liked what you have seen so far and would like to play this game then please do back me on the many forms of social medias out there (Links Below) It really does help motivate knowing there is a following for the game... So spread the word.

    • Twitter - Help me by following me :)
    • Facebook - The book of faces, give me a like ( I only have 3, no - one of them is not my Mum!!) :p
    • Google+ - plus me... Go on, google says it's fun!
    • YouTube - Subscribe for latest updates of vidz
    • Website - This brand new website currently being updated and set up :)
    IMPORTANT STUFF - Support Apocalypse Z on greenlight...

    One more thing Apocalypse Z is on Steam Greenlight as a concept. I would really appreciate the feedback etc. :)

    That's it for now folks, good night to you all.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2015
  8. ninjacupcake83

    ninjacupcake83

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2015
    Posts:
    55
    I have added the video as forgot to add it to the above post... More updates to follow later today.