This was a month I've been looking forward to for a bit! I've had a bunch of tools and systems for Bod's kit that I've needed to make for ages now, and this month I finally got a chance to start working on them. Went through a ton of iteration on it all as I put together said gadgets, and I'm happy to say that I got a lot of it working! In addition I got a bunch of the smaller subsystems tied into damage also working with it all. Lot of stuff to work on in the future to wrap it all up, but I'm pretty stoked with how much I accomplished this month :3!
Anchor Wire Gadget: First up is the Anchor Wire gadget! This tool is a primarily utility based gadget that Bod can utilize for a lot of the puzzles and environments in the game. It fires off a pair of anchor shots that will latch on to any magnetic object they hit before attempting to pull both together. If one is an immovable object, then it will pull the movable one towards it. Outside of puzzle elements, it does also have some offensive and defensive capabilities for Bod. Snagging an enemy with one can pull them out of place or into traps/pits. Likewise Bod can set them up as a tripwire trap for an enemy to walk into!
Tube Charge Gadget: The second gadget that got worked on this month is the Tube charge! This chunky demolition charge can be tossed or set as a landmine for enemies to walk into. Designed to unleash a shockwave of kinetic/concussive force, the explosive's main purpose is to clear blockades and debris that Bod comes across, but of course is more than capable of knocking out an enemy for a short duration.
Forced Movement System: Both of these gadgets required some clever systems to work correctly. Between connection systems that move objects for the wire and a knockback system I've managed to build it into a modular system that I can slap onto any actor in the game as needed!
Projectile improvements: Likewise I finally built a projectile master template that gives me a lot more flexibility design wise. Capable of switching out a lot of components or turning certain things on, I've managed to give it capabilities such as ricochet systems, sleep/stun mechanics, or even explosive impacts. As is all I need to do is add in any new ideas and I can easily update all of the different projectiles with the new code also :3!!
Accumulation Blur Effects: This is a bit of an interesting add for the game! Back on the old PS2, one of the methods used for motion blur was something known as accumulation blur. It would take snapshots of the screen and sort of stretch and zoom in on them to get an old school blur effect. You typically see this in games such Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2. Well I figured out how to get that added in to the game! I'm mainly going to use it with a cutscenes or specific moments in the game. To play around with it I currently have it added with the tube charge to give a bit more pop to the current explosion!
ToneMapper Updates: So I've been sort of battling with the colors in Unreal since I started working on this game. It would constantly wash out or desaturate a lot of my colors in general. Watched a few videos on it and discovered that Unreal uses something called a "Filmic Tonemapper". This is one of the leading causes for the infamous "Unreal look" that so many games get. Well I finally figured out a way to turn it off! Already it's brought so much color back into the game. Been really happy with how things are looking, and it finally feels like I have a good footing to work on the games colors now!
Level Transition System: This was an interesting one to work on! Since Bod will need to transition through various levels and areas, I was going to need some sort of system that I could utilize for the level transitions. A bit of work with the fade out of the HUD in addition to some other code to tie levels together thankfully made the system work really well! Next up will be tying it in with save code down the road once I've gotten enough areas built up :3!
Damage Reactions contd: Lastly I continued to add in some damage reaction stuff to the Sensor Puppet! It's now able to be knocked down by some of the attacks.
So what comes with next month? At the current moment I'm planning on putting some time into another one of Bod's enemies! I've been needing a camera style enemy for Bod to deal with, so it's about time for me to try and put my concept art to work and start modeling them! Outside of that I think I'm going to see if I can finally animate Bod's dive.