THE ESCAPE
SUMMARY
After having narrowly escaped being destroyed due to obsoletion, a service bot suddenly boots back up and is instructed via radio by an outsider to escape the mysterious facility and collect something of importance along the way.
My goal with this personal project was to focus on technical design and puzzle design, with the intent of allowing the player to use the player character as a tool to solve different environmental challenges.
BREAKDOWN
Time
6 Weeks Half-Time
Team Size
Role
Solo
Technical Design
Puzzle Design
Game Design
Level Design
Software
Assets Used
Unreal Engine
Blender
Miro
Audio sourced from Soundsnap
MECHANICS
Hovering
My goal with the movement was to give the player a more tactile and weighted experience when traversing the environment as a supposed service robot. I used YouTube user Unain's work for a hovering vehicle as a template. It worked quite well and provided the groundwork I needed for a hovering robot and would alleviate the scope [1]. However, there were still aspects that I wanted to expand upon for the robot's movement to be where I wanted it:
• Having it feel more weighted and higher up above the ground.
• Not be too fast when hovering.
• Add mouse controls for the camera.
• Not be as floaty when mid-air.
• Not being able to fly when the line trace breaks from a surface.
In terms of having the robot feel more weighted and higher up above the ground, I decided to first model parts of the robot in Blender, specifically the base and the lid. Both the line trace and mass of the base mesh were increased, as well as experimentation with the linear and angular dampening [2].
[1] Hovering using Unain's work.
Over the course of the project, I continued to iterate and experiment to prevent the player from being able to fly and continuously jump while mid-air. I also adjusted different variables such as speed and hover force, along with adding a center of gravity for the base mesh to make it more stable when traversing, which also helped later when working on the diving mechanic, but more of that later.
Overall, I am satisfied with the results since the robot now plays closer to what I had as a goal when I started this project [3]. The biggest additions to the original work is that the player can now turn hovering on or off with a key press, as well as look around with mouse controls, which was added by me [4].
[2] My later iteration of hovering with higher elevation and more mass.
[4] Blueprint snippet of my modified movement logic.
Collecting and Dumping Loot
[3] The final iteration I made of hovering with the desired results.
The movement then led to the addition of looting, since I wanted the player to be affected by the weight of any collected loot and see it be visually represented on the robot. The inspiration clearly derives from robot vacuum cleaners, and I thought that it would be fun to implement that into the context of gameplay.
During the earlier stages of the project, I was able to implement the ability for the robot to collect the loot and have it move around inside with the help of simulate physics [5]. As previously mentioned, I wanted the player to be affected by the weight of the collected loot, and this was simply done by adjusting the mass of the cube mesh so that it was right when playing [6].
The overall logic is quite simple, as the initial loot cube that collides with the robot's collision box gets destroyed, spawning a new loot cube inside the robot's container. The spawned cube also sets simulate physics and enables collision so that the cube moves around in the container [7].
The last iteration that I made for loot collecting was how it would be used when the robot is submerged underwater [8]. The regular loot-collecting logic wasn't sufficient since the robot would be ascending away from any loot that was present, so I implemented a different logic that would consider distance when looting [9].
[5] Early iteration of loot collecting.
The last thing I needed was the player to be able to dispose of the collected loot before proceeding to another area, before picking it back up again. The principle remains the same, where the previous loot gets destroyed and is replaced with a spawned one, similarly to the regular looting logic. The difference here is that the dumped loot has an add force that shoots the loot up in the air [10].
[6] Later iteration of loot collecting that affects the balance.
[7] Final iteration of collecting and dumping loot.
Opening Lid and Deploying Wings
[8] Blueprint snippet of my loot collecting and dumping logic.
I implemented the mechanic of opening the lid in order to experiment with different ways of collecting loot for the player. The early stages of development had loot cubes tumbling down from a distance [9].
However, after further iteration, this particular mechanic was used mainly when the player had to dump the loot, except for the finale of the experience when the robot had to collect the reactor core. The reason for this is that it wouldn't be too reliable of method to collect loot, as the player has to be placed just right to get the loot that is falling. I thought about implementing a magnetic force, which eventually became used for when the player is underwater, as shown in the previous section.
When it comes to the deployment of the wings, my goal was to give the player the ability to boost, and have the thruster extend and the wings spread out. Even though it is purely cosmetic, I just think it turned out to be a cool way of introducing the player to the boosting mechanic.
[9] Early iteration of opening the lid for collecting loot.
[11] Blueprint snippet of my opening lid and deploying wings logic.
[10] Final iteration of opening the lid and deploying wings.
Jumping, Boosting, and Diving
The jumping mechanic was implemented rather quickly, as my goal for the puzzle design was to platform.
LEVEL DESIGN
My intention with the level design of the experience was to use it primarily as a vehicle to introduce the various mechanics and puzzles in a more engaging way. Another reason for paying attention to the level design, as well as the narrative, was to connect this personal project to my second one, which takes place after the events of this one.
Overview
Level Flowchart
