[UDK-WIP] Shanty Shootout

Z3LCIAH · March 7, 2014

Hey there,
Thought i'd post up my final year project i'm working on, i'm a student at Teesside University and closing in on my deadline (3 weeks to be exact) i'd like to get some feedback so i can make some changes in my final weeks.

About:

My project is a 'speed-shooter' inspired by 'The Club' in which I've challenged myself to create a fun, repayable level using assets provided with UDK and relying on only visual scripting & flash to implement all features and mechanics. At the start of the project i stated i wanted a big arcade feel to the game as this would work well with the replay ability factor.

The game play is essentially a wave shooter that gives the player 4 minutes to kill as many bots as they possibly can whilst increasing there high score along the way. Killing bots in quick succession grants the player a multiplier bonus, if they player doesn't kill a bot within that time slot the multiplier is lost. I've spent along time developing this game, a lot of which was spent on researching the game type and how certain mechanics can be implemented but i'm very happy with how the game has came together, albeit there is room for improvement which is why i'd like to get some feedback from you guys.

Map:

There's 6 enemy spawn points in the map that all patrol there own designed areas, there's plenty of cover in the map so player can bop in and out of. The player can use the full map for cover as well the cover shown above.

Features:

- AI: Enemies patrol a designated area searching for the player, when the player is in sight they crouch behind cover. When hit they have a chance to move to a new cover node or stay behind the one the are currently at.

- Multiplier Scoring: Killing enemies quickly enables a score multiplier, the max multiplier is 5. Not killing enemies quickly loses the score multiplier.

- Sprinting & Stamina: Pressing 'Q' the player can sprint and must wait for the stamina to regenerate before using it again.

- Highscores: At the end of the round or when the player is killed, they are presented with their scores for that round.

- Active Reload: Reloading at the right time awards the player with extra ammunition.

- Ranked Kills: Each kill is rated and presented to the player.

- Wave Counter: Each wave displays the wave number and how many bots are present, killing a bot removes a bot from the counter.

Gameplay Video:

(Note: This video is out of date by 1 week, as i can't record gameplay at home. The minimap always won't be in the final build)

Atmosphere Video:

This is a newer recorded after i added in some over-growth and lightning effects.

Screenshots:

I have alot of lighting work todo so any pointers and feedback would be greatly appreciated!.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Z3LCIAH

General Vivi · March 7, 2014

Looks awesome so far man!

My only worry would be about noise (materials / lots of grass sprites) and the readability of players. Might also consider turning up the brightness on your ambient light and in general adding more spotlights.

*thumbs up*

FMPONE · March 8, 2014

That is a very pretty environment. Agree with vivi about readability.

Z3LCIAH · March 11, 2014

Thanks for the feedback guys, i took what you said into consideration and spent the past 2 days re-working the lights and also redone the grass/overgrowth as a few people including yourselves mentioned it was a little too hectic. With the new open space i went round and added some puddles so that area looks just that little bit nicer i think. I've also added a simple main menu and some flags that animate as the wind particle effect alone wasn't having the impact i was going for.

I still have a week left to play around with the lights and appearance of the level so if there's any more feedback i'd really appreciate it!.