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MONTH 2: GAME SYSTEM INTEGRATION
MILESTONE 1 - ACTION BLOCK #1
When creating my FIRST action block, I kept a couple of things in mind: it had to be exciting, challenging and rewarding. With these ideas in mind, I also felt that creating a tense environment with threatening new enemies and multiple boss fights would also help in testing with players who were familiar with the controls of our game and wanted to be challenged. Having all these ingredients in mind this action block delivered a challenging experience for playtesters, but not without its faults.
Before even starting the action block, there were some iterations to our mechanics that needed further refinement. For instance, the grenades were a little bit hard to use so we had to make some adjustments so it shot a lower range compared to how it was first set up. Another issue that we had to address were our mines. The mine explosion effects were going along the z-axis when they needed to go the y-axis.
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The weapons had to be balanced so we increased the sniper damage because it was taking more than four shots to kill the enemy. The grenade launcher damage was increased as well because it was taking longer to get through the level with it then it what it would with the base weapon.
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After these refinements and a few small others were completed, the implementation of the action block was able to begin. I created this first AB (Action Block) to be a simple, but yet challenging and fun with enemies and a small puzzle that would reward the player for solving it.
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The player starts off with just a base weapon. I introduce the first enemy dubbed "ZomBot" in the first room on the left. Zombots have 200 HP and high damage meaning that one hit can bring the player's health to almost half. This compensates for how slow they are but getting caught by a horde of them can be lethal. I had them patrol in between 1-3 patrol points with aggro if hero in range, so the player either had to kill them or try to sneak past them to get to the pink key on the far left.
Once the players cleared out the left room, I introduced them to a different type of enemy, the "WereBot". I made these faster than their counterparts with 100 HP and lower damage, but they can catch anyone off guard because of their speed which is why I only had one placed on the far left so the player could get introduced to it without immediately dying. Just like the ZomBot, they aggro when the player is nearby and go back to their patrol points once the player is out of range.
In the next two spaces, I put the new enemies together to give the player a little bit more of a challenge and to see how they would handle them at the same time, keeping in mind their different speeds and damage that both can cause. During multiple playthroughs, the WereBot would rush to attack the player while having a horde right behind him as a "second wave" which was quite fun and satisfying to beat. I placed a pink treasure chest that can be opened with a pink key to reward the player for surviving one of the first challenging sections of the level.
Next, I mixed up the mini-boss that was made by one of my teammates with two WereBots to see how that would play out. Both WereBots would come after the player as expected while the MBoss stayed back and shot canons towards the hero. A lot of the playtesters liked this part of the level so I took their feedback and amped up the final area of the action block.
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I had the final boss blocking the path to the next level in the game with 4-6 ZomBots patrolling the area with 3 Werebots and traps laid out across the area. I really wanted to gauge what was too much, and after some testing, this was just right. This area really put the player's skills to the test while trying to avoid being hit by the final boss.
After building out the action block and some player feedback, I decided to add a few more features to the hero and the enemies. A lot more PFI (Player Facing Information) was needed when landing shots on the enemy as well as when taking damage so a slight camera shake was added when the hero took damage, along with an "Ouch" SFX. I also created a floating number animation that would pop out every time the enemy took damage. These changes give the player a taste of instant gratification or confirmation of the actions that they took in the level.
Overall, the level was received as fun and challenging. This really helped me have a solid framework and structure to begin working on the second action block for the game. It sparked a lot of new ideas that would tailor towards our three pillars: Exploring, Puzzles, and Survival!
KEY THINGS I WORKED ON THIS MILESTONE:
Design and Block Out Level
Created two new Enemies
Scripted AI functionality so that they aggro player when in range and go back to patrolling when out of range
Created a floating text animation that instantiates when the player lands a hit on the target
Scripted a camera shake for when the player takes damage
Added hitmarker SFX for when the enemy gets hit
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