University Games Programming Progress Blog

If you’ve seen this blog and are interested in trying the game for yourself, then you can do so here: https://eljacko1.itch.io/last-survivor Please bear in mind that this is a prototype, designed for a university assignment. So it won’t be perfect. But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless

This is the full game, including a demonstration of how being seen works. And also where the checkpoint is. I had to compress it in order for it to upload to excuse the slightly lower quality video and audio

After making some tweaks such as the strength of the flashlight and the main room’s lighting, the game is in a relatively finished state.  The final issue I had to overcome was the loading times being extremely long when loading between the menu and the game.  I was able to overcome this eventually, by creating the menus within the same level as the game itself, however after I found this temporary fix I learnt how to properly utilize level streaming. So if I was to make the game properly, I would likely switch my temporary method to that so I can use multiple levels within the game without issue. Overall, the project went well, and when I have time I may well come back to it and try and flesh it out into a proper demo and put it out for the public. I’m not very big on horror myself, but those I have shown this too who are into horror have told me that I have managed to get the atmosphere almost spot on.

The game now has a working AI monster which patrols a room and if it sees the player it chases them until it can no longer see them. This AI is far from perfect nor is it complete, but it creates the basis on which the enemies are created.  I have also added more of a flow to the game, forcing the player to collect their flashlight before being allowed to move forward. The player can pick up the torch by using the E button, as shown on by an on screen prompt.  F toggles the flashlight while Left Ctrl toggles crouching. These controls are also shown by an on screen prompt at relevant times. Finally, there is a vent which the player must reach on the opposite side of the room. This requires the player to crouch and while within the vent they are unable to uncrouch. The vent leads to a room which is otherwise inaccessible as the main door is locked. In the main room, there is also a locked door which will only open if the player has the key. Gaining access to this room will be the first objective of the game. I will follow up with a quick video demonstrating the AI in action.

I have managed to create a cutscene to show off the ‘monsters’ to the player and get them in the right mindset for what is to come. I added music to the background of the game itself as well as a sound cue within the cutscene to add to the atmosphere. In the video, there is a room with a blinking light and a torch. Eventually, I plan to allow the player to pick up the torch and then use it later in the level. This is also intended to teach the player how to pick up objects and use them when in their inventory (if I have time to implement an inventory) The shader is on in the video, giving a good feel as to how the game will look while moving around the world. The shader is, however, designed to be adjustable so it may change during development.  My next goal is to create an AI behaviour tree for the monster(s) and the first main room of the game: a large open room which the player will have to go through to reach a power generator room.

A preview of what I have managed to get done. I’ll follow up with a full update post.

As a follow up to update 2, this is the starting room before and after the shader has been enabled. The first is without, the second is with.

I am using Unreal Engine v4.19.2 for my project (this is the version I am required to use) and will be making use of free assets on the Unreal Marketplace as well as a combination of other assets from various other sources. I will include a full source list in the final update.  I have managed to create a shader that can be edited to get the right combination of ps1 era graphics and clear views since the player may get confused if things blend together too much.  I’ll post a follow up with images showing the starting room (from the player’s perspective) with and without the shader enabled, to give an idea on how the game would look before and after.

The game i’m required to create for my assignment is an indie horror game in the style of games of the same genre from the PS1 era, as this is the current trend in indie games.  I tried to think of games that I knew of from that era, the most popular one I could think of was resident evil. But I wanted to be a bit different.  So the premise of my game is as follows: “Earth has been ravaged by a deadly disease following a meteor crash. The disease turns people into zombified alien-like creatures who devour anything that moves. In a last ditch effort to escape, a small team of survivors are launched into space to escape the virus and live the rest of their lives on a space station.  You play as one of those survivors. One day you awaken to the deafening sound of a red alert siren. Immediately knowing something is wrong you investigate, only to find your worst fears have been realised. You didn’t escape the virus, because it’s on the ship with you. And the only escape is the cold blackness of space.You must fight to survive, as the final hope of the human race slowly begins to burn out” While I realise it’s cliche to have ‘zombies’ in my game, I felt this was the best choice as it means I can focus more on making the atmosphere work for the game, rather than having to come up with something completely new in a short amount of time. I felt that the space element gave it a little bit more of a modern feel while still keeping with the themes. I plan to use shaders to portray the look of a ps1 era game without needing to rely on bad looking assets, so the game will still look good.

For one of my assignments, i’m required to keep a community blog of my progress for a game i’m working on.  So that’s what most of my posts will be. It’s basically why I made this account, but if you’re interested in following my progress with the game then this is the place to do it!