BLOG ENTRY 5 - 8.20.20

I’m happy to report this week that I did do a little more progress and more so that I figured it out by my damn self. It’s very difficult to attempt to code when you have no idea what the code is called and what it’s supposed to do, so to kind of have things click in your head and understand how to make them, it feels really satisfying.

I’ve been putting off working on the current iteration of the cover system as I have to import it from an asset, and from what I was told on the dev discord is that I have to make collision channels so that when I migrate the cover system shit doesn’t break. However I barely know where things are and It’s scary to fuck around with that stuff. Eldritch Knowledge only bestowed upon the worthy. So I panicked and started doing something else.

I decided to import a metric fuckton of assets that I feel will be suitable stand ins for testing. As I’d already imported the weapons packs from last week I felt inspired and decided to browse through the free assets on the Unreal Marketplace, and found a lot of good stuff I can use, Animation sets, props, etc.

So I already had these VFX packs but hadn’t done anything with it because I didn’t know how to integrate them, and I got bold and decided to mess with it. The result got me really hyped and I decided to keep working and reworked the previous Teleport Ability, which will be used by another class, and worked this really cool dash based on a function called launch player. I added a particle effect under the character and suddenly… PLASMA ROCKET BOOTS!

Rocket Boot Dash + Plasma gun Particle Effects

Given that I’ve been working on a lot of redesigns for each of the classes to have a different type of ability toolkit and ultimately an altogether different play style, I’m very proud of the fact that I designed this variation of the “dash” skill on paper and it actually worked out once implemented. It feels a whole lot better than the simple teleport I had before, and it definitely feels different from the common top down shooter dash. I’m working on improving on it a little more by adding a collision detection while mid air, so that if you hit an enemy you’ll perform a melee attack. If i’m able to I’d like to maybe even add a sort of vault for low cover, try to really nail down that fantasy of a high mobility damage dealer. I’m already working out the different variations in my head but I still have to fully design the idea of the Ability Variation system I want to implement, But that’s gonna be a little while before I can start fucking around with that.

For now I have a flurry of new assets to start fleshing out the visual art style I want for the game, build some prototype assets, as well as the cover system which is just waiting for me like a goddamn final boss. I’m leveling up by grinding other stuff. But I’ll get to it.

I feel for now I also have to fix some animations to finally give it some form, I think that’s what I’m going to use as a side quest while I wrap my head around the collision parameters, Still, If I was able to figure out the dash by myself (sure some tutorial vids), and that really inspires me that I’ll be able to not only crack the cover system, but maybe even improve on the free asset version I have right now.

Fingers Crossed

Daniel “Freaky” Aguilar

Game Designer
Plasmapunk Studios

BLOG ENTRY 4 8.14.2020

Well progress is progress is what I like to say, If I said that regularly. Sorry for the nonsense I’m Just happy as heck that I was able to integrate some assets into my existing project with minimal issue.

The assets I added are all Weapons, they are part of the epic games store free content, Considering I will be replacing all the meshes and most animations with original models, these will do for now. I am extremely happy because now I can finally use them to start testing out different weapon behavior as well as assigning the different “elements” to represent each faction.

These are mostly based on previous iterations, borderlands, destiny, Diablo so on, The main difference being I want to adapt these common elements into a Sci-fi theme, and try to give them a twist when it comes to standard “elemental behavior”, I’ve got some ideas but they’ll need testing out, for starters create the base element behavior and then try to modify it. Once I start making the different projectiles I’ll start testing.

Another thing I was messing around was with the level design. I want to have an armory where you can build your raw weapons with no modifications. so I started messing around with the meshes from the assets I imported and build this nifty armory.

Prototype Armory Mockup

It is by no means complete considering I want to have 8 different elements. so technically the armory should be twice this size. I am however very satisfied with how it turned out considering I’m not a level designer by any means and my coding is questionable at best.

Another thing I was able to do earlier this week, Nighty Suggested that I remove the previous enemy AI as it felt overwhelming and was simply making testing a little too difficult. So I removed their behavior tree and reduced the spawning area to a smaller square. This allows for weapon testing much easier and since the spawn area is a little wide I can test whether aiming feels good or not.

Which I’m finally prototyping, The idea being that while in a third person and first person shooter your aim reduces your field of view. In a top down shooter It should allow you to see much further. This first attempt is kinda rough and I’m still not sure how to Lerp correctly so it feels better, But it’s proving my concept nonetheless.

New Test Dummy + Aim Down FOV change

Right now it feels harsh and there’s no transition between aiming down and regular hip fire aim. I’m hoping that looking at some tutorials I can reverse engineer it and get it to a place where it feels nice to aim down.

All in All I’m very happy with my own progress. I Still have a lot more to do but I’m looking forward to continuing working on this game. The next big step is integrating the cover system that eluded me for so long. I’ve finally have an asset which I Know I’ll have to tweak to adapt to my needs but If I can nail it my proof of concept will be pretty much done.

There’s still a long road to a full vertical slice with inventory and different class skills, but I assume that the more I fuck around with UE4 the better i’ll get and the faster I’ll be able to implement ideas and test them out. The huge skill gap the team currently has though is texture artists and modeling/rigging, So it’ll be a while before I can put out a polished demo with at least a mock up of the visual art style that I’m going for. but as I said… A few bits at a time.

I’m hoping I see more progress soon enough and I’ll post as soon as possible.

Riding the Hype train.

Daniel “Freaky” Aguilar

Game Designer

Plasmapunk Studios

BLOG ENTRY 3 - 7.23.2020

Well, it’s been over a year since the last post, But I’m glad I’ve kept the page up and running.

In the year since I last posted on the page I have worked on the project almost non stop, While my coding skills have improved I am now faced with a pretty daunting task. Integrating all the premade assets and blueprints that can help me build the prototype in it’s best form.

The list is simple. Inventory system, Cover system, Combat system, UI system and different weapon assets to start prototyping the different faction weapon types.

The problem is hard, They’re all from different asset developers on the Unreal Engine Marketplace. I have nowhere near the coding experience to simply integrate them. So It’s going to take a lot from me to bang my head on UE4 until I can bash all these things together. It’s like photobashing in concept art, except in blueprints. yaaaayyy… There’s no other way around it as I’m currently broke AF to pay a competent coder to help me get it done.

However ugly the duct-taped mashed together version of the prototype comes out. I know it’s enough to have full proof of concept. Then on it’s trying to make it look pretty so I can start fully search for funding. Whether it’ll be ID@xbox, Unreal or kickstarter, there are different avenues I can attempt before I need to come up with a new plan.

It honestly is scary how much work I’ll need to put in, even after all the work I’ve been doing behind the scenes in game design, character & class design as well as world building. Usually studios have multiple people working on it, so the workload gets spread thinner, but each aspect of the game is in itself an art form, writing, concept art, coding, Ideally they’re meant to be done by talented specialist who can focus on one thing, however, due to the fact that I am currently Unable to pay my team full time, the help they provide is invaluable but spotty at best, and work progresses slowly.

I know that If I could make the prototype and get funding to hire everyone full time, this game would start taking shape significantly faster. But alas… Capitalism and such.

It will take great effort to get it done, but it will be worth it in the end. It’s hard to express in words that would do it justice. But I think this game is one that needs to be made, I had no doubt that much smarter and talented people could have already finished it and even made sequels, but the point is that no one else is making it. I see game presentations with dread thinking that I’m going to see it in a different shape or form with a different name and flavor, but ultimately the same game. It’s a terrifying idea that all my work would go to waste. Thankfully, that’s not the case and this game is still not out there.

For the time being I will continue my work and will start updating more frequently (Yes I’ve said before but this time it’s different!). Things feel like they’re speeding up, even in the midst of global crises, and I need to start posting more often, as keeping a record of what I’m doing will help in the long run, both to see how I progress and how the game grows.

I will also start setting up the Youtube page to start posting visual updates as well. Dev diaries are a great way to start getting the game out there, even if it’s still in base assets and blockmeshing. I really hope that once people start seeing this games potential, that it will start sparking interest enough to get funded.

That’s mostly the update on work as it stands, but I will have more to show in the coming weeks.

Thanks you for reading and I will update soon.

Daniel “Freaky” Aguilar

Game Designer

Plasmapunk Studios

Blog Entry 2 - 4.17.19

Wow It’s been over a Month since the last Post. Well fortunately, we have not started a kickstarter so there isn’t that much pressure. I’ll probably do this a bi-weekly thing to try to keep a more public record of the stuff getting done.

The main reason I have not posted anything Is because goddamn GDC was fucking awesome. I tempered my expectations, since the only stuff I knew from GDC was what I saw on youtube and read from the news and social media. But I was blown away. Nighty tried to capture my reaction but I don’t think It came out that cool XD.

I was very impressed with the expo floor and the different kinds of games that were being shown. While I know that the whole point is to pitch your game there, I could tell that developers were very hyped about people being interested in their game. I felt a very genuine love for their work and the worlds that they were building. It really kicked my inspiration into overdrive.

I’ve been very lucky to have had very pleasant interactions with other devs. It’s refreshing to see artists that support others, even if it’s not their cup of tea. I saw some of the games that I’m already interested in and others that I’d never heard of that looked pretty cool. One thing that I’m really happy about, is that I did not find another version of our game around. It means that the niche I’m trying to fill is still well… Niche :V

I got to meet FamilyJules, I was waiting to play Industries of titan when all of a sudden I realized he was right behind me, I fanboyed for a bit, but he was totally cool about it. I like the fact that we were both geeking out over the same game. Rockstars they really are just like us.

Nighty and I were able to pitch our game to ID@Xbox which was a nerve wrecking ordeal. We were freaking out, I was visibly nervous, mind you this was right after meeting FamilyJules, so it was kind of a fun adrenaline rush. I got winded half way because I was talking so fast, I’m keeping that mental note for next time I have to pitch. Pace myself. Thankfully Nighty was there to back me up and kept the pitch going when I needed to catch my breath. After we where done, we talked with the ID@xbox rep Tony who was a total class act, He could tell we were nooblets but he was really cool about it and gave us a lot of encouragement. We were really lucky that our first experience was such a pleasant one.

After that I went and asked around in the Unreal area to see if someone could help me out with the cover system issue, and one of the devs gave me a few options, but as soon as I told him that I was working a cover system for a top down game he actually looked a little confused, like “why would you wanna do that?”, after I explained he basically said: “What you’re trying to do is hard. It’s going to take some time to figure out”

This really alleviated the pressure I’ve been feeling over figuring out how to create this cover system and inspired me because If I’m able to figure out, It will be technically something new. Whether or not our game is a success, Top down cover will be something that will be made and that others won’t have to break their head figuring out, as my intention is to make a tutorial for it later down the line, Once I’ve finally figured out how to do it.

I think it’s really Important to share knowledge, It’s scary considering I’m making my concept public, but I would love if I started seeing this level of interactivity in new games.

Well Finishing up our GDC trip story, After we had finished our GDC checklist, We decided to just start getting all the swag we could. Unfortunately the last day when we had our bags empty and our plan laid out, our car broke down half way there. It was a bit of a bummer but considering we were able to accomplish so much in so little time, I honestly feel GDC was a success.

We saw what awaits us as devs once we have to start going to Expos to promote our game. We saw what kind of experience you should try to give your players when they’re trying out your game for the first time. We realized our Game design doc is a mess and needed to be readjusted to make more sense in a pitch, thankfully Nighty already took care of that.

And in the month since I’ve been working on the concept more, Have found a good base to work on the cover system for and the inventory system as well. We are in talks to commission some art from a very talent artist that works with the art style as far as what we’re looking for in our visual direction. Hopefully we can afford to get all the entire playable cast as well as some NPCs.

Another development has been that we’ve been working on concepts for the enemies as well as some equipment, and I have to say, I’m proud of the team we have. While talking about a specific concept for the game, Nighty sketched it out in an hour, and Rene was able to render/animate a 3D version in a couple of hours as well. It really inspired me so much, seeing a concept I’ve only thought about come to life in such a short period.

If we were to score the Epic DevGrant, I’m positive we would be able to make an awesome vertical slice. Until then, We’ll keep working with the limited time/money we have. This game is worth Making, and my Team is the one going to make it.

Damn that was intense. In any case I’ll post some gameplay soon and once we have some new sexy artwork, We’ll update the page to reflect the progress. For now we just gotta hussle.

Read you in a Couple of weeks.

Daniel “Freaky” Aguilar

Game Designer

Plasmapunk Studios

Blog Entry 1 - 3.14.2019

Well… Here we are a week away from GDC. It still feels a bit overwhelming. First time going. First time going to San Francisco too. I know we’re not quite ready but sometimes you just gotta take a dive and remember to breathe.

Been working on the prototype for a few months now, and I gotta say, having no experience with coding or using Unreal engine, I feel like I’ve made quite a bit of progress. The prototype is playable, the character moves and shoots how I want it to, but it’s still far from complete. Mainly the “secret” ingredient that will make the game stand out as its own, has been eluding me for a while now. The gorram cover system.

I understand the concept and I understand how it’s supposed to work but I haven’t found a tutorial that works for a top down perspective and that I can execute. It’s been my roadblock, my code arch nemesis.

I know that Unreal will have people at GDC and I’m hoping I get to pick their brains on how to make this work. Also my brother is also a coding genius so that’ll help for sure, I know I’ll learn some new stuff.

So even if my pitch is too undercooked and I can’t get some funding to hire a coder that knows what they’re doing, I’m taking the silver lining that I might actually come back with a solution, and probably a lot of GDC swag. =D

Nighty @NightyIgnite and Stryks @Stryks have been helping me with awesome concept art that I will post later on the media page. It feels like the Captain is quickly becoming a character that we as a team know, I hope that eventually people will get to know her as well as we do.

For now I think it’s just time to rest, It’s been a very long week and It’s time to get ready for the trip. Gotta hope for the best.

Happy Pie Day

Daniel “Freaky” Aguilar @FreakyAguilar