7/28 update

I worked on several things this week. The main thing was making sure that all the bugs were fixed from when I created the scene change last time. I had a few issues with objects not interacting with other objects properly and my walk behind areas didn't work. This took me going through and comparing the original downstairs scripts to the new creep downstairs script to figure out what was wrong. Mainly it was just some baseline numbers that needed to be changed. I also had an issue that when you went through the kitchen door in the creepy living room, it took you to the right side of the screen still in the living room. I apparently just put the wrong room number for that, so it was a quick fix.

I went through and also added all the descriptions for the new rooms. This was a fairly simple task because it's something I've already done many times. It was really just time consuming because there are so many areas the player could click on.

The biggest thing I did this week was messing with the book shelf. From the beginning of this project I wanted that bookshelf to display a menu of options for the player to click. I wanted them to be able to select the book they wanted to know more about. This was incredibly difficult because most tutorials are set up for actual conversations with other characters. Mine was basically a conversation with a book shelf. I read a few tutorials and forums and also watch a tutorial on dialog to figure it out. I never found anything about objects rather than characters, so I just kind of messed around with it until it worked and eventually that worked!

So now the game is able to be played completely through, with the new downstairs areas. I need to add some sound to the downstairs room and even a reaction for the first time you enter them, but that will be another time. It's 2 in the morning and I have worked on this all day!

I also created another video that shows the progression of the game from the early weeks of development until now!

Update 7/16

This week we working on a big scene change. I really don't feel that the game is really quite creepy enough so we added a bit to that this week. In the beginning of the game the living room has a very safe feel to it. My goal has been to slowly bump up the eerie feel as the player progresses. The first indication being the kitchen, then the bedroom, but then it went back to feeling safe in the living room. I didn't like that, so now after the player leaves the bedroom and goes back downstairs, the living room and kitchen change. They look older, like years have passed while the player was upstairs. Each room looks pretty decayed and gross now. There's also a few more messages written by the demon.

This took me a little bit to figure out and it was much more time consuming than originally planned. I basically had to create new rooms in the engine. Previously when the player exited the bedroom it took them back to Room 3 (Hallway) but now it takes them to an identical looking room but it's Room 8 now. I did this so that I could make the new hallway lead into Room 9 (Creep Living). I had to go through and add new walkable areas for each room and make sure the new hallway still lead into the bathroom and bedroom. I haven't create the hotspots for the new rooms yet, but I will be doing that in the next update.

Unfortunately I was having issues recording tonight, so no video today. I should have the video up by tomorrow though and I will update this post when it's ready!

Mentor Meeting

I met with Derric Clark yesterday for my mentor meeting. We discussed one of the main issues I've been having with the game. I cannot get the waypoint function to work. The character should walk to an object before picking it up. I can get the character to walk after the item has already disappeared, but never before. What we believe is happening is the waypoint function begins, but is immediately stopped by the pick up function. We went over a few different options.

I could add a new feature that is just made for walking so when the player "interacts" with an object they walk to it, but if they "pick up" an object they'll actually grab it. This might work because it would allow the interact function to run completely before the pick up option starts.

I could also add a function that tests to see if the player is close enough to the object. If they are, they will pick it up, if they are not they will then walk to it. I need to look more into the engine to see if there is code already written to determine how far a character is from a specific point. If there isn't this option may be a bit difficult.

Another option would be to create a loop. The loop would check to see if the player is close to the object, if they are they would pick it up, if they weren't then nothing would happen and they would need to walk themselves over. This is similar to the second option and requires me to look further into the engine.

This was pretty useful because I honestly had no idea where to start on fixing this. I'll be looking into all these options soon. Another game update is coming in the next few days!

Update 7/9

It's only been a couple days since the last update, but I'm playing catch up right now.

This update was mainly just polishing things up. I fixed the issue with the front door. For some reason when I did the baseline override, after saving it, it would just revert back. I eventually gave up on trying to fix the problem this way. Instead, I changed the walkable area near it. Now the player can't walk as close to the front door, so he isn't able to go behind it. I think it looks better anyway because before he seemed way too close to the door and the walls.

I spent some time going through the game a few times by myself and a couple times with David. I realized that there was almost no hint or anything to the player that they should place the items at the door. I decided to use the bedroom to get this point across. I felt that a message written in blood on the walls was obviously the best solution. I'm pretty proud of myself because I did the blood for that room because David was busy making me a new shock sound. So now there is the message that says "Leave offering at gate if you want escape." This worked well because I wanted to make the upstairs a little more creepy, but I wasn't really sure how to do it originally.

We also got a new sound for that room as well. I really like the shock sound in this room more than the kitchen. I originally told David I wanted a Psycho type noise, but instead he gave me more of something you would hear in Silent Hill and I love it. I think it really give it that "I need to leave this room now" feel.

I did a couple minor touch ups to a couple areas as well. The bathroom was the first. Now if you look at the mirror you can tell something is a little off about it, so I'm hoping it will help players to know they should look at it. Before I felt that unless they were just looking at absolutely everything, they would miss the message explaining what they should grab. I also went in a resized the key so it's not so difficult to grab when it's in the body. The last small thing was the ending. I fixed the text so now it all fits on the screen.

Game Update 7/7

This week I worked on several different things. I was able to finally resize the main character. This was super time consuming and also caused problems with the upstairs. I had to redo all of the upstairs rooms because they weren't as tall as the downstairs. The character basically looked like a giant so I resized everything and redid all the walkable areas and hotspots.

We also added music and a couple sound effects. This actually went incredibly smooth. The music plays in every room and the pick up noise is applied every time an item is added to the inventory. There's also a shock noise for the first time you enter the kitchen. I think it really helps with the mood of the game.

The game is now beatable. The final puzzle works and when all the items are placed the player will be brought to the end screen dialog. I was able to make it so the player can place the items in any order. This was time consuming but worth it.

The intro and end scenes were added. Overall they turned out pretty well, though the end needs a little work. I had a hard time getting the text centered but eventually it worked out. One of the screens needs to be fixed in the ending portion because the first part of the text is cut off.

There's also an issue with the front door. The door is its own object as well as the doors that it's replaced with once items are placed. I have changed the properties several times to override the baseline so that the doors always show up behind the character. For some reason they keep reverting back so the player ends up walking behind them. I'll figure it out in the next update hopefully.

Next week I'll be polishing it up a bit.