Construction Archives - Page 3 of 4

Wood, Walls, and Weapons

We added lots of new player animations this week covering all the busy work you might find yourself doing after the collapse of civilization. Crafting, starting a fire, setting a broken arm, and even wrapping a sucking chest wound all have a unique look and action now. While we were making things look more realistic we spent some time smoothing out a few issues with the female character model. Right now one of her feet keeps busting out of her boot and she has the eyes of a tiger shark, which is fine for instilling fear in your enemies, but not the look we’re going for overall.

We cleaned up some of the weapon reloading predictions and removed the hack that temporarily fixed weapons getting stuck in an empty state when the auto-reload failed. We made some good progress on a crash reporter and should have it up and running after some testing over the next couple of days. The team also made some AI improvements to help mutants keep track of their targets during a siege, reduced the wolf and mutant population across the map, and fixed a bug where respawning players would hear coughing as they were brought back into the realm of the living

Most of the week, however, was focused on player construction and building material designs. We went over some possible wood designs, how the pieces might fit together, and some possible engraving/decoration options to make any apocalypse house look like a home. Below you can see that work as it progressed.

January 30, 2020

Phantom Totems and Ocean Fires

We continued our progress on our siege system this week with some major improvements. We smoothed out some problems with spawn points and AI pathing to ensure that the mutant hordes don’t get bunched up and nobody feels left out of the carnage just because they appeared on top of a nearby tree. We added a “Max Siege Time” to the Siege Manager that will automatically stop an attack if it has been active for too long and fixed an issue with the siege cooldown not properly being applied after an attack had finished.

While we were in bug hunting mode we took some time to address a few lingering issues on our list. We fixed problems with drone connectivity, Increased shotgun damage, and decreased bullet spread to make the boomstick feel stronger. Torches won’t stay lit when you swim with them anymore and you can no longer place a campfire in the ocean no matter how pretty you think the embers look floating on the waves. The team also fixed a bug where containers in buildings were lootable through walls. While it did make things pretty easy, imagine how boring your favorite bank heist movie would be if the robbers never had to physically go inside the bank to get the money.

The team is focusing on the player construction system to wrap up the week. We’ve updated the persistence system to better clean up totems and construction pieces when they are destroyed or decay. Previously some pieces would occasionally reappear and float in the air like the ghost of bases past. We updated the UI for the construction tool and looked at some concept art of materials besides the thatch we have now for base construction. Below you can see what the new UI looks like and several possible stone design options you might see in the near future.

January 23, 2020

Base Boxes and Siege Improvements

This is the first full week of sprint 43 and we have a lot planned. The big items on our list are improvements to our player construction system, diorama updates and completing the AI sieging system. We will also be working on fixing up older features, performance improvements, building crash logging systems, and fixing up any temporary art and bugs.

We finished optimizing the player section, player stats, compass, alert lists, and the map widget. Players need only press M to see where they are on the map now. We imported the latest female mesh and refactored water checks for better ocean vs river vs land detection. We also discovered that players who went for a dip in the ocean would sometimes get “stuck” in a swimming state. As much as we’d all like to swim through our day, the apocalypse is no place to walk around swinging your arms like you don’t have a care in the world, plus it’s really hard to aim a rifle when you’re doing the Australian Crawl. We fixed the bug.

The siege system got a lot of attention in the past week. We defined the sizes of bases that the Siege Manager should consider relevant for sieging. Bases can now only be sieged if the owner is online. We added debug chat messages that will indicate when a siege has started and stopped and the system now stops the active wave when the base’s totem is destroyed. We nabbed a few bugs that popped up with the system as well. We fixed a crash that could occur if a base’s calculated size changed during a siege, a bug where all siege functionality would stop updating if there were too many active sieges at once, and an issue where the wave spawner would sometimes get stuck before spawning the next wave. After all, a siege with only one wave of attackers isn’t really much of a siege.

With all the work we’re putting into launching mutants at player bases we thought we’d put a little time into making something special inside to protect. We started modeling unique containers to stash your stuff inside your base. Below you can see a design for a custom container perfect for holding all your extra equipment and loot.

January 16, 2020

Homes and Hazards for the Holidays

With the holidays fast approaching the team was focused this week on fixing bugs and finishing up projects before leaving and joining the great travel queue wherever they call home. AI got a little attention first. To fix some of the issues we ran into last week with mutants hurling missile weapons behind their backs like a carnival attraction, we made a change that ranged AI can now only start a projectile attack if they are actively facing their target. We worked through a few movement and overlapping issues as well so groups of AI can spend more time hunting and killing players and less trying to find the perfect place to stand while rending flesh.

While we’re on the subject of large groups of mutants, we started work on AI siege activity. Our goal is to give a large group of AI battle tactics and behaviors that would see them attack outpost or player constructed buildings and hold them for a set time if they were successful in overrunning the players left or caught defending a structure.

While we worked through some lingering persistence issues and testing the construction system we decided it was time to come up with an appropriate construction tool. While harvesting has the shark-toothed pan we call the Killit, our construction system currently doesn’t have any physical tool. We went over several design options and looked at a few different concepts before settling on a theme and a few favorites. The final tool should be ready for unveiling soon.

Lastly, we’ve finished the first iteration of what we are calling our diorama system. Basically, the system adds items, attractions, and cover along our procedural road, river and beach systems. Things like mailboxes, street lights, cars, containers, and all the things you might expect to be left behind after the fall of humanity can be found along the game’s natural travel corridors. Below you can see one such area and what it looks like morning, noon, and night.

December 19, 2019

Posters, Rivers, and Trick Shots

A new sprint started this week and for the next 30 days we’ll be focusing on updating the map, creating bots for testing, AI sieging, and fixing persistence. We also plan on adding some polish to the player construction system, updating older features, and of course plugging away at the bug list.

We tackled a few bugs already. We fixed an issue where players couldn’t hit weak points if they were standing too close and some issues with our procedural river system flagging shoreline as a river. We added audio for crafting/recycling failures so players will know if their shop projects are getting a failing grade and a flashing alert when stats get to 10% or less. The team added posters and pictures to houses as well to give them a more authentic lived-in feel. All the images so far come from individuals on the team. To be honest, some of them could stand toe-to-toe with anything you’d find on Awkward Family Photos but they do make the ruins more realistic.

Speaking of embarrassing moments we discovered a few more issues with the way the mutants were acting in combat. We found a bug where any AI who started to throw a projectile would throw it backwards if their target quickly ran behind them and we found that Big Bob would sometimes run in place. We’re all fans of trick shots and getting healthier but Bob has to stay big, it’s in his name, so we fixed the issues.

Lastly, we added navigating controls to the drone a while ago to help film trailers and video. Let’s just say flying the eyes in the sky around Lahaina isn’t as easy as you think. Below you can see what the drone can capture with a rookie at the controls.

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December 13, 2019

Swimming Improvements and AI Steering

Despite some of us still fighting off the lingering effects of a turkey coma, we got right back where we left off this week working on AI steering, tackling bugs, and polishing our player construction system. We made many tracking/pathing improvements to our heavy hitters. Steering for our mutant overlord Big Bob and the island’s many bears was implemented. We added “turn in place” animations when bears rotate to face their enemies but ran into a little problem. A bug popped up that would cause AI to turn in place when first aggroed. Even Bob would do a little pirouette like a gruesome Sugar Plum Fairy before charging off to devour something. As cute and festive as it was we took the spins out of their attack moves.

There were several other bugs addressed this week too. We fixed a bug where melee AI could attack enemies through thin objects such as doors. We found that wolves could potentially get stuck in “Hit and Run” mode, and fixed an issue where a player could stand/jump up when swimming in open water. We respect the grace and strength of dolphins as much as anyone, but we don’t want our players to swim like them.

While we were busy keeping players from launching themselves out of the surf, we made a few swimming/water improvements. We changed drowning damage to allow players a few more seconds of floundering and tweaked variables for swimming on the surface without drowning. We even implemented a new death icon so players have something nice to look at before they sink beneath the waves.

Finally, we continued to work through the construction system bug list adding a little polish as we go. As you can see from these shots below our thatch buildings are looking terrific.

December 6, 2019

Mutant Movements and Hunting Bugs

This week marks the beginning of sprint 41. Over the next month, we’ll be focused on creating testing bots, fixing persistence, and working through a hefty backlog of bugs preparing for our first set of players. A map update, polishing the player construction system, some drone work, and a crash logging system is also planned.

We fixed a bug with the construction tool showing up in the wrong filter in the crafting menu and addressed an issue with curved wall and floor pieces not connecting properly. In addition, we added breakable windows to the construction system so players can add that “lawless living” look to their homes or take a little joy in breaking what others have built.

Many AI bugs were fixed this week and some of them were gems. We fixed a bug where AI that had their movements forcibly stopped would sometimes redo their last move after a short period of time like it was Groundhog Day. We fixed a bug where the AI could get stuck on corners making them exceptionally easy to hit just by running around a building. The winner of “Bug of the Week” had to go to an issue where an AI allowed to turn in place would do 360s after finishing an attack. While it certainly carried a good deal of flair, we decided the mutants should focus on tearing players apart and not their Whirling Dervish impersonation.

Finally, we are working on audio passes across the map including the interior of the Thorcon Power Plant. Being the social hub of the game, the plant will be getting some attention and a bit of polish. Here’s a look at what the locker room looks like now before we add some more detail.

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November 15, 2019

Mutant Grunts and Other Audio Improvements

Sprint 40 comes to an end this week and the team is wrapping up new systems, adding some polish, and nabbing bugs as they arise. Much of our time has focused on AI improvements. Future Maui’s monsters now move better in a group and keep pace with leaders in our effort to “Leave No Mutant Behind.” We created a new passive AI module that allows AI to make random sounds while idle. Now, all the mutants gurgle, growl, sigh, and rumble when they aren’t hunting players, making it easier to know when they’re around in the bush.

That proved to be very useful this week when we ran into a bug rendering all AI invisible. Players found themselves being ripped apart by unseen assailants anytime they ventured out into the world. While navigating around the island only by sound did add another layer of difficulty, we fixed the bug because we’re not interested in making a sequel to The Bird Box.

The team fixed the interior audio state for the top of the Comm Tower, made improvements to audio in the main room of the Thorcon Power Plant, and implemented a “crafting completed” UI sound so players will know when they’re weapons are done cooking. Speaking of kitchens, we fixed a strange bug that would sometimes create kitchens with no doors in our procedurally generated buildings. We might have a quest at some point where players have to find their way into a forbidden kitchen, but that time is not today.

Lastly, we continued our push to complete the player construction system. We added FX support for placing construction pieces, fixed a crashing issue when trying to place triangle foundation pieces, and added UI sounds to the construction radial menu. You can see the fruits of our labor in these interior shots of our thatch building design below.

November 7, 2019

Steering Creatures In the Right Direction

We continued our work on AI steering this week, making sure our beasts and terrors move more naturally while chasing players and avoiding those straight-line paths that make them too easy to hit. AI can now “head track” their targets if their targets are behind them and rotate in place if their target is within an acceptable range. The team adjusted their deceleration curve to improve how they look when blending out their movement. The cannibals will soon shamble with the grace of figure skaters when they’re out on a liver run.

We also fixed bugs where the steering AI’s movement direction and movement speed were frequently returning incorrect values in their animation blueprint and one involving UE4’s native “Braking Deceleration” functionality causing the steering AI to stop short of their intended destination. Nobody likes a monster who stops short. We’ve worked out most of the bugs with the deer and wolves. Bears and other heavy hitters are up next.

We addressed many audio bugs too. Uzi’s make the proper sound when being reloaded now. We also fixed an issue where 2d impacts were being heard by all players, a problem causing multicast sounds (reload/equip/etc) to play twice, and a bug where thirsty and poisoned sounds would never play if a player was hungry.

Lastly, we’re adding the finishing touches to the thatch materials for our player construction system. We added stair meshes this week as well as adding some polish to the overall form and function. As you can see below thatch buildings are looking amazing.

November 1, 2019

Teaching Wolves To Run

This week we continued our progress on the player building system and made some big additions. We fixed rotation snap points for floors and foundations so walls will always face outwards or inwards because walls are most useful when they are at right angles. We added window planks to the construction menu and added glass penetration to building windows. Very few things are more satisfying than shooting out a new window, especially after the collapse of civilization. We fixed a bug with the building totem health bar not showing in the game and added a recipe for the construction tool to the craftable items list so players beside us can get in on the construction craze that seems to be sweeping what’s left of Lahaina.

We added a couple of bits of audio and nabbed some weapon bugs this week too. We implemented audio alive/dead state switches for WWise and low health audio events. Bleeding out, the strangled gasps of the poisoned, and death rattles have never sounded better. The team fixed a bug with weapon sights showing camera meshes in-game. We also fixed a bug where ADS’ing with the shotgun made all pellets hit the center point, making bird hunting particularly difficult.

Most of our time this week, however, was spent on AI steering. Our goal is to make the AI run and move more naturally when tracking players. Instead of charging or running away in straight lines, we’re striving to round out their pathing showing that there is weight behind their movements and making it more realistic. We fixed a bug where AI could get stuck on corners if two nav path points were generated too close to each other, and one where AI enemy tracking modules could cause an AI to lose their enemy in certain cases.

We’ve mostly focused on deer and wolves while we work out the kinks, but plan on improving the mutant’s lurching in the near future too. Below you can see a video highlighting our steering work and comparing AI pathing before and after.

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October 25, 2019

Tag: Construction