Project Completed

So after a long haul the project is complete. Where to start with a discussion on my own work.

Well things that went well are always a nice start.

Things that went well

1.
 Considering my skills when I started unity work I feel I have massively improved. Basic skills like putting planes together and setting up rigid bodies were my initial skill set. I have learnt effective light useage, sound effects (and how to code them in when I want them to play), more advanced animation techniques and some small amounts of code that will be useful for future projects, especially the relationships between the code itself and the objects in game.
So overall I feel I harnessed my skills in Unity effectively, especially now I am part of a team who are creating a project from a brief set by an external source.

2.
Another area I feel went well is the Ai. Although I didnt quite get a monster into the game as such. I got a working enemy that chases the player (without falling over!)
The code I was taught early on but I think it worked quite effectively in the final product. I looked into the use of way points to send the enemy to patrol an area and when the player entered the area they got caught so everything went better than expected. The moment I said my game would have an AI I wasn't too sure myself but it worked really well to actually make the game interesting!

3.
One last thing I feel that went well is right near the end game. I have just discussed the AI, now I will discuss how well killing it off went. The most fun part of the game being where you pull the switch to lower the chandelier if you miss the monster sees you and you die, if you hit he dies and you win the game. I really enjoyed making this stage of the game and I really like the way the game finishes. The Death screen is even one of my favourite parts of the game!

Things that went badly then. Where do i begin on this checklist!

Things that went badly

1.
First off I feel that the code was abysmal. My timings on how long the code would take were thrown way out of proportion the moment I began.  I have never been good at coding and I dont really know what I expected to change. I worked my hardest on some of the problems and found quite a few things a bit easier than previously expected. However there were certain features, the doors and keys for example I just couldn't work out. Eventually I got a bit of tutoring and I got the code all working alright.

2.
Something that went badly was the organisation of the project files. I often find my organisation of the files to get on top of me however I kept the files relatively neat. It was only when I started to texture that the files started to become quite confusing. The naming was fine but unity seemed to create multiple materials for one texture. Then after a while they would just turn pink for no apparent reason. I believe its due to me changing over some files to another computer, the swap wasn't completely smooth however so this may be why.

3.
One last thing that didn't go so well... unfortunately I feel as if the player wasn't inclined to slow down all that much during play. I set the game to a few testers and they weren't always slowed down massively however they did get caught out by the monster a few times! It made for interesting watching as they explored. To see how the varying effects made them think about what was going on. In the future I would like to work more on the psychology of games, it is a very interesting study. Its a shame I didn't have the freedom to look more into it throughout  this project. I felt rather restricted by my own brief to be fair, with each room previously.


Overall I am happy with the outcome of the game! I surprised myself with the skills I had prior and the skills I have learnt from the project! Being able to manage my time and learn new skills is an invaluable experience I will take forward with me throughout life!

Death Screen and documentation update

Having implemented a way to die and set all the code for it, the underwhelming return to the main menu seemed horribly... well... underwhelming! So I have started work on a death screen. It is still a work in progress however.
I will be continuing work on it in the coming week. In the run up to hand in.

Gettit? Hand in...


Once I have completed this I think. THINK. I am nearly done.
I will be just ironing out areas and looking to improve some aspects.
Sounds is one I need to work on a bit.

I have also updated my documentation with the new tasks and the final deliverable. Hopefully this is sign of the run up to the end!

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Task Plan

List of tasks

Models

• Rooms – Hallway, Bedroom, Living Room, (More in Updated)
• Hallway – Desk, Lamp, Torch, Radio, Windows, Wooden Planks, Key
• Living Room – Table, Cupboard, Bookshelf, Locket, TV, Sofa
• Bedroom – Teddy Bear, Ball, Car, Blocks, Bed, Music Box
• Room 3 -
• Room 4 – Enemy, ceiling light

Sound Effects

• Lightning
• Rain
• Radio
• TV
• Monster
• MusicBox

Code

• Player Scripts – Run, Walk, torch, keys screen lock
• Doors and keys
• GUI – current key
• Pick Up objects
• Opening draws
• Follow AI Script
• Ai walking between two points
• Death of the player
• Scene movements (Buttons etc)
• Animations
• Cross-hair

Unity Compiling

• Rooms in separate scenes
• All models as above
• Sound Effects/3D Sounds
• Lighting in scene
• Coding together all parts

Misc Updates to task list

Models

• Rooms - Closing room, (Updated) Enemy chase room, Enemy defeated room
• Living room - Lamp, Draw
• Bedroom – Stacked rings, Rug, chair
• Closing room (Room 3)– Pedestal
• Enemy Defeat Room (Room 5) – Switch, Chandelier

Unity Compiling

• Animations and sound on Death Screen

Sound Effects

• Monster Punch (death screen)
• Monster Laughter (death screen and misc)
• Tense music
• Win Music

Code

• Enemy death
• Footsteps and breathing code

First deliverable

Working Rooms – Hallway, bedroom and living room

Player can walk into a dimly lit room, pick up a torch by walking near it, this will help them find the first key to the living room

Player then clicks the door into the living room. They walk to the front table where they can pick up the next key – to be hidden in the next set of weekly tasks (next deliverable)

The player then returns to the hallway and moves onto the bedroom where they find the next key.

Again the hiding will be in the next deliverable.

Mouse fixed to the centre of the screen with cross hair to show where you are looking.

Completed

Mostly a success except the ball physics (UPDATE – Fixed 3.4.13)

Lock and key currently not working (UPDATE – Fixed 26.1.13)

Second Deliverable

First set of rooms at a working standard, same as above, keys hidden (the key reveals itself in the hallway only after the player picks up the torch). In a lock box and under toys (for living room and bedroom respectively), room 3 added and player moves into the centre of the room and triggers an animation as the room becomes smaller. Living room has multiple places to search for the key (opening objects when you stand near them)

The player is then back in the hallway and can move to the next final room. The player can enter, get the key (currently unhidden) and then moves to the exit as the game ends.

The start and end is the main menu with a GUI for a button.

Completed

Again a success story, the only issue is with room 3, the walls can move through the player if positioned correctly.

When clicking the key in living room not always perfect collision detection. (UPDATE – Fixed 11.4.13)

Third Deliverable – Final (Update – 5.4.13 - 3.5.13 )

Fully textured and modelled rooms, keys all hidden to their final standard. Hallway through to room 3 as before, keys finalised. Scene changes now cycle through various hallway scenes (multiple copies of the same scene that have slight changes each time).

Spoiler alert - Once room 3 is complete the player heads to the Enemy Chase room – There is a short delay while the player is held to listen to the sound effect of the monster creeping up, the player is then released as all the lights begin switching themselves off. The key appears and once clicked the Enemy is released from behind the wall which the player is stood looking at. Sound effect Monster scream.

The player is chased through the room and has a choice at the end of the corridor. One door leads to a dead end, the player will get caught here and dies, the other door leads to a button which the player uses to drop the chandelier and if timed right kills the enemy. A key is left and the player uses this to go to through the next door and lives.

(Update 16.5.13)
Completed

You Live or You Die

At the end of the monster chase room is a choice of two doors. I put this in to give the player a bit less of a linear non-decision making experience.
Its a pretty harsh decision as one leads to your death every time alas I spent the week implementing this choice and the room beyond.

I have actually nearly completed this section of the game I forgot to blog it until now.
There is a note in the room which tells the player to click the switch and it will release the Chandelier attached to the roof, thus killing the creature.
Il go back to that in a moment. Here is a screen shot of this room.

The location of the player (near centre of the screen) is the position you start in if you chose the right door. There is no escaping this section. the monster finds you and you die. However if the player finds themselves choosing the left door they appear on the right at the top.
The monster will come in the same way as he does if you went to the right but he wont see you up top.
This is where the player times the switch perfectly. (The white box is the switch in this screen).
If he manages it he will be gifted a key and then he can exit the level out the door just off screen.
Congratulations Screen Ho!

M-M-M-Monster!!!

Due to time constraints and my lack of abilities in 3D modelling and animation I will not been able to add a monster with a model that would frighten even the bravest of children. Instead I have opted for the standard capsule.
I had initially tried putting in a model of sorts, but I was having troubles keeping it standing up straight with the code I was using, the thing would run at you feet first rather than arms first so rather than editing code I decided to just keep the simple capsule model. This is a bit of an annoyance as I had initially intended the build up of a big scary monster however I have had to make an executive decision as to not put my tasking behind schedule!

I will consider the incorporation of the capsule shapes as the actual characters, photo frames etc to show these are the basic people of this world. Not sure how well that will go down but with the story taking a basic shape with the notes, the idea wont be too far out.

Release the Kracken

I have been thinking about the monsters release mechanism. I am pretty sure of the code I will use for the AI, its just considering how to make him appear. As stated previously I will be using a sudden method with a sudden sound to make him appear however the actual release of him is somewhat unknown as to how i could do it. I am considering a script that when the key is picked up it activates the AI script.

otherObject.GetComponent(NameOfScript).enabled = false;

Or a much more complex method of having a wall completely destroy itself the moment the key is picked up and the monster running from behind it. The monster will be held by a collision box that when the wall is destroyed it too is destroyed and so the monster is released. This means that while the player is moving around the area so too will the monster be. When it is released in this method, it will already be close to the player and jumping on their face!

UPDATE 25.04.13
Below is a picture detailing what I said above a few weeks back

The monster is stood on the right behind the green cube outline, when the player picks up the key which is situated at the Directional light the wall will disappear along with this collision, the player has that green space' worth of time before the monster will be eating player for breakfast.
Hope this update helped make this all make a little more sense!

Scene changes

Im sure I have said before Im not perfect at code. So to show how the scene changes currently are going to work i have put together all the scenes which I will be needing into one folder. I can now use these when testing so my scene changes always go to the correct place.
Basically you start in hallway then go to living room then hallway 2 then bedroom and so on.
Its a bit of a mess to be honest but to have a passage of the game memorise what has happened already and what is going to happen next this felt like a nice simple (if messy) way to organise this. Its pretty effective and so far I havnt noticed any lags!

(room 1 is the enemy chase room and room 2 is the enemy death room)
Speaking of which I have edited my plans slightly. The way the game ends at the moment, just run away from the monster feels too clunky

I have decided I will create a 'kill the monster' room. Something with a button and a trap for the monster.
This will be in the next 6 week set up.

Menu and MonsterHunterRoom

This week was about getting the final room ready for the AI implementation in the next few weeks. The room is a basic, pick up the key and the monster appears.

 

I have decided to add a run key for the player, otherwise it will feel like you are just casually walking away when this thing is chasing you.
I think I will be playing with the room to get timings right as at the moment the key is behind you (which isn't obvious to start)  and then you click it and the monster will be there. Very anti climactic even without testing it!
I have researched a few ways in which enemies are first revealed in some horror games, below is Pewdiepie's video of the Witches house, similar to my game in that you are exploring an unknown area finding clue to the next area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiEnQbDJSHc#t=08m05s
(I have cut to the specific bit, only like 10 seconds is relevant for this example)

I will be going into a bit more detail of the monster itself in the future. I have a feeling Il have a few problems coding it all together but for now the room is ready!

In terms of menu I have decided to use a scene that has already been made, remove the current 1st person controller and add in a camera and some floating text that tells you how to play the game.
I have also created a simple GUI for it, this is currently a single button 'Start' (Not shown in pic below)