Project Usagi

Community Showcase Game Development
1

[Update 17/10/2015]
Hi All!

I’m back with an update after a year LOL. Being the rookie I am, this solo project was originally meant to be nothing more than a portfolio piece, but it kept on growing and growing! Been a long time but lots of stuff has been done. Learnt SO MUCH from trying to tackle a massive project like this, especially blueprints (still can’t get over how awesome it is :D).

Would I recommend other rookies following the same path as I chose? Probably not LOL. Highly recommend finishing several small high quality projects over than 1 super large one.

There’s still a lot to be done, hope you all look forward to seeing the final product! Also I’m more than happy to hear any criticism, answer any questions etc.

CURRENT FEATURES
-Heavily modified version of ‘Ultra Dynamic Sky’

-Heavily modified version of LHutz’s Inventory System

-Days, Weeks, Seasons

-Weather System

-Real-time 3rd person combat

-Farming system

-Expansive, seamless open world ( 16 km x 16 km)

-Enter-able Houses

-Multiple Weapon play styles

-Modular Character System

-Self Composed music

VIDEOS

Video showing early melee combat system

Sometimes rocks don’t like people…

SCREENSHOTS

1024×576 405 KB

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Banner_Updated_3_zpssua5tsae.png
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Banner_Updated_4_zpsjzeg4l5t.png
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Banner_Updated_5_zpsoqemcysx.png
Massive world to run around

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Banner_Updated_6_zpsvbjgiyfo.png
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Banner_Updated_7_zpskxt4obc8.png
Modular enter-able houses

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Banner_Updated_8_zpsbu4oukk8.png
Grow yourselves some crops for some of that precious gold! Depending on the season, you could have a higher yield or higher quality crops.

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Weapons_zpsjddtj9hu.png
Mix up your play styles by trying out different weapon types!

BEHIND THE SCENES
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Tommys%20Photoshop%20Skills_zpsfcicqqfi.png
Textures are sourced from real life photographs and then stylised in photoshop.

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/Assets_zps4d7c0p8w.png

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/Project%20Usagi%20WIP/World%20Map_zpsl0ihk1u5.png
Landscape created in World Machine

Hi there!

I’ve decided to share a little of my game project temporarily named ‘Project Usagi’. It’s an Open World Fantasy game with the JRPG feels to it! I’m composing the music myself as well and I hope to create simple memorable music that players will enjoy and remember.

Project Usagi’s aim is to create a fantasy atmosphere inspired by JRPGs, where you and a bunch of friends can go run around and explore the world! Adventure and exploration is the key concept to this project.

It’s still in early development and it’s been a solo development so far. I hope to hire people in the future to help out :smiley:

I’d be happy to hear what you guys think, any criticism (I have thick skin don’t worry! ;D), or tips will be cool!

Special thanks to my close friend Iris Choi who’s helped draw amazing concept art for free!

Oh! And a biigg thank you to the Unreal Engine team! Easily the best and most friendliest engine I’ve used to date. Workflow just feels really really good. And the blueprint system! Simply amazing

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Great work on this! Honestly, I picture this being a great start menu scene that just passes time while waiting for you to hit start!

As for some feedback:

  • I love the day to night transition and your foliage and assets look great. Looks like you’ve got a good workflow there! :slight_smile:
  • I really like the transition to night and having the fireflies particle effect. Maybe add a little more light to them to be brighter and having the twinkles on and off to really sell their effect.
    -The clouds (particle effect?) on each side of the mountain seems to stand out. If this is intended to be clouds have a fade out with the night transition. If it’s suppose to be like a volcano spewing smoke/ash then having maybe a glowing ember look or yellow/reddish glow would help sell that more.
  • When doing the day/night cycle getting a moon in your skybox rotation would be cool for the night and the stars. I believe Hourences and some other users have incorporated this into their Day/Night cycles as well.

You’ve got a great start that with some tweaking could go much further! I really do look forward to seeing what else you get done with this! Keep us up to date on how this progresses! :slight_smile:

Tim

3

Howdy Ricewagon,

I have to agree with Tim 100% on the loading screen. I really enjoy loading main menu that can immerse a player in the game from the start. I really hope to see some gameplay from this project in the future. Be sure to keep us updated as your progress along with this project and keep up the great work!

Have a great day!

4

really reminds me of this:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gfhom1H77Vo

nice start man :slight_smile:

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Glad that I am not the only one! Had the same thought.

Looks cool :).

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Thank you for your kind words and advice Tim, I totally forgot to make the clouds particle effect fade out a night so that was a slip up on my part! And adding in a moon is a great idea! I think I’ll layer in some pretty galaxies with the stars as well to give it more of a fantasy look.

Thank you lots Sean! I’ll be sure to upload footage on the gameplay when I polish it out more!

I loved Xenoblade! I remember being captivated by the title screen and watching it loop over and over again before I even pressed play. Maybe I subconsciously got inspired by it without even realising!

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I wished it had some music would have stolen my heart instantly…

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There should be music in the video :O. A little piano piece that I made, maybe you accidently had it muted? :smiley:

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I must have! Awesome!

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Hi All! Updated the first post with a progress over 1 year. It’s been an on and off thing but pretty happy with it. Still need lots of work though

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I really like the lighting, are you using any dynamic GI or is that all from the Ultra Dynamic Sky?

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Thanks! Yes I am using Dynamic GI, specifically LPV :D. Also using a good ol’ ambient cube map also sells the effect.

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Didn’t know LPV could actually look that good. :stuck_out_tongue: What are you doing for the ambient cube map, I could never get anything too great with that (assuming you mean through skylight). I ended up using a white cubemap and just altering it’s colour depending on time of day but was never really satisfied.

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Ahh I see! You should try using the HDR images/Cube maps already provided in the default engine content. Might have to enable this box thingy to find it:
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/UE4%20Forum%20Help/Screenshot%202015-10-19%2000.05.38_zpsyys421iq.png

They’re really good and can dramatically change your lighting, they’re what I’m using too since it’s exactly what I was looking for. Here’s comparisons of skylight cube maps with no LPV:
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/UE4%20Forum%20Help/HighresScreenshot00004_zpsl420lp7q.png
Plain white cube map with altered colour in-engine.

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/UE4%20Forum%20Help/HighresScreenshot00005_zpsjfcghaot.png

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab209/xRicewagon/UE4%20Forum%20Help/HighresScreenshot00007_zpsw241dwce.png

Haven’t changed the intensity between each example but yeah, just select the one that would suit your game’s colour palette and tweak the settings from there. You can also find some HDR images for free online as well :smiley:

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This looks amazing. Well done. Please make a full length RPG and take all my money XD

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For whatever reason using HDR images never crossed my mind (even though I have a bunch). Do you do anything special for the night time? A gripe I had with the skylight was how bright it made nightime when using a static image for the intensity.

Also do you mind posting your LPV settings? :smiley: I’ve never managed to get it looking as good as you’ve got.

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I REALLY like the look and feel of this. Its definitely a cartoony RPG with some style. I can’t wait to see what more you’ve got going for this. I’m really interested to see how the community does with the Medieval/Fantasy genre because I’m stepping into it myself. Best of luck and I will be checking back!

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Looks cool, couldn’t help but notice that you took the design for the scarecrow and the slime monsters from Maplestory though. Probably should change those slightly if you ever want to release it somewhere.

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Thanks! I will try my best to finish it but it would probably take a long time LOL. I do want to release a pre-alpha sometime with a few of the core mechanics sometime soon! Definitely have things planned to flesh it out as a full RPG though :smiley:

Nothing too special, in my blueprint I have a Colour Curve that determines the Skylight’s Colour/Intensity over time. So when it’s around afternoon/night in my game, I lower the intensity and change it’s colour accordingly :smiley:
For LPV I’ve changed no settings, just straight out of the box settings. My directional light is fairly intense though, it reaches a value of around 8 during midday? Maybe that could affect it!

Thank you! I wish you best of luck on your journey in this genre as well :smiley:

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Ah yes I’m well aware of that, the slime and scarecrow won’t be included in the final game, they are used for testing purposes :smiley: