thanks Tim! i appreciate the advice/guidance
Some updates to post…
Finally got the next level of Flutter Bombs running at 75 fps. Foliage system really helped achieve this.
working on building a doppler effect into the flyby’s of the swarms, but regardless, it’s pretty exciting to fly through a swarm in VR.
Looking forward to sharing this level when it’s ready.
Figured i’d share the process i went through to make this judder free. Still needs a lot of work, but i’m open to additional advice to help optimization…
- reduced total mesh count - originally my procedural spline had too many meshes, so i increased scale and reduced mesh count considerably
- foliage - almost every prop was then erased and rebuilt into the foliage system. this dramatically improved things. everything is getting culled and the track is designed to limit too much horizon distance line of sight
- i haven’t implemented culling volumes for smaller objects outside of the foliage system, but that’s next
- gpu particles, but somewhat limited. gameplay is also designed to prevent from too many particles spawning at once.
- static lighting
- 75 fps min framerate
- my goal is to make this judder free in direct mode which is where i’m doing most of my VR testing, but more often than not, i found a lot of games that judder in direct, seem to be fine in extended.
- i’ve also found that the testing itself is somewhat flawed unfortunately. sometimes i’ll boot up and this will run at 75 fps, but yesterday i got some random spikes at like 60fps. could be OS background services, but wasn’t able to verify.
A rough cut of campaign selection development. Three factions to choose from: Steamtechs, Geotechs, and Hydrotechs. Steamtechs command Thermobaric Nectar, Geotechs drop the Mother Lode, and Hydrotechs excel at Saturation Bombing. Designing the interface for use in and out of VR. Successfully completing a faction’s campaign unlocks the quickplay level access.
Also have a new version right around the corner with some updates to flight controls, textures, foliage, models and flying A.I.
Here’s the latest fly-through of the next level being release for Flutter Bombs: River Run. Have got most of the A.I. working as intended. A bunch of stuff on the to-do list like dash depletion (at the cost of nectar), spider turrets, web mesh collision, and the race track timer. Am also looking for VR testers, so send me a note or contact me here if interested: http://earthborninteracti.wix.com/earthborninteractive#!form/cyg3
Integrating spiders into the River Run level of Flutter Bombs for the next update…
Recently built an auto-pilot mode for Flutter Bombs. While I was setting up the demo for a local creative arts and tech show, there was this hilarious reaction when a couple students came by to check out what the demo was all about…
Was excited to be invited as a panel speaker to a game developer symposium to talk about the development of Flutter Bombs on Wednesday the 27th of May. The event was sponsored by Coder/Designer Kegger Meetup Group and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Here’s a quick video that was created as a snapshot of the current development of Flutter Bombs:
Was a great show at the America Now: Innovation in Art event at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. For this event, I built three different two minute VR experiences. If a player wanted to, they could just sit back and enjoy the ride following different butterfly factions fly through their environments. Alternatively, if the player wanted, they could interact with the environment by looking around for nectar scattered through the levels. By looking at the nectar, it would automatically be collected and start flying toward butterfly. The Hydrotech faction experience included flying through a river canyon filled with spiders and wasps. The Geotech faction experience explored caves filled with roots, glow worms, lava and mushrooms. The Steamtech faction experience took the player through a giant city-machine with turning gears, light snow, and heavy traffic. Will be presenting this experience again at Gamescape 2015 in Baltimore, Md. after which I will upload the experience to Oculus Share.
More progress on the Flutter Bombs multi-platform development. new wingset upgrade and nectar economy system being built into the mobile platform, port to GearVR going pretty well on the VR front, and Console dev may be on the indie scene in fall of 2016!
The mobile stuff coming soon:
A couple years ago, I built this A.I. battle in UDK using UnrealScript.
In the process of building the multiplayer component of this project, I finally had a chance to rebuild this A.I. system using behavior trees in UE4. Pretty basic at the moment, but heading in the right direction, and gaining a much better understanding of UE4 AI system features.
Updated trailer. 2016 should be a productive year for this project!
Continued work on multiplayer replication testing and general bot gameplay. It was tough to grasp replication and when to use multicast vs. server or client only events, but things sorta make sense now. Also had a lot of challenges handling multiplayer HUD control given that player controllers and game mode’s aren’t replicated. Eventually built a listener into the HUD widgets that react to a game state variable which i was hesitant to do at first because I hate putting stuff like that in tick, but i can’t find another way at the moment. Still researching alternatives to handle multiplayer HUDs and comparing against Generic Shooter and Multiplayer Shooter examples.
In terms of bots, the basic gameplay is coming along ok, however obstacle avoidance needs to be worked out. Basic priorities for decision making are functioning, and it’s getting pretty fun to test out now.
Have gotten flow going pretty well in the FFA multiplayer mode, so started skinning the prototype map to get the general feel of the landscape.
Continued work on weapons development. This particular wingset drops a bomb loosely designed to mimic the concept behind the T-12 Cloudmaker.
Meet Wagtail. Wagtail drops dirty bombs. Dirty bombs don’t seem harmful at first, but disable flight and apply more damage over time.
Another member of the Flutter Bombs assault squad is Molly. Named after the classic Molotov Cocktail, Molly drops a two stage weapon, the second of which is incendiary.
Introducing another member of Flutter Bombs: Daisy. Named after the BLU-82, also known as a ‘Daisy Cutter’, this weapon instantly hits combatants in its radius with fire damage, followed up with a brief damage over time effect.
Welcoming Neutron to the Flutter Bombs cast of characters. Loosely based off of a neutron bomb, Neutron drops a weapon that creates an immediate area of denial which slowly expands until reaching critical mass, after which the field collapses creating a wave of destructive energy.
Updates to the Android version of the mobile twin stick shooter now available (v15). Procedural levels, new wingsets, new environment art (courtesy of the marketplace with several custom tweaks), and new sounds. Will eventually migrate this update to iOS as well when i figure out some iOS specific interface issues as well as some general packaging issues in code-turned-non-code projects…
should finally have the split screen mode up and running by end of march, just in time for a few applications to different game festivals this year. here’s an overview of the prototype split screen map i’ve been developing. am using a score cap system for game-win scenarios. should be able to post gameplay recording after a couple test sessions soon…now back to the bot behavior trees…
A couple friends stopped by to help test out the new split screen mode. Some great feedback in the process. This demo version should be available by end of March in time for some festival applications as mentioned in an earlier post.
