Intro

Hello everyone, welcome to our first devlog!

We are group 29 creating Warp Warfare! We consists of 6 students from Digital Arts and Entertainments (DAE) in Kortrijk. In this semester we'll be making a group project together, which will be a couch-co-op game.  

Our Artists are; Arno Schokkaert, Remi de Meerleer, António Gomes Martins,  and Meesje van Hout

Our developer; Daan Demaecker

Our Sound Designer;  Elias Lefebre

Our project involves designing a couch player vs. player (PVP) game that can be enjoyed by a wide range of people, spanning from teenagers to young adults. Warp Warfare allows players to shoot portals and teleport their opponents into traps and other dangerous hazards in a fast paced and thrilling gameplay. The objective of the game is to get the highest number of kills within a time limit to win.

The game is going to be 3D but in a 2D view. There will be a handpainted plane that will work as our background, but other than that, everything else will be 3D, the characters, the assets, the platforms/foreground, etc.

We chose a Victorian-era sewer setting. The dimly lit environment creates a sense of suspense and unease which can enhance the overall gaming experience. Additionally, the green glow and Victorian architecture provide an interesting aesthetic that can be used to create a cool looking level and immersive gameplay. The sewer also allows for a variety of traps and obstacles that can challenge players and keep the gameplay fresh and exciting!

Artstyle Shader Experiments

Fresnel Effect:

In order to improve visibility of the characters in our couch PvP game, we're considering implementing a fresnel effect. Since the game is played on a screen at a distance it can be difficult for players to locate their character. By using the fresnel effect we can make the characters more prominent and easier to spot on the screen. This will make it easier for players to keep track of their character during gameplay ultimately enhancing the overall experience. The addition of this feature is a small but effective way to improve the accessibility and enjoyment of our game.

Pixelated filter:

Adding a pixelated filter to our game's shader was an experimental approach we tried to enhance the 2D vibe of our game. The idea was to make the 3D environment look more like a 2D world. Although we are not sure if we will use it for the final design, the filter gave us a glimpse of the possibilities of having a 2D game made in a 3D world. The filter provides a unique aesthetic to our game and could be an interesting option to consider.

Artstyle 

For our game, we drew inspiration from the stylized and simple art style of Albion Online, utilizing low poly models and a consistent color palette. By doing so, we aim to create a visually appealing and efficient world that stands out from other games. We want to capture the same level of charm and detail seen in Albion Online, while also incorporating our own unique elements to make our game original. We believe this art style is the perfect fit for our game and will provide an enjoyable gaming experience for our players. To achieve this look we plan to primarily use trimsheets to color our 3D models. This approach will allow us to efficiently create a consistent look and feel throughout our game while also leaving room for additional artistic touches if desired. Additionally, we plan to use bevels in our 3D models to add depth and realism to our game world. By carefully incorporating bevels, we can make our low poly models look more polished and visually interesting without sacrificing performance.

Our character design follows the same principle as our 3D models, with a simple yet fun look that stands out. To achieve this, we plan to use trimsheets with gradients, which will add depth and interest to our character designs while maintaining a consistent and cohesive look throughout the game

Programming

This week for programming we tried to prototype the most important parts.
Multiplayer: We wanted to make it so that you first have a screen where players can join. And the players get remembered in when changing scenes. ✔️
Character: A character that can move and shoot portals.
Camera: A camera that makes sure all players are on screen ✔️
Portals: Portals that objects can enter and exit from a different spot ✔️

Our Engine of Choice

Choice: Unity

Unity is a great choice for creating our couch PVP game particularly given our timeframe and team size. The engine's ease of use and flexibility will allow us to focus on creating engaging gameplay and a unique art style, without getting bogged down in technical details.

Additionally, Unity has several advantages over Unreal Engine for creating a couch PVP game with a portal system where players teleport each other to traps. Unity has strong support for 2D gameplay including sprite-based graphics and physics which would be useful for creating the portal system. The engine's integrated editor and 2D/3D capabilities make it a great choice for creating a relatively simple, hand-painted art style with a perpendicular camera view. While Unreal has improved its 2D support in recent years, Unity's 2D tools are generally considered more user-friendly and intuitive. Unity's built-in networking capabilities would also allow for easy implementation of a local multiplayer experience with minimal effort. While Unreal also has networking capabilities, Unity's implementation is generally considered to be easier to use. Unity's robust physics engine can handle complex interactions between objects which would be useful for creating the trap and teleportation mechanics in our game.

Finally, Unity's Shader Graph allows artists to create custom shaders and material effects without needing extensive programming knowledge which would be useful for creating a unique visual style for your game. While Unreal also has a powerful shader editor, Unity's Shader Graph is generally considered to be more artist-friendly and easier to use. In summary, Unity is the perfect engine for our project and will allow us to create an enjoyable, unique, and visually stunning couch PVP game.

Whats next?

in next's weeks episode;

We'll conceptualize our map, continue prototyping our gameplay, Start our official art-bible, and have a playable demo. Stay tuned!