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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogs Swarm - A Third Person Survival Shooter by Dyrefrost Games
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DyreFrostGames
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« on: August 05, 2015, 03:56:13 AM »

Hey everyone!

The Team:
We are Dyrefrost, a team formed to create a game called Swarm [WIP]! We are a six person team all currently studying Degrees at Media Design School in New Zealand. Our team consist of three programmers (studying Software Engineering) and three artists (studying Creative Technologies). The project will last 16 weeks (1 semester) and will compose all of the mark for our final game project. We are using Unreal Engine 4 (C++) to build this game.

The Game:
We are creating a game currently called Swarm. The game is a third person shooter with wave-based survival style game-play. Inspiration for us came from games such as: Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 | Zombies, Killing Floor 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | Survival, Unreal Tournament 2004 | Invasion, Left for Dead 2. The game is focused on 2+ players (aimed at 4 - 6) for co-op action. Players will work together using guns, skills, teammate and the environment to survive against waves of incoming enemies. Players will be able to purchase equipment from a vendor to help them. Money is earned through killing enemy monsters. As the game progresses, surviving will become a much more difficult task and players will have to take advantage of the variety of passive skills and one-time use abilities available from the vendor.

Current Features:
Simple character model + animations
Full WASD movement with third person camera
Two monsters
    - Swarmer (small, weak melee monster)
    - Spitter (medium size, ranged AOE monster)
Simple target based AI system
Menu system
Co-op networking (Server setup, broadcasting, server finding, joining etc.)
Score-board
End game stats screen
Two weapons
    - Pistol (semi-automatic, weak, starting gun)
    - Grenade Launcher (single shot, high damage AOE gun)
Weapon switching, dropping, picking up
Combat system
Full HUD (crosshair, enemies left, health, damage)
Simple level
Simple skill system (teleport)
Reviving system (for teammate)

Planned Features:
Sonar style mini-map based on our previous project
Vendor based on our previous project
New character model + animations
New weapon models
New monsters:
    - Slammer monster (slow, high damage monster, charging style special attack, grouping effects with Swarmer monsters)
    - Mosquito monster (medium speed, poison, damage over time attack)
    - Broodmother monster(special monster that doesn't attack, spawns mosquitoes)
Fully finished level (desert themed)
High-scores / locally saved stats
Achievements
Full options menu (rebind-able keys, graphics settings etc.)
Automatic rifle weapon
Particle effects
Sound effects
Further skills - bought from the vendor
Passive skills (weapon damage, accuracy, revive speed etc.) - bought from the vendor

Here is a simple screenshot:


Thank you all for reading! We hope to provide consistent updates and take you on an exciting journey through the development of our game!

Update 1: 05/08/2015 (week 3 of the project)

--
Alex Denford
« Last Edit: November 17, 2015, 02:26:39 AM by DyreFrostGames » Logged
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« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2015, 01:19:45 AM »

Hey there,

In this weeks update we're going to share the backstory to our game Swarm as well as showoff some new/returning features to Swarm and a general what we've been up to.

Backstory to Swarm:
The Council has ruled my planet for as long as anyone can remember.
Ruthless in nature, they strip our planet bare, destroying it from within for their own benefit; this is the way of our world.
The youth are taught only obedience and fear, while hope, their only sanctuary, is poison in their hearts. The Council would tell us stories of colonies on other planets, of an empire spread throughout the stars with us at its heart. I, and my team, dared to stand against this, to stand for good. We were only trying to make life better for our people. The Council paraded us in front of them, hailed us as heroes, said we were worthy to be sent out to the colonies to help them as we had helped our people. It wasn't until we landed here that we saw the truth. This planet is dead and only ruins remain, ruled by vicious monsters who seek our death, a lot like home in that regard. They sent us here to die but I refuse. Those imperialist pigs don't control my fate, and when death finds me on this dry rock it will find me on my feet. I will gather what is left of my team and I will do what I have always done, resist. It's time to face The Swarm.


It's been a busy week, here is a short list of the added features to Swarm:

- Melee System featuring a Katana
- New sonar style minimap
- First of 3 Vendors for buying/selling weapons
- New desert map with ruins and dunes
- New Spitter monster that spits acid spit
- New ready system that displays peoples ready status
- Lots and lots and lots of bugfixing

A little peek at the new look of our game including our new map, ready status and minimap


Here is our new Slammer monster that is currently in the animation phase and is expected to be added shortly


Our new character is making good progress and we expect to fully swap to him some time next week


Our new grenade launcher and rifle are also expected to be added with the character.

We are hard at work at reaching our switch to Beta at the end of this week. Our playtests have given us valuable information into how players are actually playing the game which has led to numerous tweaks and balances. This week we hope to add our new art assets, our new-new map, the rest of our vendors and more.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check us out on the social media's!

Cheers
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
« Last Edit: August 11, 2015, 01:30:07 AM by DyreFrostGames » Logged
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« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2015, 05:02:48 PM »

Hey there,

This weeks update post comes from one of the artists of Dyrefrost games.



We've been working on a new map design for a few weeks now. The pin-board above shows
some of the processes we went through in determining the feel of the terrain, from concepting,
modeling and blocking out the environment.



We decided to go through with an abandoned desert type environment, which is part of the backstory
of Swarm. The terrain model with the main playable areas has been completed, giant canyon walls are yet
to be placed on the edges of the map.



Lastly, the screenshot above shows a current block-out of the map. We've modeled and added some
environment assets for playtests to see how the level flows during gameplay.

Environment-wise, we are currently working on fleshing out assets to fill out the level.
During the polish / gold phase, we as a group will be focusing on laying out the level
to give the best experience possible while playing.

More art and gameplay posts to come shortly!

Thanks for reading and be sure to check us out on the social media's!

Cheers
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
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« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2015, 09:33:45 PM »

Hello!

I am Alex Denford and this week I am going to give you a short insight into the AI for Swarm.

Firstly, a brief overview of the monsters in Swarm and their individual roles:

Swarmer
This monster is small and resembles a crawling bug or insect. It has 6 legs and moves very quickly towards its target player. It attacks the player when in range which results in a small amount of damage. Swarmers are the smallest and weakest monster type in Swarm. This is the most common type of monster.

Behaviours:
 - Grouping
 - Wandering
 - Following slammers
 - Jumping




Spitter
This monster is medium sized with medium health and movement speed.  The Spitters attacks with a ranged attack that may catch players off guard.  The Spitter is the second most common monster in Swarm.

Behaviours:
 - Retreats at ¼ health
 - Always stays at a distance from target
 - Sneaky (attempts to shoot enemy from behind)
 - Projectile attack




Slammer
The Slammer is the largest monster that is found in Swarm. This monster moves very slowly but can be deadly when attacking. The Slammer uses a close range claw attack but also has a special charging attack that will knock the player back if hit. The Slammer has a large amount of health and will cause nearby swarmer monsters to follow him into the combat. The Slammer is the rarest type of enemy in Swarm.

Behaviours:
 - Charge in straight attack towards player (like charger from LFD2)
 - Melee attack if in distance or can’t charge
 - Cool-down on charge attack
 - Slowly walks towards players until in range to charge




One of the main AI mechanics we wanted to include was grouping. Once I had a basic line of sight sensing system set up (using UE4's built-in AI perception components) I had to include the ability for the AI to spot each other and "join" them. The way I approached this was using a leadership system. Each monster that is spawned has a randomised leadership strength which is different based on the monster type (Slammer's have very high leadership, Spitter's have none - they cannot lead). When a monster spots another it evaluates the leadership strengths and with a random chance check, will decide to follow that leader.

The grouping itself is done by using a vector offset from the leader's position. This is calculated based on the number of monsters following the target, as well as a set constant grouping distance variable. Each group member attempts to walk to his position in the group as well as avoid others. The monster's speed are also dynamically changed based on their distance from their target in the group, this creates smooth movement between reaching the target position and restarting.



Thanks for reading and be sure to check us out on the social media's!

Cheers
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
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« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2015, 01:29:19 PM »

Hey everyone,

Brett here from Dyrefrost games and today Ill be talking about the Main Character and Weapons featured in this alpha build of our game Swarm!

The main character is part of an elite task force that was abandoned by the Council, the government that rules the Earth. Left behind by the very people they risked their lives for, they now have to fight for their lives with the hopes that someone would pass by and save them or provide them with aid.

The inspiration for the base character design came from a varied range of designs. I wanted the character to reflect the damage environment they were placed in. The character is still in development till the end and changes will be made within the next two weeks. At this stage the character is currently in playable mode with thankfully no bugs what so ever!



I used a washed color tone to match the desert landscape. Adding a basic roughness and worn down look to the character helped add personality. The guns themselves pretty much follow the same kind of design aspects. The Grenade Launcher will definately go through some color changes as the vivid color dont match up too well with other two weapons. These will all be addressed further into development stage.







Thanks for having a read of this ladies and gents and please do check us out on all our other social media platforms!

Cheers
Brett
Dyrefrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
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« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2015, 03:52:12 PM »

Hey fellas

Today we have a little update on the event system in Swarm.

Here is the overview map of our game showing the event system hotspots.



Basically, the players need to defend the life support system that is keeping them all alive, fail and everyone dies. Players defend it by purchasing equipment, weapons skills etc from vendors, utilising turrets and doors etc. To be able to do all of this the players need power. Solar panels are located on the map that produce fresh batteries at random intervals, players can carry these batteries to the converter plant which will convert that battery into usable power for everything. Power can be used to open the ship doors, power turrets, open vendors etc. But be careful, the more power you use the faster you run out!!


Battery



Solar Panel



Auto-Turret



That's all folks, stay tuned and we'll have some more posts shortly, including some videos!

Cheers
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
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« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2015, 02:50:30 PM »

Why hello there.

I am here to update you all on the new fully featured and immersive sound that has just been implemented into the game. It took a long time to find the right free assets to put in but as of now we have sound effects for the enemies attacks, walking and dying. The Slammer having been so recently been added it does not have any sounds but I have them ready to go and he has a very cool growl that he will do every now and then.

The Main Player finally has Walking Sounds and all three guns now have shooting and reloading with attenuation so you can hear your friends shooting if they are close to you.

If you enter the vendor it will make a sound for opening it and every button now has a sound as well as when you buy it makes a cha-ching sound for purchasing feedback.

Background music was the longest process as getting them to play at the right times and then stop at the right times was a bit of a trick in unreal as it does not allow you to stop and then start it again so I had to find a work around by muting one song in-between waves and then turning the other song up, and vice versa going into the wave.

anyway yea sounds are all in and they sound great. Will most likely add more as we go but the main ones are in and feeling good.

Thanks guys see you next time
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
« Last Edit: October 05, 2015, 02:13:29 PM by DyreFrostGames » Logged
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« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2015, 02:16:30 PM »

Hey guys, this week I am going to give you a general update on the project, what we are working on and where we are headed.

Last week was our 9th week working on this project and our first week back from a two week break. This term we are focusing on polishing the game, adding a few new weapons, monsters and items to buy as well as updating the map. We aim to finish the majority of the game by week 14 which gives us the last two weeks of the term to focus on marketing the game.

Currently the team is working on bug fixing and polishing all of our current work. We feel that our game is not yet very smooth and "finished" feeling. Some of the current things we are working on are:

  • Bullet tracers
  • More particles and effects
  • New, simplified map (with less running required)
  • New sound effects and music
  • Options menu
  • New & updated character animations
  • Double jump ability
  • Advanced AI (particularly for the Slammer)
  • Day / night cycle
  • Advanced AI spawning algorithms
  • Large boss monster (This will be shown off soon!)

Shooting and killing monsters in our game is the single most important mechanic in our game and thus must feel amazing. We are trying to focus a lot of our time on the weapons, animations, particles, sounds and effects in order to make the shooting mechanics feel excellent. Turns out that getting this right takes a lot of time with a combination of many different features and effects coming together.

We are also focusing on reworking our map. From our play-tests we received feedback that the map required too much running (in regards to the event system) and that it is almost impossible to play the game without constantly running batteries to the generator. We want to keep this event system but make it an objective you have to do every now and then, as opposed to constantly. In the new map design we have spread out the entire map, but pulled the event system mechanics in closer towards the base. This should give the feeling of the players being in the centre of an attack, with the monsters moving in from all directions. We have also simplified a lot of the geometry of the map and have decreased the overall gradient. We will still be filling the level with fun hiding spots, defensible positions and more.

New map design:




Cheers! For any enquiries, send us a PM or reply here!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
« Last Edit: October 06, 2015, 01:28:14 AM by DyreFrostGames » Logged
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« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2015, 11:46:23 PM »

Hey there everyone, DyreFrost Games here to give an update on Swarm.

We have been putting into place for a while now a skill and ability system to help separate us from your average hoard shooter game model. Within the game map there is a Skill vendor that allows the user to purchase passive and active skills to boost his or her character/weapons throughout the wave.

The type of abilities that are purchasable here are varied and range from damage boost passives to teleporting to gaining 5 mines to place wherever you choose. Having this range of abilities and skills/items gives the player more options to play to their own style, and to cooperate with their team mates to allow for specialization in your characters build.

Many more abilities will be coming to this area in the future as more content is added.

Please PM us if you have any queries or interests.
Regards DyreFrost Games.
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« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2015, 01:43:37 PM »

Hey everyone!

In this weeks update we're going to show you the current progress of the new level.



This current iteration of the map shows the solar panels (battery spawns) on both ends of the base, and the generator
at the bottom left of the image above. Only playtesting will tell whether the distance between the assets will work well or not.

The map is currently still under development, We are hoping to get the final layout done by the end of this week,
which will leave the next 2 weeks for texturing and extra prop modelling (environment wise).

Check back soon for more art and gameplay posts to come shortly!

Thanks for reading and be sure to check us out on the social media's!

Cheers
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
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« Reply #10 on: October 28, 2015, 01:37:16 PM »

Hey All!

Just an update on the character. Its gone through another revamp and will be considered the final concept of the character. The new one is more leaner with a slimmer character design. The idea is that we would incorporate armor pieces on top of the character giving the player more choices of choosing how the character would look.



Cheers and have a great day!  Hand Thumbs Up Left Hand Thumbs Up Left Hand Thumbs Up Left
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« Reply #11 on: November 17, 2015, 01:42:24 AM »

Hey TIGSource! Unfortunately this post did not get through last week so I will be doing a double post this week. As promised, here is a sneak peek at the latest monster called the Broodmother! This powerful, rare monster may be the deal breaker for your team is she spawns. Surprisingly she does not attack players directly, but instead roams the map giving birth to Swarmer eggs. These eggs quickly hatch to spawn Swarmers. If the Broodmother is not killed quickly, the number of Swarmers coming for you may increase significantly!




The Broodmother is a boss monster and only one can exist on the map at a time. When she spawns, all players are notified via the event system.

Also being worked on this week:
 - Enhanced monster gib & kill effects (body parts / explosions / particle effects etc.)
 - New animations for the sci-fi sword and other weapons
 - Complete new vendor layout featuring item description highlighting and a much more intuitive interface
 - Several particle effects added to the game
 - Game modifier system (No HUD, friendly fire etc.)

Next week we are hoping to finish off a difficulty system, enhancing the monster strength over time (so each wave gets progressively harder - more so than it currently does) and more polish techniques such as particles, money gained effects etc.)

Cheers
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
« Last Edit: November 17, 2015, 02:03:59 AM by DyreFrostGames » Logged
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« Reply #12 on: November 17, 2015, 02:26:19 AM »

Hey guys, has been a very intense last 2 weeks! Non-stop play-testing, bug fixing, balancing and improving the game for our submission on Wednesday 18th November. We have added several visual improvements, some new skills, improved the AI and more! Our game also has a fully finished options menu for game settings, video settings and controls. Options can be saved and loaded so you don't have to change them every time you play the game!



With this new options menu comes a new menu on the latest version of the map. This includes 3D menu widgets, new art assets and matinee camera tracks between each menu (Main menu, Host game, join game).

Here are some images of the game at it's current state:




New display for gaining money:



We are working very hard to wrap everything up this week and prepare for our public booth display on Friday 20th November. We will be demoing the game on Friday night alongside our fellow classmates' games. We are all really excited to finish this project and our degree! Thank you everyone for following our progress. If you want more information we can be reached via our social media (Facebook being the most regularly checked).

Cheers
DyreFrost Games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyreFrostGames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DyreFrost-Games/587140504758971
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dyrefrostgames
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