next »

[nwizrt]

About The Game

Vassal: The Arbiter is a science fiction-themed hack-n-slash game in which you control a massive space vessel and engage in a fast-paced battleship combat on a procedurally composed levels.

The game is set on an unknown universe with majority of the game spent on a celestial structures under the control of "Titans", powerful entities that rule any less prominent beings.

Acting as an Arbiter, acting agent of a fallen Titan, you are now the sovereign ruler of your assigned vassal realm. It is your duty now to command those under your control to establish peace for your own realm, gain supremacy over others, or become a new Titan.

Gameplay

The game has hack-n-slash base mechanic. However, unlike most hack-n-slash game the combat is focused more toward ranged combat. Most entity (characters) in the game also have the characteristics those of battleships. They are able to perform combat actions while moving, performing multiple combat action at once, and requiring acceleration for most movements.

Combat is a tool for survival. While being a main part of the game, combat is designed to achieve other more important goal such as survival or completing an objective, similar to the design of a classic shooter.

You have an assigned realm which you have build and find supply for to thrive. Failing to supply your realm for a specific period of time will end the game while being destroyed in combat will affect the prosperity of your realm.

Starting with a moderate tactical structures, you have to improve your realm to get more tactical structures which will help you get an edge on your journey.

You can choose a destination from your realm to explore, find supply, or perform any specific objective. The destination will consist of a series of randomly composed level. While exploring you may also unfold the story of the universe and gain contacts with any local inhabitants.

No grinding. Every exploration requires a specific cost to perform with incremental danger. Performing any exploration on a non-tactical destination will be counter-productive and less favorable.

Development

The game is being developed by a single person started late October 2015.

The game engine is using Unreal Engine 4.

Entity asset pipeline involves, in production order, ZBrush for high-poly and remesh, Blender for low-poly modifications and UV unwrapping, xNormal for base normal and AO baking, Substance Painter for texturing, and GIMP for occasional texture clean ups.

Environment asset pipeline involves, in production order, Blender for low-poly (does not require high-poly in most cases), UV-unwrapping, and Vertex Color for material masking, and then Substance Painter for texturing, most of the normal detail texture will come out from Substance Painter as well.

Particle effect spritesheet asset pipeline involves, again, in production order, Blender for simulations (smoke, fire, and shockwave explosions) rendered into a series of images, and then GraphicsGale to convert them into a spritesheet, while all particle effect compositions are made using UE4 editor, Cascade.



Development - Current State

Most of the accomplished development have been focused towards combat, the most complex aspect of the game.

However, since most of the core combat mechanic have been implemented to a playable degree, the focus is now shifting toward more level asset productions and begin to lay foundation on procedural level composition.



DevLog Background

I have been interested in making a devlog in the forum for a while now. However, back when I started the project in late October 2015 I'm still unsure with the game direction. So, I hold back and just kind of figuring out along the way to find the right style. Now, since most of the show stopping issue have been figured out I feel confident to introduce the project and receive constructive feedbacks from the community  

The devlog should be updated regularly a few times a week. I have posted many earlier devlogs in my personal facebook page so I probably will also post them in a throwback format. Really looking forward to post those as well  

[TonyManfredonia]

Wow!

I just watched your video. This is fantastic. The combat looks fairly polished and smooth for being in Alpha. My first impression is that the combat reminds me of a "shmup" style, except it's 3D and not in a spaceship shooting other spaceships. Which, I personally think is a breath of fresh air!

I look forward to seeing the objective-based systems shown in some fashion. Keep it up!

[ElkiwyDev]

It looks so cool and polished for an alpha!
Congrats! 

[Zivzoo]

I love the art style! reminds me of act IV in Diablo 3. The realism of the textures, light and vfx really add a lot to the quality of the visuals. Good luck with the development!!

[nwizrt]

Thanks for the encouraging word guys! Really keeping the spirits up 

... My first impression is that the combat reminds me of a "shmup" style, except it's 3D and not in a spaceship shooting other spaceships ...

I heard quite the same impression from a few people. However, the game actually is a point and click hack-n-slash such as Diablo / Dota. I probably should update the description as "Point and Click Hack-n-Slash Action RPG" if the current one is deemed a bit misleading. The other solution is probably showing the game cursor on screenshots / gameplay videos. I'm open for suggestion, of course

... I look forward to seeing the objective-based systems shown in some fashion ...

I do look forward implementing the system too, actually. However, it should come after what I have planned for the next update, procedural level composition. When the level composition is in place I think it will be more practical to implement the objective-based systems.

It looks so cool and polished for an alpha! ...

Thanks, I'm hoping for making some development background on most of the entities / environment. Stay tuned!

I love the art style! reminds me of act IV in Diablo 3 ...

That's right, I do use that particular act of Diablo 3 for reference. I also roughly use the dungeon layout for level blocking as well.

[nwizrt]

Development Background #1: Arbiter Avatar Design and Model Production

The first devlog update is going to be the development background for the player controlled entity called "The Abiter Avatar". Since many of the upcoming update may involve the development of the entity, it might be a good idea to give some context into it early.



Short-Story Background

The Arbiter Avatar is the vessel of The Arbiter. The Arbiter itself is the acting agent of a Titan, the most powerful entity in the game universe. Being the arbiter of a fallen titan, the player arbiter is no longer bound by duty and have to fend for itself and its realm.



Design Background

The Arbiter Avatar is designed to be a destroyer class warship in the context of naval warfare. It is in the mid-tier in terms of size and maneuverability. Using this idea, the vessel should have a relatively tough visage but with a rather slim frame. One design that came up immediately was The Coronata Titan from Sins of a Solar Empire game. After I get a few references for the design I immediately go for 3D model production. Any details or new ideas for the design will be implemented as the production process goes.



3D Model Production

Entity 3D model production in the game have roughly the same process. The first step is to create a dynamesh high-poly mesh in ZBrush. After the main shape has been established I would use clay-polish to smooth the mesh and accentuate hard-edges.

Some shots of the high-poly mesh in ZBrush:

The next step is to use ZBrush ZRemesher to produce low-poly mesh quickly and then made some low-poly mesh adjustments in blender. To save some time in the development, I mostly ignore sculpting high-poly detail knowing the fact that I will be using Substance Painter later in the pipeline. On top of that, low-poly mesh adjustments will be made only to adapt UV-unwrapping process and adjust a few triangle order.

After the low-poly mesh have been established the next step would be to bake high-poly mesh into geometry maps. The geometry map to be baked, normal and ambient occlusion map in this case, is not going to be the final geometry map to be used in the game. Rather, It will be used as a base for texture painting.

I use xNormal for the geometry map baking process. The only preparation before baking geometry maps is to create cage mesh. To get the cage mesh, I simply duplicate the UV-unwrapped low-poly mesh and fatten the faces of the duplicated mesh a little bit.

High-Poly Mesh, Low-Poly Mesh, and Cage Mesh, side by side:

The first geometry map that I bake is normally a 1024x1024 normal map test bake. The result of the bake is then being exported, along with the UV-unwrapped low-poly mesh, into Substance Painter. There, I would check for any obtrusive UV-seams. If there is any obtrusive UV-seams I would go back to Blender, made some adjustments, and redo the normal map test bake. I normally repeat the process a few times before getting a fine low-poly mesh setup.

When I finally get a good UV-Unwrapped low-poly mesh, I proceed to bake the final geometry map. The map set to bake is normally a 2048x2048 Normal Map and a 2048x2048 Ambient Occlusion Map. Afterwards, the geometry maps are exported into Substance Painter as the base geometry maps for texture painting.

The first thing I would do before start painting in Substance Painter is to find a good material setup. Since the Arbiter Avatar entity model itself is actually only the second model that I made I did spend quite a time to get good material setup to work with.

Since I'm not working with organic model I mostly use mask painting instead of layer painting because it produces sharper hard-surface result.

Early material test shot:

I don't really mind about the practical aspect of entity design except on parts where the lore and game mechanic might matters.

In the case of the Arbiter Avatar they are: cabin lights, spellcaster mark, ship exhausts, and ship tail. These parts might have particle systems attached in the game so they have to be designed to support its purpose. On top of that cabin lights and spellcaster mark is used in the lore and visually in the game to differentiate the ship type. Ships with cabin lights means that they are at least a Destroyer class or bigger and have dense ship population. The spellcaster mark, on the other hand, signifies that the vessel is capable of channeling or casting a spell.

Texture Point of Interest Blocking:

After adding enough details and material adjustments, the texture set should be finished and ready to be exported to the game engine. In the case of the game, the entity model texture set is using a standard-compact export setup. The texture set export setup are: Base Color (RGB), Normal Map (RGB), Emissive Map (RGB), and Roughness-Metallic-AO (RGB). 4 texture maps in total.

While in the game engine, Unreal Engine 4, I import the low-poly mesh and texture set with the default settings. One exception is the Roughness-Metallic-AO map. Since it is a geometry map the sRGB option for the particular map should be turned off.

Final 3D Model Production Result (Texture Editor Screenshot):

3D Model Production (current In-Game Result, low-res screenshot):

Next Update

Next update will introduce and explain The Arbiter Avatar / Player main gameplay mechanic. Since entity model production has been explained, and most of entity undergo the same production process, future update about entity would most likely be only about its background, design decision, and gameplay mechanic. If there are any details that you would like to know about the production process, by any means, ask away. 

[TonyManfredonia]

Wow! It's so awesome to see your modeling process. As a composer, I rarely get to see the model formations taking place. Really need to see the insight on that front.

Also, I love how it's ship-based. As I see it up close, the shape of it has that "Boba Fett ship" quality to it.

Two questions:

1.) I'd love to hear more about the world you're building! Any backstory elements?

2.) Do you have a Twitter/Website/etc. for more information? No biggie if not, I just love learning more about projects

[nwizrt]

Development Background #2: Arbiter Avatar Basic Movements and Weapons

In this update I'm going to explain Arbiter Avatar, player controlled entity, basic movements and weapon controls.



Basic Movements

Basic movements control is pretty simple. Simply right-click (can be hold to repeat the move command) anywhere on the ground to issue a move command towards the designated location. The current implementation is not finished, however. Currently the entity will only move towards the designated location if move command was issued at a valid AI navigation location. Ideally, the entity should automatically move towards the closest valid AI navigation location if the move command was issued at an invalid location.



Weapons

Auto-Fire Cannon

The first weapon is an auto-fire cannon with a pretty simple control. Simply click and hold the left-mouse button to fire the weapon at the designated location. The weapon may be fired while moving or while firing another weapon.

The weapon implementation is pretty much finished. It does not have any UI indicator at the moment but will be added at a later date.

Homing Plasma Cannon

The second weapon is the first weapon that is listed in the weapon bar. To use it, press the "A" key on the keyboard to activate the weapon and simply left click on any hostile entity. The weapon will fire a homing projectile towards target entity with incremental fire rate, firing faster as long as it is locked at a target. The weapon will fire indefinitely until the target is destroyed or manually stopped by press and holding the same weapon key, "A" on the keyboard.

The weapon implementation has not been completed yet. In the current state, the weapon is pretty overpowered since it fires indefinitely until the locked target is destroyed while having no other limitations. The final weapon implementation should possess a few limitations, such as:

• Limited Range, both short range and long range. Long range limit is immediately come to sense as with many other weapons. Short range limit, however, may change the weapon usage quite significantly. The player will have to distance the entity from the target entity, which might be a challenge against quick moving ships with tight formations. Since the limitation might not be intuitive without proper visual feedback, the limitation will not be implemented until the weapon has the proper UI in place.

• Overheat system. While the player may have some challenge utilizing the weapon against fast moving adversaries, the weapon is still trivial to use against slow moving target entities. This issue may be resolved by adding overheat system to the weapon. The implementation will be pretty similar as in many other games with overheat system for their weapons, typically gatling guns. The weapon may be fired at a specific length of time before it is overheated. With the system, the player need to time their use of the weapon to get the most efficient usage. However, since the system requires some visual feedback to determine weapon overheat state, the system will not be implemented until HUD indicators has been implemented

Plasma Beam Cannon

Plasma Beam Cannon might be the easiest weapon to use that is listed in the weapon bar. To use it, press "S" key on the keyboard to activate the weapon and press the left mouse button at a designated location. The weapon will fire a fixed-length beam towards the direction of the designated location. The beam also have the capability to pierce through multiple entities.

The weapon mechanic has been fully implemented. The only feature that has not been implemented for the weapon is the weapon fire range and direction UI indicator.

Raze Path

The most recently implemented weapon, the Raze Path is a pretty complex weapon. To use the weapon, press the "D" key on the keyboard to activate the weapon and then press the left mouse button on a designated location to mark the Raze Path initial fire point. Then press the left mouse button on another location to set the Raze Path advance direction. When the initial location and advance direction have been set the weapon may begin the Barrage State.

In the Barrage State, the weapon will fire a series of weapon barrage towards the target Raze Path advance location:

• 5x Wavering Plasma Missile shots.
• 3x Plasma Cannon burst fires, consists of 8 Plasma Cannon shots per burst.
• 4x Plasma Lance shots.

The series of weapon barrage will be repeated a single time, which in total, the weapon will fire 2 series of weapon barrage while in the Barrage State.

While in the Barrage State the weapon may be given a new advance vector with the same control as assigning the initial location and direction of the Raze Path.

Currently, the weapon only limitation is its moderately long cooldown compared to other weapons. However, as with the Homing Plasma Cannon, there are a few other limitations that will be implemented in the future:

• Limited Range, both short range and long range. The limitation will serve the same purpose that of the Homing Plasma Cannon. The implementation will also be put on hold until a proper weapon UI has been implemented.

• Disabled Mobility Module. The Utility and mobility module has not yet been discussed. However, the mobility module has been shown in the gameplay showcase on the first post. Most of the time, entity mobility module allows the entity reach a certain location very quickly. In the case of the Arbiter Avatar, the mobility module is a Warp Blink which allows the entity to "Blink" into a specified location very quickly with a relatively low cooldown time. The mobility module is considered a crucial means of survival in the game. By disabling the module, the player will be forced to trade survivability for an increased fire power.

Ultimate Weapon

The ultimate weapon has neither implemented or named as of yet. The weapon will be designed to deal massive damage in a large area. However, since the player might only possess the weapon at quite a later stage of the game, the implementation will be delayed until other more important game features have been implemented.



Next Update

Next update will hopefully be about an actual game development update instead of background update. The focus will most likely be about level design and new level parts. Stay tuned!  

[nwizrt]

Wow! It's so awesome to see your modeling process. As a composer, I rarely get to see the model formations taking place. Really need to see the insight on that front.

Also, I love how it's ship-based. As I see it up close, the shape of it has that "Boba Fett ship" quality to it.

Two questions:

1.) I'd love to hear more about the world you're building! Any backstory elements?

2.) Do you have a Twitter/Website/etc. for more information? No biggie if not, I just love learning more about projects

Thanks, modeling process is also quite an exciting thing for me as well when I started working on 3D modeling. It is pretty confusing to get the right setup to work with at the beginning, though. If anyone could get some information from my process to help with a similar problems that I have in the past, that would be great. The most frustrating thing to do for me, however, is developing the required art skill and style, since I came from programming background. But, I'm quite happy with the result for now.

Yeah, there will be backstory elements in the game. I'm hoping to provide practical backstory that the player might act upon. For example, since the entites (characters) in the game are massive vessels, there will be encounters with cities beneath the platform (where the entities are standing) or outside the platform. Encounter with these cities will explain things like their current and past conditions for contracts (quests), current world situation (Titan alliances, war, or politics), Titan stand-offs (open war situation), etc. There might be other possible sources of backstory but that is the most immediate thing that I would implement.

I'm also interested in making some sort of posters/cards for neonmob to show some backstory elements.

I think this TIGSource post will be the most comprehensive source for the game at the moment. I do have personal facebook page. But, I rarely post anything, mostly just some information about my interest on Doom old/new and other FPSes. There are also facebook page of the game and twitter account. I have post some content on the facebook page. But, I haven't had the chance to post anything on twitter. I should also add a signature on my profile soon. I have only post the game on public since about two weeks ago, so I'm still trying to get the best setup to manage social media and learning to write faster to post more content. Hopefully it will be better in the future  

I've checked your Soundcloud. The orchestras are just magnificent! I got goose bumps all over. Your pieces remind me of the soundtracks from Heroes 3: Might & Magic that I really hold dear.

[TonyManfredonia]

I'm a personal fan of the Raze Weapon. But perhaps that's because I like complexity in weapons hahahah. Having distinct weaponry (instead of just click to shoot) will go a long way for variety.

I just followed you on Twitter; I know there's not much there yet, but I'll be there when you start using it a little more!

The background elements will be neat. I like how the players are vessels and the cities will be below you. Definitely adds a "bigger world than meets the eye" feeling. Kind of like when the Reapers of Mass Effect were introduced; made my mind realize the actual scope of the game's universe.

Thanks for checking out my music! I am honored it reminds you of Might and Magic. A classic series, and a rewarding compliment

[nwizrt]

Development Update #1: Level Development (Quick Update)

Quick update for the current level development.



Summary

Last few days since the last update have been focused on level development, specifically platform surface mock-ups. Platform surface mock-ups are the groundwork for level development. They are used to measure battlefield dimension and predict the required environment development tools and technique.

The development result have been pretty good with 9 finished platform surface mock-ups, which 6 of them are finished in the last 6-8 hours before the writing of this devlog (which is quite predicted, more of this on future update). This progress increases the number of platform surfaces in the game (finished + wip) from 7 to 16.

The current finished + wip platform surfaces can be seen in the gif below (each shown surfaces are not in the game world scale):

Next Update

The platform surface mock-ups will be further developed to be gameplay viable in the next update. After enough number of in-game platform surfaces, the development of the procedural level composition may start.

[nwizrt]

I'm a personal fan of the Raze Weapon. But perhaps that's because I like complexity in weapons hahahah. Having distinct weaponry (instead of just click to shoot) will go a long way for variety.

I just followed you on Twitter; I know there's not much there yet, but I'll be there when you start using it a little more!

The background elements will be neat. I like how the players are vessels and the cities will be below you. Definitely adds a "bigger world than meets the eye" feeling. Kind of like when the Reapers of Mass Effect were introduced; made my mind realize the actual scope of the game's universe.

Thanks for checking out my music! I am honored it reminds you of Might and Magic. A classic series, and a rewarding compliment

Gameplay mechanic complexity is definitely one of the main focus of the game. There are about 4 weapons that can be fired simultaneously plus 1 mobility module (and 4 utility modules in the future). There will also be 8 hotbar keys for assortments of usable/consumable items and spells. Of course the problem will be balance and smaller target audience, but I'm willing to take the risk in this case.

Thank you for the follow    After I sort out the level development I will start managing my social media account. The start of managing stuff will be pretty hectic, but I think I will enjoy it as the development goes.

In the case of perspective, I also think that background elements are a crucial part for the game. If there are no visible micro activities below or above the platform surfaces audience might think that the world are simply "toys on top of a table" or "an arbitrary sci-fi robot character". Adding a city on the vista or strike fighters in the combat will hopefully bring some perspective on the game.

[nwizrt]

Development Update #2: Level Development (Quick Update)

Quick update for the current level development.



Summary

All platform surface mock-ups from the last update have been made into 3D volumes:

Next Update

On the next update all of the new platform surfaces 3D volumes should have been UV-Unwrapped and have some basic texture materials applied.

[nwizrt]

Development Update #3: Level Development (Quick Update)

Quick update for the current level development.



Summary

It has been a week since the last update. The reason for the delay was because UV-unwrapping workflow revision that took some time.

UV-unwrapping workflow has always been a bottleneck in the workflow. The result of UV-unwrapping work determines the quality of the next work on the pipeline. However, UV-unwrapping itself do take quite a bit of time to execute and take even longer to revise.

With the current revision, UV-unwrapping can be done faster and with better result. The technique that is used in the new workflow is actually pretty simple and very common on the 3D modeling domain. However, the technique because requires a few experiments to get the best practices. More detailed information about the workflow will be posted in the future after procedural level composition has been programmed.

Here are the current level surfaces with mock-up material, previewed in-game:

Next Update

Procedural level composition should have been programmed on the next update. The current number of available level surfaces (around 16 in total) should suffice to start procedural level composition programming. The process should not take too long since the target result is not too complex to achieve.

[TonyManfredonia]

The textures look so nice! I hope the procedural generating goes smoothly. Reminds me of very royal/elegant architecture. With that gold outlining, each platform looks wonderfully embroidered.

[Pixel Noise]

Hey this looks great, especially for having done it all yourself. The scope/gameplay sounds really interesting too! Nice work

[Xonatron]

This looks great. I love the art style and presentation. The particle effects are fitting. The golden/silver border shine is quite aesthetically pleasing.

[Davi Vasc]

The architecture looks pretty cool. I'm getting a baroque period feel from it, I wonder if that is intentional. Nice work!

[nwizrt]

Development Update #4: Level Development (Quick Update)

Quick update for the current level development, procedural level composition.




Summary

Basic procedural level generation has been programmed. Is is now possible to dynamically spawn and compose level chunks into a complete level surface.

While it does have achieve its main purpose, the current implementation is still very limited. Here are a few main features that are still missing and under develpoment:

- Chunk bound checking. Currently, level chunk placement does not perform any bound checking against neighboring chunks for any possible clipping.

- Chunk Entry Checking. Each level chunk entry may have different size, chunks may only be connected by 2 chunk entries of the same size. Currently chunk entry checking have not been present and level chunks may be connected on any arbitrary entry.

- Hub Joint Placement. Hub joint mesh must be placed between 2 connecting chunk entries. Hub joint assets have been made previously. However, their dynamic placement functionality have not been implemented.

- Level Chunk Category. Each level chunk should have their own categories, such as: dead-end chunk, main chunk, or connector chunk. The functionality should be useful for maintaining consistent level design on a dynamically generated environment. It may also help with the involvement of specific point of interest chunks in the future.

Next Update

On the next update, main features listed above should have been implemented. After the implementation have been done, the next development focus would be on UI.

[nwizrt]

The textures look so nice! I hope the procedural generating goes smoothly. Reminds me of very royal/elegant architecture. With that gold outlining, each platform looks wonderfully embroidered.

Glad you like it. The main reason I chose the texture design was because the creation process is very fast and efficient. It is also a good base for further improvements.

Thank you for the support on other media. I feel really bad for not managing my social media better. It's just that I most often got tunnel visioned and can only do one thing while completely disabled on the others.

Hey this looks great, especially for having done it all yourself. The scope/gameplay sounds really interesting too! Nice work

Thanks! The current tech for game development really helps out a lot, as long as suitable development workflow is present. I did take a shot on a non-conventional concept since the development risk and responsibility is pretty low for a single person development project. The concept doesn't seem to have been explored much so it might be interesting how things would go.

This looks great. I love the art style and presentation. The particle effects are fitting. The golden/silver border shine is quite aesthetically pleasing.

Thank you. The challenge now is to present more variations for the scene. The collaboration between characters, environments and micro environments might be challenging to combine. But, It should be interesting how things develop in the future.

The architecture looks pretty cool. I'm getting a baroque period feel from it, I wonder if that is intentional. Nice work!

It is indeed intentional. I like some exaggeration and surrealism on overall design. Baroque and filigree are good references I often use as a design foundation. I also interested on some contemporary arts I found recently on the internet. I hope I can incorporate some of its elements to the game visual.