LAN test

We just did a LAN test for the 4 computers we are bringing to RPI gamefest. Everything is looking good!

Weapon Tree

What do you think of the weapon tree for Crystalline?

ENLIST TODAY!

“The crystals belong to those who harvest them!”
The Orange Suns
ENLIST TODAY!

Controls!

 

 

New for the loading screen!

Map Iteration

So I know I said that the map was greenlight and good to go, but we had a play testing event the other day and noticed that there were some balance issues with the King of the Hill game mode on the map.  As of today, the only hill zone in our map is directly in the center on the platform with the gold rotating drill. The hill had a bit too much cover for players who were already inside. To try to fix this, I placed some subtractive geometry on some of the walls around the hill to open the hill up a bit more.

Originally this map was designed for another game mode in mind, but we cut that game mode from the game. And now that our game only supports Deathmatch and King of the Hill, tweaks to the map need to happen to ensure that the two game modes that we offer are fun to play in our environment. Luckily the grey box Maya version of the map isn’t to far along and those assets for the middle area aren’t made yet.  So this design tweak doesn’t impact production flow at all.

Playtesting Reports

We now have more formal playtesting reports. We have both a pre-playtest survey and a post-playtest survey. This will help us get more data for iterating on our game over the next month.

Final UE4 Greybox

Layout has been set. Play-tested approved. Time to move from the UE4 (fast paced iteration / layout focused) greybox to the maya (environment art / visually appealing) greybox. Goodbye UE4 bsp cubes. Hello maya custom geometry and modular component prefabs.

Greyboxing the Arena

Nick did a first pass at the grey box for the map today. Check it out!

Retrospective: Designing and Prototyping

We have been designing and prototyping the game in Unity for 4 months. We are now switching to Unreal Engine 4 to develop the game for release.


Over those 4 months of design, we play tested and iterated upon features, cutting some, and eventually settling on an idea of what the final game should be.

Figure 1 – John experimenting with the weapon sandbox.

Figure 2 – Alex and Matt testing one of the Beta builds.

Meet the Team!

Alex
Alex is a programmer, software engineer, and network architect. For Crystalline, he is working on gameplay with a focus on the networking aspect of the game. In the future, he plans to get a job in the software development or games industry as a developer. Some of his favorite game types include first-person shooters, strategy games, and MOBA games.
Contact:
Email: alex.j.herdzik(at)gmail.com
Website/Portfolio: alexherdzik.com

John
John is a generalist gameplay programmer with roots in enterprise technology. For Crystalline, he is working on realizing the core gameplay mechanics and attempting to ensure the game has what he likes to call “good feel”. In the future, John would like to be a gameplay programmer, but he just likes problem solving. John’s favorite genres are 2D platformers and first-person shooters, and on the side he builds models as a hobby.
Contact:
Email: john(at)johndunhamgames.com
Website/Portfolio: johndunhamgames.com
Resume : John’s Resume
Personal Blog: johndunhamgames.com/blog


Matt
Matt is a 3D Artist and graphics programmer with an Integrated Science and Technology background.  In addition to scripting and prototyping, Matt is creating visual assets and materials including rigging and scripting for player animations.  His favorite games are role playing games like Skyrim and Final Fantasy, as well as strategy games like Majesty.  He would like to get a position in technical art or game design.
Contact:
Email: mattrmundell@gmail.com
Website/Portfolio: coroflot.com/matthewmundell 

Nick
Nick is a level designer and game developer. His roots come from game modding and community map development. For Crystalline, Nick has been working on design, scripting, and prototyping. Some of his favorite games are multiplayer social games (both competitive and casual) such as Left 4 Dead, Mario Kart, and Diablo. Nick hopes to land a job as a level designer in the games industry for a few years, and eventually start a small indie studio.
Contact:
Email: nickbuonarota@gmail.com
Phone: (201)-566-4582
Website/Portfolio: people.rit.edu/nab4839
Blog: nickbuonarota.wordpress.com
Twitter: @nickbuonarota