Bermuda Blob

Play Extinctathon

2006-12-14T02:08:00.000-08:00

For anyone who happens to possess Unreal Tournament 2004 and is interested to check it out, I've uploaded the files for Extinctathon Here:

http://www.savefile.com/files/337896

Extinctathon Screenshots

2006-12-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

More screenshots from Extinctathon..

2006-12-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

dom_ino

2006-12-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

These are from a video piece titled DOM-INO that I worked on with Shaun Yue. I did modelling and layout.

2006-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

extinctathon screenshots

2006-12-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

These are screenshots from the version of Extinctathon submitted for assessment.

2006-11-09T05:03:00.000-08:00

A sandstorm emitter, out in the desert. It hurts you if you go too far in.

The volcano, currently part of the skybox. It might work better if it was part of the map.

2006-10-30T22:53:00.000-08:00

More level screenshots.

2006-10-29T22:57:00.000-08:00

Here's some traps being set off. The explosion launches players quite a way if they get hit.

2006-10-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the modified HUD. it's proven a harder class to modify than I expected, and i'm dubious about the results. I might give it another look if there's time, but probably not.

2006-10-20T04:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a view of the mountain, framed by some jungle fronds. I got the river currents working today as well, it can take a player all the way from the desert area right out to sea.

2006-10-19T03:41:00.000-07:00

pterodactyl emitter

2006-10-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

More Pics: I remodeled the trees to have a simpler profile, saving about 150 triangles per instance in the process.

2006-10-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

I've done more work on the level. It feels like it's starting to convey the correct atmosphere.

Ruined

2006-10-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

Game World

2006-10-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

I've started work on the final level, now that all the meshes are build. The landscape is a planar object fleshed out with some separate hill meshes.

vertex paint

2006-10-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

The landscape has been tweaked a little more, and expanded to incorporate a large desert area. Additionally, I was shown how to use a tool called 'vertex paint', which can cheaply add some colout gradients to the terrain without disrupting the overall look of flatness.

2006-10-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

The Desert of No Return

Lonely Game Syndrome

2006-10-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is from a review I found online of the Amiga game 'Hunter':

"I know this is a bit of a factual review, but Hunter's a game that's hard to fault.(And believe me, I've tried.) It's not quite top notch, but has no serious failings. The only pinpointable thing I noticed (and even this is a bit vague) is that it has a weird sort of 'lonely' feel to it, especially considering the battlefield conditions the action's supposed to be taking place under. You're almost grateful to see a bull charging towards you out of the distance at times, and verbal interactoin with other characters is limited to them saying something and you, well, just listening."

Seems to be a byproduct of having total agency in a virtual environment.

The whole review is here.

new name?

2006-10-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

Since I started this project, I've been calling it Resource Cramp. Now that there's only 5 or 6 weeks left to go, I'm starting to wonder whether that name is actually any good. I like the sound of 'Extinctathon', from Margaret Atwood's 'Oryx and Crake' - it seems to fit the general themes of the game. Should I try and come up with something similar, or should I see 'Resource Cramp' through to the very end? Suggestions welcomed.

level meshes

2006-10-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

I've been doing various bits of modeling for about a week now, and testing the meshes in-game as I go. This here is some of the vegetation sporting a transparent texture.

Here's the huge, 6 sided orange clouds that now float across the level. The object peeking over the hill is a triumphal arch.

A dinosaur skeleton. My favourite.

2006-09-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a design I did for the AIM end of year screening poster. It may or may not get used.

Level building

2006-09-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

Now that most of the game code is working and the character is in, I'm moving on to building a level for the game. This is probably the task I've been looking forward to the most, and I'll finally get to see if my designs will actually work. Here's a screenshot of the landscape mesh in Max.

Playtest

2006-09-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

I ran a proper playtest of resource Cramp today (finally). It revealed a few problems with how I'd envisaged the game might work. The most obvious was that the large level size I'd imagined necessary is actually too big, although more than 6 players on the map might change this.

Various suggestions were made as to how the environment could be more interesting. At the moment, placing a variety of environmental hazards seems like a good way to add complexity to the basic 'look for stuff then die' situation that the continual health loss creates.

The weapons work to a reasonable level of functionality, but all could do with some tweaking. The character animated fine, and the variety of heads seemed to be working well also.

weapons

2006-09-17T05:12:00.000-07:00

Here's some shots of the other weapons, which are now modeled and in the game: the nose dart (rat head) and the trapper (trilobite head). The nose dart is basically a sniper weapon, the trapper lays a remote detonated mine.

2006-09-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the character equipped with the Reactor, in the game.

Character

2006-08-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

This is the model for the in-game character, or 'avatar' if you prefer. It's str8outta Max. No texture yet. The head represents one of the weapons, the 'Reactor', which gives health to the players.

Resource Cramp Outline

2006-08-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

Resource Cramp Mod

Zev Langer 2006

Gameplay

Players enter the game with: 100 health, a default weapon allowing them to heal themselves or other players, 0 ammunition.

Resource Cramp has 2 victory conditions. 1: Only one player is left alive in the game – the surviving player wins; 2: A Timer runs out – all remaining players win.

Players lose their health: 1 point every x seconds while walking;

1 point every x/2 seconds while stationary;

1 point every x*2 seconds while running;

1 point on each jump command.

In-game objects

Resource

This is an Ammo pickup (or whatever the correct name is) object class. It contains x ‘Resource’. Players can carry y Resource in their inventory. Resource is distributed randomly about the level.

Weapons

All weapons utilise the Resource ammo class.

Weapon 0: Players spawn with this weapon. Not throwable.

Primary fire: Delivers health boost to the firing player.

Secondary fire: Delivers health boost to a targeted player nearby.

Weapon 1: Throwable, contains no Resource on pickup or drop.

Primary fire: Short ranged, high damage, slow reload time.

Weapon 2: Throwable, contains no Resource on pickup or drop.

Primary Fire: Instant hit, infinite range, low damage, slow reload time, temporarily effects target’s movement ability.

Weapon 3: Throwable, contains no Resource on pickup or drop.

Primary Fire: Drop a device at player’s feet that can be remotely detonated, doing moderate damage within a limited radius. Limit 4 devices deployed at once. Throwable, contains no Resource on pickup or drop.

Secondary Fire: Detonate all existing devices that the player has placed thus far.

Weapon 4: Throwable, contains no resource on pickup or drop.

Primary Fire: Converts player’s avatar to an appropriately innocuous static mesh for an amount of time, during which other weapons can then be equipped.

Weapon 4: Throwable, contains no Resource on pickup or drop.

Primary Fire: Long ranged, moderate damage, moderate reload time, small damage radius on impact. A sort of Rocket Launcher type weapon.

Weapon: Throwable, contains y Resource on pickup and drop.

This weapon exists as a sort of ‘bucket’ for collecting and moving Resource. It allows players to effectively dump a full inventory of Reosurce when dropped, then go and collect another. This weapon appears at random locations around the map.

Communication

The chat system receives added functionality, allowing players to ‘whisper’ to each other in addition to the standard ‘broadcasting’ mode of chat.

The Emote animations include: Hi, Come Here, Go Away, Stop, Help Me, I’ll get you, Point in a direction, I’m hungry.

Death

Players who are reduced to 0 health are dead. They can no longer win the game, but become ghosts and can continue to move around the level.

Ghosts are visible to other ghosts, but invisible to ‘live’ players. Every x seconds ghosts accumulate a point of ‘ghost power’, up to a maximum of 100 points.

At a cost of 100 ghost power points, a ghost can spawn a fake Resource, that delivers no Resource to a player who picks it up.

Live players cannot hear any chat from Ghosts, but ghosts can hear all in-game chat.

2006-08-21T04:32:00.000-07:00

Today's major success was getting in a new gametype that limited players to one life each. Still need a time-based victory condition though. Had a look at how Unreal handles its weapon classes, and got stuck trying to set up 2 weapons that utilised the same ammo type. Hopefully this can be resolved soon. Still, the gameplay aspects of the mod are shaping up pretty quickly.

Major Project

2006-08-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

So, this semester, I work on one big project. I'm making a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004. The basic premise of this mod is that all the players are competing for a limited resource, without which they will die. Hopefully this will result in players acting out some vaguely Hobbsian priciples in the game.

I just got a mutator working today, which slowly saps the players of their health. This is the most critical thing for the gameplay, so I'm quite happy to have worked it out.

This is a screenshot of part of my 'demonstration level'. It shows the general look of what I'm doing with the in-game art.

2006-07-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

still more cd stuff

2006-07-25T00:57:00.000-07:00

more cd cover options

cd cover art

2006-07-20T00:43:00.000-07:00

These are possible cover images for The Big Fat Kill's new CD.
The Big Fat Kill's Myspace is >Here

2006-07-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

more cd cover art

2006-06-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a frame from an early scene - the start of the tower construction. I kind of like the look of this, but its a bit flat or something.

A new project begins today

2006-05-22T03:46:00.000-07:00

So, we started the 'minor project' at AIM today. That's a 5 week project, due end of semester. For your enjoyment, here is the script that I will be turning into an animation. Basically I wrote this script to give myself the opportunity to try my hand at creating and animating a character in a 3d package - modeling, rigging, and so forth. I've never tried it before, so it should be fun. I went for a simple character design to try and make the process as painless as possible the first time around.

Here's the script:

Keyhole
By Zev Langer, 2006

1. Ext. A Coloured Plane

A Creature made from Allen key like shapes. Poles with a hexagonal cross section form its body, legs and arms. Its head is a larger hex, in the middle of which is a hole into which the end of any one of its limbs would fit perfectly. The creature looks skyward, and braces itself. Another, identical creature climbs up the first creature, and locks its foot into the face of the creature beneath. More creatures appear and repeat this process. The creatures are forming themselves into a tower, or a mountain.

2. Ext. A Coloured Plane

The pile of creatures is now very tall. They are connected in increasingly complex ways. In the background, more of the creatures climb up through the lattice that their fellows have formed from their bodies. Above them, a small hexagonal hole sits in the sky. The creatures are building towards it.

3. Ext. A Coloured Plane

The creatures have almost created the top of the tower. The last creature climbs up over its companions, to look at the hexagonal hole in the sky. The rest of the creatures look up as they support their fellow. The creature at the top of the structure puts one of its appendages in the hole, and turns. It sees a vision of a plane containing endless hex-shaped holes, in which a lone creature has embedded all four of its limbs. It removes its hand from the hole, and puts it instead into its own face, before tumbling from the structure. Other nearby creatures dislodge from the faces of their supporters, and also insert limbs into their own faces. These creatures tumble off the structure as well.

4. Ext A Coloured Plane

The structure is slowly collapsing, as each creature in turn dislodges from it.

inaugural post

2006-04-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

here it is.