General Stuff

Multiplayer

So I've coded up a vast majority of systems for a multiplayer game. I should be able to implement it into On Call, but for now I will be working on it separately as I want to make sure its amazing by it self before slapping it into anything.

After seeing some great volunteers on this blog and also within my friend circle I've decided that when the time has come I'll post a demo here for everyone to share and play with their mates. It should be great fun.

I've got most the networking stuff sorted, but I still need to do gui, hud, weapons and animations... As well as think of how I'm going to code different game types... As right now its just free for all with no score, no character models, 1 gun and no animations... So that will need to change...

But once I have a playable demo working I will be sure to upload it. My outlook on this is that the only way we will build a strong multiplayer community is if we make sure its fun, which means a lot of testing with a lot of people. So thats cool.

This also opens up avenues to co-op play. I would love to do a more co-op / multiplayer orientated shooter some time. Perhaps something akin to destiny or borderlands?

On Call

I'm nearly done with the first new weapon for the game. Its a SMG/Auto-rifle hybrid that I quite like. Its harder to implement than I anticipated as I need to re-write some code, but its coming along nicely.

I'm also testing the forest level on the Vita, its surprisingly good. I have one or two issues that I'm working out though.

The other levels are coming along... I will push hard to get something to show from the space station and perhaps the city. I will need a lot of new music and art for these, and while I do most of it my self, I am planning on implementing some of the cool stuff that people have been passing onto me. Its great to get to help everyone out here.

The other development on the game is the AI. The code is doing fine, but I'm struggling to find the time to model and animate the enemy characters... The last time I did a full body character it took me 3 weeks to do the model, so finding time has been tough... Luckily though, its holidays in a few weeks after exams and I will finally have the time.

Other Projects

I would like to get some smaller projects out there during the holidays. I've been fleshing out the concept I showed a while ago and will post a demo for it when its functioning and then there are several other concepts that I will show you as they come out.

There are several reasons that I'm doing multiple projects. Firstly is that I'm building my portfolio, secondly is that I'm trying to teach myself everything I can by making games. It is true that I am at university doing a double mjr in Games technology and Computer science, but its practice that builds the skills I need.

Multiplayer

On of the things I really want to learn how to do is multiplayer. Recently I've found a good way to do it and Ive been testing it out on a few of my pc's.

Today however, I tested it out on my vita and it worked beautifully. Of course that was my Vita against 3 PC's and 1 laptop... But still, initial testing is proving good!

The problem with this is that Sony want me to test the game on the maximum amount of Vita's... So if I want to add multiplayer to On Call on the Vita I'd have to buy a minimum of 7 Vita's (4v4)

I'm looking into how to get around this, either through testing with people I know that have Vita's or even if I will be aloud to do a free multiplayer test from the PSM store...

I will keep you posted on progress with this as well as On Calls progress and several other small projects.

I have a week before I have to study for my next exam, so I plan on spending it making games / adding to On Call. After that I will be on a hiatus for a few weeks for exams and then I have 3 months of holidays that I can dev in!

On Call Progress Report

Work is slowing down for me now that exams are weeks away and the free time I use to make On Call has started to become study time. It sucks, I know, but I do need to study.

On the up side, I came across a great concept in a lecture on the future implication of technology. ITs quite cool and dark and I look forward to drawing from these real world concepts for the lore of On Call's future. At this point in time On Call doesn't really have many SciFi concepts or designs. You are a dude in a ship with an AI. I want to make that far deeper. What is it like to live in a galaxy with advanced AI? Whats it like for everyone to be interconnected? These are great concepts for SciFi.

On another note. I've made great progress with the new levels for On Call. I'm fleshing out several other level types as well as testing shaders and techniques to figure out how I'm going to portray them. I've also made great progress with the forest level and I want to show that off here:

I will keep you guys posted on any progress I make with On Call. Its currently my main game dev focus, but I need to study for the next few weeks, so progress will slow a little.

Hope you guys are having a great time. I look forward to sharing more with you as soon as I can.

On Call Mountain Range Update

I was left a little disappointed by my solution for the grass, so I invested some effort into finding a better way to do it.

Not only have I redrawn the texture for the grass to help it suit the style of On Call, but I've also found a far better shader. The new shader still casts shadows, but now has a more consistent, less patchy look.

I'm also currently reviewing the mesh for the grass, as I have concerns about its performance... I will test it on the Vita within the next few days to make sure, but the level is coming along well.

On Call - New Level Report

So I've finally got something that I'm happy enough to show off. Its not much, but it should give a fairly good impression of the scope and style that I'm trying to get too with this map in particular.

So far I've only done some rough asset planting where the player spawns in, so its rough and unpolished, but its a fair representation of the work in progress.

This level will be one of the 3 largest levels in On Call once its done. The other 2 may end up larger, as this one is truly limited by the amount of trees and grass that I have envisioned for it once its completed.

I'm working on an extremely tight polygon budget that I had to painstakingly calculated before starting with asset creation. I hope that this yields far more assets on screen in comparison to the rest of On Call.

The main point of On Call is for me to learn how to function as a developer and I feel like I am learning important things, like the aforementioned polygon budget.

I'll keep you posted with progress and shots as they are up to snuff.

Progress Report

Over the last weeks I've been slowly marching forward. The new levels for On Call are coming along well, and there is one in particular that I will be showing off soon.

Work has been slower on these maps than I had anticipated as each map is about the size of On Call in itself and there are 5-6 of them in development here.

They are also the most demanding maps I've made as of yet. The one that Im going to share with you soon has a massive amount of grass that I'm placing by hand onto the vast fields and pine trees. It looks amazing and the level is vast and explorable with multiple pathways and things to do. However, this takes so much more time than anything I've done as of yet.

Another thing that has held back development is that I'm struggling with Sony. I have not received any of the small sales profit On Call has made, and everyone at Sony seem to just pass me onto the next person as no one there seems to be able to help. This is by far the biggest problem with PSM. It has NO support. There is a community forum, but they cannot assist with Sony's banking. If this persists I will simply drop On Call to a price tag of Free. Its not like I'm making enough off of On Call to do anything other than get a few pizzas or see a movie, but it would have been nice to see even a penny for my work.

I will show off 1, hopefully 2 levels as well as the new weapons I'm making soon. I will also show off the prototype upgrade system I'm making. Its unique and reminds me of F-Zero where you have a slider that changes the stats of your ship.

What I can say is what these levels and weapons are:

• A Forrest / mountain range planet with multiple objectives to tie up the side story
• A space station that a side quest
• A City world that serves to open up and start the side story
• A Dock area and downtown area that serves as a prologue to the current On Call
• A rocky and barren world that I'm not ready to discuss
• A desert world that I've not fleshed out fully yet, but have done various concepts and early development on
• An auto rifle with customizable stats that the player can tweak at ANY time in the menu, tweaking fire rate, damage, energy supply and more
• A shotgun that will work as the assault rifle does
• A vehicle for when the player is planetside... More on that below

Because the player will be going planetside and exploring large maps. I've quickly discovered that its just not fun to slowly move around these big worlds. As such I've started designing a ground vehicle. It may be something like in Destiny, or even perhaps Mass Effect.

As you can see there is a lot in the works for On Call. Its taking a lot of time and hard work, but its coming along well. by the end of all this work, On Call will probably be 5-10 times the size that it is now. Which is awesome.

As usual, all updates will be completely free and I will keep you updated as progress is made.