Working with MyGUI

As part of our revamped game idea for Capstone, our tool needs for Game Engine purposes has significantly changed.  Our first tool for Vye King remained a comprehensive model viewer, and is currently completed except for advanced shader functionality.  The remaining tools are various component editors for Vye King, ranging from an objective editor, to a creature and node editor.  The core of these three editors is MyGUI, as they are menu-based editors which can be used to change game parameters.  We are planning to link them all into one multifaceted editing tool.

The main editor will allow the user to create and edit custom objectives for the player in-game.  The core game play in Vye King revolves around exploring the island and seeking these objectives, so this tool is being made to add replayability to the experience with custom content.  This tool contains several GUI elements: text boxes for inputting the objective name and description, buttons to filter the type of objective, and another set of buttons to set the rarity of the objective, ranging from common to rare.  Additionally, the player can specify a percentage of this objective becoming active (there will be a list the game chooses from).

Main objective editor layout.

 The main part of this editor is the node map on the bottom left.  On this map, users can click up to 4-5 nodes where the objective can possibly spawn.  In our first iteration, we plan to only have pre-determined nodes to choose from, to prevent objectives spawning in impossible to reach places.  Each of the 3 filters at the top right will change which nodes are active on the map.  This is because certain objective types make more sense in certain locations in the level. 

When the particular objective is chosen to become active in game, it will pick one of these node locations at random to create the objective at.  Once the player completes the objective one (or several) more objectives will become active.  The objectives are only limited by the types of creatures and objects we create for the game.  Players are free to create interesting descriptions and parameters for their custom objectives.

Next I will cover the three sub-editors which match the three objective types.  The main editor will contain a buttom called "Customize" to further edit their objective.

 In the Kill editor, the user first loads a creature from the drop-down list at the top.  We will include a model-viewer for this editor so the user can preview the creature they choose.  The 'Boss' check box amplifies the size and power of the creature when active.  At the bottom the user can also specify a reward (from an item list) for the reward if they succeed in defeating the creature.  This can range from food to tools to any other resources in the game.

Kill Creature editor.

The Collect editor is fairly simple; the user specifies the item to collect, and the quantity the player must find.  Again they can also customize the reward the player will receive.

Collect editor.

Finally, the Find editor will hide an object or NPC near the vicinity of the node which the player must then meticulously search for.  The item they find will be the reward or the NPC will give them a reward for finding them, with this objective type.

Find editor.

Now that all the objective types have been defined, there is one other feature to cover.  After creating and finalizing an objective, the user may then choose to add another in an 'objective chain'.  In these chains, only the final objective will give the player a reward.  Once the player is satisfied with all their objectives, this information is saved to an XML which the game can parse to load in the objective data.  While playing the game, the character can be given any custom objective made from these editors.

Finalize screen.

Vye King Cameras

Our game Vye King is a third person survival-action game set on an island several hundred years ago.  In it your character must explore the island and search for resources to help you survive.  Along the way, you will receive additional objectives and find new perils which you must overcome.  Our camera will be in the third person perspective, similar to the style God of War or Prince of Persia uses.

The camera will loosely follow your character as you traverse the island.  When you can change direction, the camera will follow a spline and rotate around your character to make sure you always see ahead of your character, in whatever direction he is going.  Our camera movement will utilize the traditional catmull-rom splines.  We plan to make the interpolation as smooth as possible to provide a very fluid and agile feel to the camera movement.

Any indoor sections of our game will feature a similar camera system, but more zoomed in to almost an 'over the shoulder' distance.  This will be more effective in areas such as narrow hallways or tunnels, so you can see further ahead of your character.  Optionally we are considering an option to switch to first-person perspective in cramped areas.  This will be a standard first person camera which points toward where your character is looking.

Additionally we plan to have an in-game cinematic camera.  This will function based on various triggers in the game world.  The basic idea is that while your character is exploring the island, objectives or enemies will cause the camera to suddenly turn toward it.  The amount of rotation is based on the proximity or importance of the event.  For example, if a large dangerous enemy is about to ambush you from the side, the camera will rapidly turn right to view both you and where it is about to jump out from.  This will help the player avert death and find new objectives.

In cases where it is a minor enemy or objective, the camera will make a much smaller shift to the side.  This alerts a player to a nearby event but they will know it is not something extremely dangerous or important.  The goal of this added camera feature is to create a more visceral experience, emphasizing the dangerous nature of the character's surroundings.  This type of cinematic camera can be seen in games such as Fable or Bioshock Infinite, the difference being our camera will not be activated by a button, but rather intuitively activates based on the respective trigger.

In situations where large creatures do attack the player, we are planning to have small quick-time events which the player must overcome in order to survive.  In these situations a zoomed-in cinematic camera will activate, getting very close to the action.  This will create a very intense atmosphere, where the player feels like they are right in the game world and connected with what is happening to their character.

The combination of these three (and possible the first-person) cameras achieve to hit a balance between giving the player a comprehensive view of their surroundings while specializing when necessary.  The cameras will let them openly explore our large game world while simultaneously providing insight into imminent dangers or interesting areas.  Essentially this will all be done with one camera which performs the various behaviours depending on what is happening to the character.  We believe this will provide an organic feeling to the game.  The best cameras are the ones you don't notice at all.