3D Action Adventure - Museum of Mechanics - WIP

With this series, I aim to create a library of Mechanics and Systems for varied genres. The vision is to stay sharp with my technical abilities as well as carefully examine long-standing design decisions by crafting them. Additionally, staying vigilant to tweak and adjust mechanics and systems to create better, more engaging experiences.

Designed mechanics and spaces for;

Puzzle with Environment destruction
- Riding on a boulder
- Blocked road

AI navigation and senses
- Throwing stones to distract
- Chasing player on detection
- Node-based Patrolling

3D Platforming
- Running
- Jumping

ROLE

Gameplay Designer

GENRE

Action Adventure, 3D

ENGINE

Unreal, Blueprints

PLATFORM

Windows (PC)

THE DESIGN PROCESS

What if you could jump on a boulder and control it?

The action of, 'walking up to the cliff' is almost always associated with expanse, novelty, and fascination.

I utilize this to build up a new interaction of jumping on the boulder and navigating the path.

This is a Work In Progress, i.e. the mechanic will undergo a few additions before being finalized. In the current stage, players cannot miss the jump, and can navigate without loss condition.

The next iteration will focus on the loss condition, hopping off the boulder, and polish changes to add game juice.

Rolling the Ball (Horizontal Axis)

My approach to Rolling on the Ball mechanic revolves (wink) around simulating physics for the sphere object.

Additionally, utilizing input axis to map it to the corresponding inverse on the Animation Blendspace.

Rolling the Ball (Vertical Axis)

Additionally, the blueprint is dynamic and allows for different values for rotation speed and distance vector.

Switching to Ball Pawn (1/2)

One of the building blocks of this mechanic is allowing to switch the pawn when the player has landed on the boulder.

I've achieved this with a unique control scheme that goes through a few health checks and then parses information important for the Ball Pawn.

Switching to Ball Pawn (2/2)

Secondly, I possess the Ball Pawn along with the player.

The player's location is set to the vector on the ball and will only move when the player is ready to alight.

Along the way, we can put some minor challenges of turns or traps.

Detecting & Chasing AI

AI's are one of the most common elements in game, especially in 3D Action Adventure titles.

AI's are of different kinds, from NPC, to fodder minions, to boss battles. Here, I aimed to create a smart AI that patrols along an array of points.

Additionally, has an awareness sphere combined with vision cones. This AI can be alerted by making a sound or obstructing its line of sight.

Throw to Distract

Here is an example of how players can alter enemy behaviors by alerting.

Players press T to throw a rock in the facing direction and the enemy AI will detect it and approach to the source.

This creates a gap for the players to slip through unnoticed.

Crafting the Throw mechanic

In the current stage, player has little control over throw distance.

The next phase for this mechanic is to allow distance manipulating by the players and also hurting the enemy AI.

Blocked roads? Look around!

Probably a life lesson, if the road ahead is blocked, look around for solutions.

A classic level design trick to ensure player progress with little to no effort.

Similarly, I created a pick-up function that allows players to pick up items. This is a modular function and can take different items.

Utilizing the use of fire, players move ahead confidently with renowned knowledge.

Interacting

'E' is widely used as the fifth key in WASD. It is pretty common for games to utilize E as the Interact button.

The implementation checks whether the player already has the same item in-hand, as duplicates aren't allowed.

Secondly, the collision sphere allows to manipulate whether to display the help widget or no!

YOUTUBE

DOCUMENTS

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