Having settled down after the disappointing journey through better firing animation additives, I am pleased to say that another idea I had has made a big difference to how the weapons feel. I had been playing with the camera shake actor so as to add some, well, camera shake on the firing animation. However, I found it to be quite a limited way of doing it and in need of lots of number tweaking and so on. It was not until I went downstairs to nuke (microwave) my coffee that I really thought about what I was trying to do. I had noticed that the aiming system was not responding to the camera shake as I hoped it would. So that meant that what I was really trying to achieve was weapon kick. So, that’s really just messing with the mouse inputs right? Right!
Updating the kick and paying attention to the user’s skill with that weapon too.
Above is the little blueprint that I settled on for now as it addresses most of the goals I set. I wanted a way to jerk the player’s camera around to simulate firing a weapon. I also wanted it to move over more that one frame so as not to look too snappy. Finally, I wanted the players accrued skill with that weapon to influence how much it kicked. After a little tinkering, it worked as expected.
Hello, my name is Mike. I am an aspiring game developer enjoying a second chance at life. Sounds deep right? I know, but its true. I am from London and from 2007 I owned a clothing business selling Barbour, Hunter, Joules and so on. I didn't like it. I kind of fell into it and by the time I knew I didn't like it I was committed and needed to follow through. In 2009 I met Natalie, my Cornish maid and once our little girl came along in 2015, we decided that Cornwall would be a better life for her than London. In the meantime, the business had suffered tremendous difficulty having been burgled twice. Insurance? What can I say. I ended up suing (and winning) the broker for selling me an incomplete policy. It was hard. When I arrived in Cornwall having shut the business down and generally being in pretty poor health, stressed and disappointed, my Wife (whom I would need exist without) tried to talk me into having 3 months off! Ha, I said, I would go crazy. Well the question was 'what are you going to do then'?
Turned out that I had a HND (most of a Degree) that qualified me for the course Games Design For Industry BA Top Up. I had always wanted to make video games for a living and so I applied, got on the course, worked like my life depended on it and came out with a 1st. If you're thinking 'why d'you have to say it like that and tell us the grade you loser'? Here's the thing, that HND was supposed to be a Degree in Computer Graphics and Games but, in my youthful wisdom, I played games more than studied them and failed. Then I went back to do the last year again and just couldn't hit my stride, so failed again. Imagine getting another chance to sort that mistake out... That was not going to happen again.
Having completed that course I and a friend I met there, Ethan, have set up Sofa Ninja Studios and are working on a game that was born on the course called Serial Link. I am very proud of where we are and I cannot believe that I have the chance to do this for real. We have a playable demo and will hopefully run a kickstarter early this year. Its a mature (code for violence and swearing) shooter where the player gets to shoot and use powers gifted to him.
Have a look at one of the latest videos although there has already been more development. I did warn you about the content...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv9R5ktCiA0&t=46sLinks to an external site.
I took to the game design and logic (cant call it coding, its Unreal blueprinting right now...) very well and feel that this is where I am meant to be. I am learning C++ and would like to make the transition to 'proper coder' this year if I can. Being in business for myself taught me the value of self discipline and being intrinsically motivated and so I carry those lessons with me into my new career. With my beautiful family behind me, Im ready.
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Chronicles of a Sofa Ninja 