This development session focused on making sure that the player knew that they had picked up an extra or opportunistic weapon. I always liked the idea that you could have a full complement of weapons and just pick up another as all of yours were slung. In our case the Weapon Component that I created defines the ability to carry 3 weapons and an extra in your hands. The characters all have a primary, close quarters, weapon on the chest, then a secondary, assault rifle style, weapon on the back. Finally, they all have a side arm on the leg. The player can pick up the extra weapon but I would like to see that on the AI too. As all the characters are using the same Weapon Component, that should not really be difficult to set up.
Commit
Set up a ‘Holding Extra Weapon’ UI element in the main HUD – Used an event dispatcher from the Weapon Comp and bound to it in Dex Controller. Thats used to call an event on the ‘Main HUD’ variable on the Soldier. The event changes the opacity of the text on the HUD. – Player now takes the ammo thats in the Opportunistic weapon as he drops it. That takes care of the case where you pick up a gun, fill it with ammo, drop it and either lose that ammo or have to re-collect it. Works well.
Imported a font called Calculator from dafont.com and used it for the ‘holding extra weapon message
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.
View all posts by Mike
Chronicles of a Sofa Ninja 