Week 10

Continuing from last week, I have created my Dishonored inspired "vantage point" idea in engine which was I wanted to add this feature (from the perspective of a balcony) to create a point where the player is clearly shown the next section of the level from a higher perspective. 

Figure 13: Screenshot of the level showing the balcony giving the player an overview/higher perspective of the level 

Looking at Figure 13, you can see how the perspective from the balcony allows the player to view the G-man standing before the subway entrance (on the left) and the helicopter arriving (on the right). I made this design choice to use the helicopter as the main threat to encourage the player to use the subway as a method of escaping. 

Figure 14: A screenshot showing the setup of nodes and trigger boxes used to create the G-man scripted event

I have created a scripted event for the G-man where he runs into the subway. My intention behind this choice is to direct the player into the subway (See Figure 14). I think this will be especially useful in giving the player a goal to focus on while they are getting attacked by the helicopter. Additionally, I have created a trigger which despawns the G-man after the player enters the subway. I did this purposefully to help create a sense of mystery as the player finishes the level, and to portray the G-man as an almost otherworldly and enigmatic figure, who has managed to escape the player's grasp. This is similar to his portrayal in the main game, where he is often seen in places the player cannot get to. For example, On TV cameras or from balconies.

For the helicopter encounter I took inspiration from the Route Kanal mission in HL2 (Half Life 2, 2004). I particularly liked the way this mission encouraged the player to balance moving forward and finding cover to avoid the helicopters attacks (See Figure 15). This inspired me to use the helicopter in a similar way. So far, the main issue with this concept is that the player gets shot significantly before they can reach the entrance. As a designer, I think it would be unfair to not give the player a chance to avoid taking damage. I plan on overcoming this issue by adding in some props as cover so the player can use them to hide. 

Figure 15: Helicopter attacking the player as they try to hide in the Route Kanal mission (MFRvoatkar. 2020)

On Tuesday I carried out a playtesting session. One core piece of feedback I received was that the environment lacked depth.  After asking questions to understand why this feedback was given, it became clear that the lack of depth was caused by all the buildings being the same height and there being no elevation on the surfaces of buildings and in the sidewalk. I will be implementing more depth because I believe that depth will help to make the environment feel more believable. This will help focus the player on the user experience rather than the environment.

I have had issues with getting the helicopter to move around. This is a significant issue as having movement will help make the helicopter feel more like a more dynamic and intimidating threat to the player. Currently the helicopter is placed in a fixed location, however next week I plan on getting to the bottom of the movement issues.

Unfortunately, I had ran into an issue causing high CPU usage issues. This is quite concerning as I am unable to run my level using the normal configuration. For now, I have chosen to run the level in the fast configuration, to avoid damaging my computer. This has allowed me to continue working, but next week I will be carrying out more research on the issue so it can be fixed.