Major Project 5: Project Management

Team Communication:

We used various different communication methods while developing our project and the early prototype. This was to make sure every member of our team knew what they had to work on in these early stages as well as discussing the work we would have to down the line. Our main method of communication was Discord as we created a discord server specifically for our project. However, we haven’t regularly used this as we were working on the prototype or early design work. When we get into full development, this will be fully utilised as it will help us keep track of the progress of each member more effectively.

Examples of the Channels in our Discord Server (Subject to change)

Despite not using the Discord server prominently, we used direct messages on Discord to give feedback on parts of out project. A specific example is feedback I received on the player walking speed within our project prototype as the player was quite slow which could impact the player’s enjoyment.

In this early stage, we used Google Drive and in person discussions to develop our ideas for the project. Google Drive was useful as it allowed to create documents to make sure all members of the team knew what the project idea was, have an early idea of the assets we would need and know what our plan is for the weeks ahead. Max (Level Designer) and I were the main contributors to the Google Drive documents with the other team members adding some input for parts of the documents. When we were together at University we would discuss parts of our project as well as the early pre-production work we were doing.

Our Google Drive document that outlined our proposal so each team member would have consistent information.

Microsoft Teams was another communication method we used. It was mainly used to communicate to our lecturers and to clarify any questions we had about our project proposal. To communicate within our team we didn’t really use this as our other communication methods were already acceptable for what we needed.

Asset List:

Using Google Sheets we made an early asset list for the 3D modellers. This allowed them to assign these models between themselves so they each had an acceptable amount to create. The models were put into different phases to describe their importance with Phase 1 being the most important models and Phase 3 being the least necessary. Although models didn’t need to be completed at this stage, some of the models were created to test different visual styles and to warm up the skills of the 3D modellers.

Project Plan:

We also made a Gantt Chart using Google Sheets to show an early plan for how our project should progress after we have finished our proposal. The different roles within our team have different colours on the chart and it is separated into three sections representing the full development stage, alpha stage and beta stage. Max (Level Designer) is shown in purple, I (Programmer/Blueprinter) am shown in green, Lachlan (UI/UX Developer) is shown in blue and the 3D modellers (Cameron and Jack) are shown in orange.

Major Project 4: Prototype Work

Mechanics:

This video shows the player finding a clue and how it is added to the board.
This image shows the event in the blueprint that manages the visibility of the evidence board UI and whether the no clues message should be displayed.
This video shows the player crouching to explore a vent resulting in the player finding a new clue.
This image shows the event in the blueprint that is responsible for checking what clues the player has found in the prototype.
This video shows an early version of the dialogue system with multiple dialogue options.
This is an example of how the dialogue tree is structured within Unreal. Although this is only a part of the dialogue tree above it shows some of the conditions and checks that are involved in the dialogue.
This video shows the player making deductions by connecting the pieces of evidence together. This unlocks new clues and dialogue options. It is a simple iteration of the system for the moment as it was just to show the basics of how the mechanic will function. This system will be further developed to be more complex as the project continues.
These images show part of the deduction blueprinting. This part controls the selection of the first clue and determines whether it is clicked first or second and if it connected to the right clue.
This video displays the changes that occur in the dialogue when the player has spoken to the NPC more than once and when the player has the clue.
This image shows the events responsible for enabling and disabling the player in the blueprint when the player talks to NPCs as the player could be in a position that would block the dialogue camera.

Prototype Playthrough:

This video shows a full playthrough of this prototype.

Feedback Changes:

Our early control scheme had the E key serve as the interaction button for the actions the player could do and the left mouse button was used to click on dialogue options. A bit of feedback we received was that these two controls could be combined. There was no important reason why this couldn’t be the case so in our project currently the left mouse button is used for both.

One bit of feedback received from testers was that there was no indication to the player on the evidence board that the player hasn’t collected any clues. To rectify this a message now appears before the player has found any clues. In the final project, this may be indicated in a different way but for now this does the job.

Originally the idea was to have the game mainly in first person with a third person perspective when the player was travelling between crime scenes. However, when the game scope was lowered to being just on the boat it was causing a lot more visibility issues than it was worth. Feedback was also received on this feature saying that it was unnecessary and added just for the sake of it. This feature is shown below but it has been cut from the game.

Major Project 3: Ideas Development

Our original idea was to have the game start on the boat and for this murder mystery to be the tutorial for a game with multiple crimes to solve. However, pretty early we decided to downsize our idea so that it the game at least majorly took place on the boat. This allowed us to keep our scope pretty feasible to make in the time we have available.

I made a mind map of the gameplay mechanics we had ideas for at this stage. As these are implemented into the prototype or main project I will be able to determine how feasible these are to make. This allows me to make any adjustments to their intended implementation or replace them with a mechanic that can fulfil the same role. I can also determine any mechanics that aren’t necessary for our project.

To allow us to work on the prototype and later the full project as a team, I set up a GitHub Unreal Engine project. This allows us to work on separate computers while still contributing work to the same Unreal project. This saves time later in development as otherwise one of our team member’s would have to compile all the different parts of our project into one project which could prove quite tedious and mistakes could be made that only the respective team member’s could fix easily.

GitHub Example
Major Project 2: Research

In the early stages of our project, while we were still figuring out our ideas we did some research into different media that would assist us in developing our ideas. Below I have separated the inspirations into some that are more generally for the project and my personal inspirations for the project.

Project Inspiration:

The Return of the Obra Dinn (Game): This game is quite influential in the direction of our game as it truly allows the player to actually figure out mysteries on their own. The specific use of the journal and its assistance in figuring out each of the deaths on the Obra Dinn is something that we will adapt for our game as we will implement a journal that contains notes on information the player finds throughout the game. We will also take inspiration on is how you can only guess when you have enough information and how the game never explicitly tells you whether a deduction is correct as we want to implement something similar within our game but not necessarily to the same extent.

The Return of the Obra Dinn Screenshot (Webster, 2018)

Sin City (Film): The visual style used in the movie Sin City is quite similar to the idea we had for our visual style as it also is mainly black and white while highlighting specific colours such as red. This is why we are using this as inspiration for how we can implement the visual style. The usage of highlighting specific colours could be used to draw the player’s attention to important objects and areas in the environment like how in the movie they use the mostly black and white colour scheme to provide emphasis to specific things.

Sin City Image (inspiraze, 2017)

Mafia 2 (Game): Mafia 2 is set in a similar time period to our game idea so the aesthetics of both characters and the environments are good inspiration for how our game could look. It can also serve as inspiration for how some of the character’s could act to match the time period.

Mafia 2 Screenshot (Wald, 2020)

Batman Arkham Asylum (Game): Batman Arkham Asylum as a game has multiple things we can draw inspiration from. Although the actual detective parts of the game are quite limited due to that not being a primary focus of the game, the way in which the player examines the environment in certain parts of the game can serve as inspiration for when we look for clues in our project. However, our implementation would be a lot less technological and would make it a lot less obvious. The way in which certain collectables are placed is another bit of inspiration for our gameplay as we aim to hide clues in hidden places. The UI within the game also served as inspiration for how some of our UI could potentially be implemented as it has a very stylised look.

Batman Arkham Asylum Screenshot (Saint Aaron, 2015)

Personal Inspiration:

How to make a good detective game – Game Maker’s Toolkit (YouTube Video): This video is very insightful on how to implement detective mechanics into our project without making it explicitly obvious what the right thing to do is. Using this as inspiration for how we structure our game will allow us to make the player feel like they are actually a detective rather than just being able to guess the correct sequence of events. This video is especially important as a lot of the game inspirations we have handhold the player in some ways with their deductions so keeping this in mind will help us to not help the player along too much.

What Makes a Good Detective Game? (Game Maker’s Toolkit, 2017)

A Hand with Many Fingers (Game): This game is about the player putting together a conspiracy with the files they can find within an archive. It serves as good inspiration as it utilises an evidence board as a primary mechanic which is something we wish to include in our game. However, the way the player searches through files to uncover clues that may connect to the clues they already have so they are able to make deductions is another thing we can take inspiration from while developing our game.

A Hand With Many Fingers Screenshot (Colestia, 2020)

L.A. Noire (Game): As this game is also a detective game it can serve as good inspiration for how to implement some of our mechanics. The acquisition of clues within the various environments is a good thing to take inspiration from as the player can pick up and examine a variety of objects with some being completely irrelevant. This is good for our game as only being able to interact with the important objects would make it so the player can find the clues pretty easily. The way the player examines the objects is by rotating them or interacting with them in some way to get a clue from them which if implemented into our game would add more player input in the gathering of clues. The dialogue system in L.A. Noire allows the player to question suspects using the relevant clues they have gathered and then choose whether: they think the suspect was telling the truth, they doubt the suspect or if the suspect was telling a lie. The usage of relevant clues is good inspiration for our game but the second part of the dialogue system makes it that most of the time you know you have to question the suspect’s testimony. In our project, we would like to make it less obvious whether the suspects are misleading the player.

L.A. Noire Screenshot (Stuart, 2018)

References:

Colestia (2020) A Hand With Many Fingers Screenshot [Photograph]. Available online: https://colestia.itch.io/a-hand-with-many-fingers/devlog/121570/new-conspiracy-investigation-game [Accessed 7/12/2022].

Game Maker’s Toolkit (2017) What Makes a Good Detective Game? [Video]. Available online: https://youtu.be/gwV_mA2cv_0 [Accessed 5/12/2022].

inspiraze (2017) Sin City Image [Photograph]. Available online: https://inspiraze.com/post/160377134919/sin-city-screencaps [Accessed 7/12/2022].

Saint Aaron (2015) Batman Arkham Asylum Screenshot [Photograph]. Available online: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=385706635 [Accessed 7/12/2022].

Stuart (2018) L.A. Noire Screenshot [Photograph]. Available online: https://www.thumbculture.co.uk/la-noire-remastered-review [Accessed 7/12/2022].

Wald, H (2020) Mafia 2 Screenshot [Photograph]. Available online: https://www.gamesradar.com/mafia-2-definitive-edition-remaster-is-on-the-way-according-to-a-korean-ratings-board/ [Accessed 7/12/2022].

Webster, A (2018) The Return of the Obra Dinn Screenshot [Photograph]. Available online: https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/18/17993710/return-of-the-obra-dinn-review-lucas-pope-pc-mac [Accessed 7/12/2022].

Major Project 1: Proposal

Overview:

Our project is a murder mystery game on a boat at the turn of the 20th century. It will be developed on Unreal Engine 4. The aim of the player is to solve the murder before the boat is able to dock. From a first-person perspective, the player will explore the boat to find evidence and interrogate suspects to determine which passenger may be the killer.

My role:

My main role within our project is programmer/blueprinter which means I am responsible for getting the main systems and mechanics within the game to function. I will start by determining what mechanics we are going to need and then getting these mechanics to work in a test prototype. I can figure out any issues that need to be fixed as well as adjust how they work if feedback from testers deems it necessary to do so. I will be the one implementing most of the gameplay scenarios that are designed by our team. As the story progression comes together, I will be able to use the mechanics I already created to put the game together as we further develop it.

Genre:

Our game’s genre is noir detective thriller. This matches our project as we want to create suspense as the player tries to deduce who the killer is. Each character will be morally ambiguous and have their own motives for potentially being the murderer.

Setting:

The game will take place on a paddle-steamer travelling the swamps of New Orleans known as the SS Arctic. This limited environment allows us to make our game feel a lot more close-quarters to make the urgency of finding the killer higher. It also make the scope of our project more manageable as focusing on one environment will allow us to improve the quality of our end project.

Story:

Detective CC Tinsley by complete coincidence finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery while on a journey across the Mississippi onboard the SS Arctic as the host of a gathering of old “friends” dies under mysterious circumstances. He must determine the exact events behind this tragic occurrence before the boat reaches its destination as he is the only passenger with no links to any of the other passengers including the murder victim.

Characters:

The characters we aim to include in our game are listed below. We wish to have a range of personalities and backstories which will be fully determined as we start fully developing our project. This will also allow the rooms of each character to be visually distinct and have unique items related to them.

  • CC Tinsley (Player Character)
  • Captain Luce (American)
  • William Eubanks (American)
  • Fernand Lacroix (French)
  • David Kirkwood (British)
  • Irene McAllister (British)
  • Lillian Brown (American)
  • Mr Watanabe (Japanese)
  • Franz Haber (Prussian)

Gameplay Mechanics:

As part of our proposal we outlined some basic mechanics that we could have in our game. Part of my role will be determining the extent of these mechanics and how they will be implemented.

  • The game will be at least mainly in first person with the character having the ability to walk and crouch.
  • Crouching will allow the player to find evidence in more hidden areas.
  • There will be a conversation system in which the player can question the NPCs with various dialogue options which will also allow the player to challenge their account of events.
  • Clues the player finds may not be immediately useful and may require further inspection to find their relevance for example rotating them to find some more information.
  • The evidence the player finds will be displayed on an evidence board which allows the player to make deductions by connecting these clues together.
  • The player will have a journal which makes notes on information the player receives whether its directly relevant or not.
  • Puzzles could also be included in our game to find information such as safe cracking or rearranging paintings but this is not a high priority inclusion. It may also clash with our game style if it not implemented in a way that is believable in our game world.

Visual Style:

While in the concept phase for our project, we had a very strong idea for what our visual style would be. This was a black and white style but specific colours such as red would be in full colour. While not a completely original idea, we thought this would be a great contrast as well as really complementing our project’s genre. This could be applied by using a filter within Unreal Engine to make most things appear black and white. While further developing this idea, we brought up the idea of it not being fully black and white but the filter being tuned down a little so there is some semblance of colour but the colours would be very moody to still match our game’s atmosphere well. We will fully determine the visual style after experimentation within our Unreal project.

Audio Considerations:

Although none of our team members strengths involve audio we still wanted to take some audio considerations into mind as audio can be really important in creating the feel of the game. Some examples of audio we determined as being important to our project are:

⦁ Ocean sounds/rain

⦁ Boat sounds, engine, creaking etc.

The inclusion of these help to immerse the character in the setting as a lack of these sounds would make it less believable.

⦁ Atmospheric background music

Including background music would help to set the various moods and feelings we want to create throughout our project.

⦁ Crowd muttering

⦁ Character voices/mumbling

These would help to make the environment feel more alive as the environment wouldn’t be completely silent with passengers and staff on the boat especially after a murder. Giving the character’s voices would also improve the player being able to discern the feelings of the characters.

⦁ Jazz or appropriate music.

This music will be mainly used on the main menu so it has to introduce the player to our theme and it matches the time setting of our game well.

⦁ Footsteps

Adding footsteps for the character will better immerse the player in the game. They will change depending on the material the player is walking on to increase the immersion.