Evaluation

What was your intention for the FMP?

My intention for my final major project was to create an FPS game which follows a game of chess. I wanted to create a local multiplayer shooter game with fun mechanics, such as different abilities and weapons, which stand apart from traditional shooter games. I wanted to make this game to be very mechanic-driven to push myself into learning new skills and improving my problem-solving while programming in Unreal Engine.

Why did you choose this?

I chose this idea because I knew it would be extremely complex to get a chess system working seamlessly alongside a first person shooter game. I knew that I would have to come up with my own solutions rather than relying on tutorials like previous projects. I also chose to create this game because I have recently started getting into chess and I find the game very interesting and fascinating. This made me want to create a videogame around it. However, I didn’t want it to be just a

plain chess game, I wanted to add a twist that would make players remember the game and how cool the idea was. I decided to make this into a shooter because I really like playing competitive shooter games and I had never created a game involving combat before. So I thought it would be a good learning experience and would help me develop my skills for future projects.

Which technical/software skills were you confident in before starting the FMP?

Before starting the final major project, I was confident in: Unreal Engine, Blender, and Photoshop. In previous projects, I have had to use these programs. So I have quite a bit of experience creating 3D models in Blender, using nodes in Unreal Engine, and drawing things in Photoshop. I have also created a couple personal projects using Blender and Unreal Engine previously too. Here is some of my previous work using these software:

I have also had a lot of practice creating a website portfolio in WordPress because of the course I did last year. I could create pages and buttons to show off my work for assignments.

Which technical/software skills did you need to improve or learn during your FMP?

Even though I was already confident in Unreal Engine and Blender, I still thought that I needed to improve in these software. I knew with the scope and complexity of my project, I would definitely need to improve my node skills in Unreal, and my modelling skills and speed in blender. But because my game was mostly focused on mechanics, I decided that I will mostly focus on bettering my Unreal Engine skills.

I also needed to learn new skills for this project. Such as texturing models, I started using new software such as Adobe Substance Painter to create nice looking textures for my chess pieces that I made in Blender.

Finally, I also needed to improve my Photoshop and Krita skills for my final major project. This is because I needed to create functional UI which also looked decent. Although I already had quite a bit of experience using these software, I am very far from an artist and could definitely improve throughout this project.

What primary research did you undertake and how was this useful to your project?

Throughout my project, I have conducted a lot of primary research. One example is the surveys I held. At the beginning of my project, I made a survey asking question about my game idea before I started creating it to get a better idea of what my target audience might be. This was useful because it helped me cater my development towards what people who fit my target audience might be expecting from a game like this.

Another survey I conducted was once I had already made most of my game. I wanted to get feedback on what parts my game was lacking in. This was very useful to me because now I knew what I should be working on improving more rather than improving something that nobody really cares much about. This helped make the game a lot more fun for players because it felt like a more polished experience.

I also went to a retro arcade to help inspire me in creating my game. I played a lot of old shooter arcade games and analysed what made them feel so nice and responsive. This was useful because I managed to take this information and add effects such as muzzle flashes and hit effects to my game. Which made my game feel a lot more responsive and well-made, which overall lead to a better experience for the player.

Finally, another primary research I conducted was actually playing games, recording footage, and analysing the footage to help gather inspiration for the setting of my game. This was useful because it gave me a clearer idea on what my map will look like and how to actually make it and put it together. This ended up turning out really well and the map suits my game very nicely.

What secondary research did you undertake and how was this useful to your project?

In my final major project, I also conducted a lot of secondary research too. One example is the FIDE chess handbook that I studied. I used it to figure out the sizes and dimensions of the chess piece and tiles. This was very useful to my project because I was successfully able to create a whole chess set worth of pieces and a chess board all accurately sized. This made development a lot easier and smoother because all of my assets were correctly sized and I didn’t have to play around lots to make it look right because it worked from the start.

Another example of secondary research I conducted was researching existing FPS games. I went into depth into three vastly different FPS games I play and how their mechanics worked. This helped me a lot while developing the mechanics for my game because it gave me an idea on how I should make them. This ended working pretty decently because I managed to create a fully functional FPS part to my game. While it’s not perfect and can definitely be improved a lot, I am still happy with it.

Finally, another piece of secondary research I conducted was studying different games pitches. I had a look at how they were structured and what information was displayed on them to get an idea of what I should make. This helped a lot with my final product with my game pitch for Grand Master Warfare because I knew how I wanted to make it after researching, I just had to write out the details of my game and create the visuals.

Which technical/software skills have you used during your FMP and how?

To begin final major project, I came up with my own development workflow. I would start by creating a model in Blender and UV unwrapping it. I would then bring that model to Substance Painter and would texture it and export it as an Unreal Asset. Finally, I would bring that model to Unreal Engine as the asset I would be using in my game. This method worked very well for me because it kept a nice smooth flow between each software.

In Blender. I did a lot of subsurface modelling to create most of my models because it’s a very quick method of making assets look nice and smooth. I would then UV unwrap these models by using a smart projection. Throughout the project, I also used a lot of different modifiers in blender too. An example would be when I used the shrinkwrap modifier to create the cut in the head of the bishop model in blender. I managed to “project” a sphere with a cut in the middle onto a “pinched” sphere I made to create a nice smooth cut in the sphere which I could rotate to make an effect similar to the bishop’s head while still keeping good topology.

In Substance Painter, I mainly used the materials that they offer as a base material for the object. Then I would edit that material to look however I desired. On some models, I would also use the paintbrush feature to make “drawings” on the model. I would also create emissive parts on models too to create glowing effects in Unreal Engine.

How close did you stick to your original Statement of Aims idea?

Throughout the whole project, I practically exactly stuck to my statement of aims idea. However, there was one part of my idea which I didn’t end up creating. I didn’t end up making the “deathmatch” mode for my game because I forgot it was a part of my whole idea. Throughout development, I was so focused on getting the base game working that I didn’t remember about the deathmatch mode that I originally wanted to create. Overall, I don’t think it makes too much difference in the end because the base game mode is practically a deathmatch and other additions that I created such as the tutorial actually offer more to the player than a secondary deathmatch game mode would.

To summarize, I think I managed to stick to this idea extremely well, which made production a lot easier and simple.

What problems/challenges did you face for your FMP?

I think that the biggest problem I faced during my final major project was definitely coding the chessboard to work alongside the FPS part. I was stuck for multiple days trying to figure out how to save a piece’s “index” on the chess board while the FPS fight is happening and replacing the winner’s piece and destroying the loser’s piece. It was also very difficult to even get the players to spawn in the first place. Especially since the game is split-screen and getting the correct player to spawn as the correct piece.

Another problem I faced during my project was trying to create a trailer for my game. I couldn’t figure out in time how to get the recording features in Unreal to work properly with my game. So I wasn’t able to make the trailer I wanted my game to have which was pretty disappointing.

I also faced other smaller problems during my project such as time management. I managed to stick to my Gantt chart decently. However, I wasn’t leaving myself enough time to actually write on my website sometimes which left me behind on the writing part of this project.

How did you overcome any problems on your FMP?

To solve the problem with the chess and FPS mechanic. After getting all worked up after not being able to do it. I took a break for a while and came back to it with a fresh mind. Doing this a couple times after I kept getting stuck definitely helped because I felt more confident I could fix my problem. Also talking my problem through with people also helped because sometimes I was just missing something that I kept ignoring because I was too far into it. Getting an “outsiders perspective” on my code helped quite a bit in figuring out the method I should do things by.

To overcome the problem of not being able to create a trailer for my game, I just opted to create a “gameplay trailer” for my game because I was trying to stick to a timeframe while creating the trailer. So when I got towards the end, I just decided to make the gameplay video.

With general problems throughout coding my game, every time I encountered one, I would take a “trial and error” approach and start swapping out nodes with other nodes and trying different methods until what was broken worked.

Finally, for time management, to overcome the problem with falling behind in my writing, I just started spending more time on WordPress writing.

Which skills have you improved during your FMP?

During the final major project, I have greatly improved my skills in unreal engine. I can now use it and create most things just like it’s second nature. Before, I would have to search up how to do things which I, now, find simple to do. I feel much more confident in working with nodes in Unreal. Especially after creating that chess system in my game. All of the complex problems helped me find countless new nodes and methods to use while creating things in Unreal.

Another skill I have improved a lot is the 3D modelling process. I now can confidently create a nice looking 3D model alongside UV unwrapping and texturing. I have also improved my speed of creating models. A model that would take me a whole day would only take me about an hour or two now.

I have also improved my problem solving skills majorly throughout the course of this project. I can how think of my own solutions for complex problems. For example when I made the chess system work with spawning pieces, I thought of the idea of having an array / “invisible” chessboard to store the piece type on to spawn the piece into the world as a character for players to control. Before this project, I would have had no idea how to create something like this.

Finally, I have also improved my time management skills quite a bit. This year, I managed to mostly stick to my Gannt chart throughout the whole project. Apart from the replanning of the chess mechanic, I pretty much stuck to the chart. Last year, I had a Gantt chart for my final project which I didn’t manage to stick to properly and had to keep changing it. However, this year I have gotten a lot better at sticking to a plan.

Which part or parts of the FMP did you feel worked well?

I think the most obvious part of my final major project which worked well was definitely the mechanics for my game. It was the main focus of my game and I think it came together very well. I managed to create mechanics for weapons and abilities which all work together very nicely. This with the addition of the chess mechanic it works alongside are the most stand-out mechanics of my game which make it what it is. Overall, I am extremely happy with this part of my game because it makes a very fun gameplay loop.

Another thing I am quite happy with is the visuals of my game. Although they weren’t the main focus of my game, I still think they came out pretty well. This isn’t so much because my models are well made and more because it all fits the style of my game. This makes it look like an actual game because everything looks like it has a place in my game even if some of the models aren’t the best.

Finally, I am also very happy with the research I have been able to conduct during this project. I am particularly happy with the primary research I have done during this project. It worked well for my project because it helped me gather inspiration in creating half of my game. Without it, my game would definitely not be as good.

What might you do differently?

If I were to do this project again in the future, I would definitely try and improve how messy my coding can be in Unreal. One of the things that slowed me down during the project was that some of my code looked too messy to know what was actually going on when I wanted to fix it. So when I next make a project, I will definitely take my time and do my code a bit slower for better readability and editability.

I would also try and learn a bit of animation in the future. This is because in my game, everything was pretty snappy and it could probably look a bit smoother if I learnt how to animate properly. So for other projects, I will try to make some animations to make them feel smoother.

Finally, I would also try to make future projects more modular. For the code, I would try to make it in a way where it’s a lot easier to reuse and replace to make development a lot smoother. During my final major project, I had a lot of going back and editing to do which meant I had to edit every other part that used that code too. In future, I will use a lot more child blueprints and components in Unreal.