I almost forgot! I also have @pkustka.bsky.social to thank for a lot of this. She is an incredible designer, concept artist, and modeler- PLEASE CHECK HER OUT!! She is responsible for a lot in here- my favorites being the spellbook/lectern and the wand! <3
I intend to make a more in depth thread next time on one feature! I'm thinking I'll make it on the painting desk.
I'll be headed to GDC in San Fran tomorrow, so if you're there, head by the SCAD booth and check us out!! Goooodnight!
Last but not least... gesture recognition. The player needs to draw spells in this game to get some things done, and what better way than with a magic wand that traces a spline in the sky?
The drawn points are stored and recognized via a .dat file created by the MiVRY plugin! An incredible system.
The system is so funny. I attached a veeeery long capsule collider to the VR Camera that, when overlapped with the desk, would make the teleport symbol appear in front of it. Then the player would press A and they'd spawn at the point. It's a cheap way to eye track and I WILL be using it again.
Learning what forms of locomotion best suited players was definitely interesting. I found that, in an enclosed but medium-ish space like ours, players wouldn't need to teleport too often and walking around was a REQUIREMENT! I didn't want players to accidentally teleport... so I made the desks hubs!
Learning new things was a constant- even learning entire new UI and systems within Unreal. I dabbled in Meta Sounds, Animation Montages, Skeletal Meshes (ew) and Niagara Systems! Though, as a hater, I was more interested on how I could manipulate them within the actor blueprints.
My biggest feature implemented was a replacement of the ENTIRE grab/locomotion system. Yeesh. But ultimately it worked! One of my favorite things is our walking sound, calculated by the location of the VR Camera. Though it was very simple, it was very mighty.
Finally feeling like a Gamedev! Here's some progress on Broomsmith, my VR Capstone 🪄🧵 #gamedev #indiegame
First off, let me say the environment has stolen the show. Thanks to @grimdxni.bsky.social and @artbybrookemw.bsky.social for their dedication and hard work! It all feels so magical now...
I think implementing custom hand models is when a VR game REALLY starts to feel like a VR game... #indiegame #gamedev
money money money... must be funny. Here's a chopped recording of me explaining quick modular money. #gamedev #unrealengine
This was super fun. Will update again soon! <3
For our cleaning and painting mechanic, we had to have a way to measure how clean vs dirty and how painted vs bare an object was... so I created a C++ script that can read the pixels of render targets! Here's a sped up video of me scrubbing away and admiring the progress bar moving...
60 or so color combos, by the way! She's still in debug mode, as is most of our project right now.
We have a complex system for our painting mechanic, which allows players to apply custom colors to certain meshes. This system lets players mix colors (in a controlled environment) by taking two pigments and crushing them in a mortar with a pestle. I hope to dive more into the system breakdown soon.
The book's pages can flip in game physically, too! A little janky since it's more or less an illusion, but a work in progress...
Cool things have been going on here in Unreal land. Here's some quick progress updates for Broomsmith!! ✨🧵 #gamedev
First, spellbook! We have a gesture drawing system that requires instructions so players know how to cast different spells with their wand. It opens with some simple timeline nodes.
Making a player zoo is fun and all, but making the REAL layout really makes it all feel like it's coming together... My senior capstone VR game, Broomsmith, is all coming along swimmingly! #gamedev
