Currently, we have eight (8!) weapon positions planned, excluding sprinting or similar.
Why so many?
A few reasons.
What follows is essentially a cut and paste from our dev wiki, minus requirements and references.
When discussing features in Ground Branch, I often bring up points based on the idea of n00b vs pro players. Either the need to leave out or expand a specific aspect of the feature, or simply making it more open then it originally was.
We are now fully integrated with Facebook so that all of our blog updates will automatically be posted there as well as twitter. Team BFS… cracking this social media thing one nut at a time!
Projectiles in Ground Branch are taken from a player specific ‘pool’ whenever a player uses a firearm. A projectile taken from this pool is assigned any relevant info and sent along its way, using the Unreal Physics to simulate bullet flight and drop. Phsyx could be used instead, but we see little benefit in using it over the basic Unreal physics.
Kind of a small update, but we thought we would show off some art and explain a bit about character customization. First the art:
Nothing to special really. Black, Tan and Green are in game assets with normal map, diffuse and specular maps. The lower 2 being high resolution sculpt and in-game asset wireframe. One neat thing we are doing is to allow players to add individual or team patches to the hats. The velcro section on the front is a separate material that can hold whatever patch design you or your group want to include. This patch will be distributed to all clients unless they choose to not accept client patches(will be an option). You will also have this ability on your arm as well.
There will be a wide variety of customization choices and hats are just the beginning.
Map design for realistic spaces is something I love doing and have managed to build a decent career around and over the years I have discovered some tricks and general rules to follow. I have also developed a few primary methods of map design that I use. Single player maps pretty much require solid planning and lot’s of forethought to layout so that AI and desired mission objectives can be included. But Multi player maps lend themselves to more freedom and flow.
When designing MP maps I will sometimes do a meticulously planned layout on paper, gathering various references and building mockups. However, some of my best map designs have come out of a free flowing “freestyle” process without much prior planning before building. I will start with a general idea from something that sparked my interest or something I saw one day and just sit down in the editor and start building. Of course I have a general idea of the overall feel of the space going in, but due to the free form nature of the process things will change and evolve as I go. For example, I might have an embankment then realize a sewer pipe underneath would make for a great secondary route. I move through the space and think like a player and make changes based on how things look and feel from “ground level”. For you old schoolers out there…. CityStreet Large, Killhouse Double and Trenches from the Red storm games were all done this way.
I just started a new map this way based off a cool looking radio tower that is next to one of the places my son plays Ice Hockey. I was standing in the parking lot looking at it then at the surrounding area and realized that there were some neat aspects to the space. So that sparked some imagination. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to go through life anymore without thinking how a space would do for a game map. 
So I took some pics and started messing in the editor. One nice thing about having a good bit of assets created is the ability to use them, and not just “grey boxes”, when roughing out a space.
This map will be the first playable that people will get to play in once we do a public release so you will get to see it evolve. It will change over time but will be a good place to work the bugs out of the game and you will see more of it in blog posts as we go.
Oh, and there are lots of possible map designs on paper that may or may not be included in Ground Branch. Solid gameplay must be completed before going headfirst into map production so we have a better idea of what will work and what won’t before wasting time on art production. So rest assured, Ground Branch will have top notch maps.
As stated last week, the default right mouse button is assigned to the left hand, not aiming.
First thing to think about – we’re going to let you choose to be right or left handed, and support the ability to swap hands in-game. Your handedness dictates your ‘main hand’, with the opposite hand being your ‘offhand’. Aesthetic reasons aside, the game play enhancements are just something we don’t want to pass up. Continue reading
Bit of a slow week, continuing my efforts into Scaleform and Action Script, this time in relation to the main UI.
Some discussion lead to a pretty significant change – there is no main menu. Being a PC focused game, having to go back to a central screen to choose another seemed odd. Animations are also currently non-existent. Quick transitions may be added later, but that is about it. We figure people would prefer to be in-game playing, rather than waiting for flashy animations and camera flybys.
What began as a test of the basic parts of the inventory system ended with me diving head long into the Scaleform and Action Script.
End result was the following:
Forgive the programmer art – I was going for function, not aesthetics.
And functional it is.
This week I spent working on blends relating to the leaning system and updating the basic lean command.
Ahem.
Moving on.
