Particle:
Thursday, November 6, 2008
The effect of particles on our map ' hide and seek'
Extensive experimentation led me to discover that the particle creator in UnrealEd was truly amazing, on top of that is surprisingly simple to use once you know what each property does. Few tweaks can change a particles appearance and behaviour drastically in order to create truly unique particle systems.
By watching the tutorial videos, I learnt how to make simples sparks and a fire effect. This is all I needed to know to create the vast range of particle systems we used in the final map. I'll start with fire. Fire has a major effect on our gameplay as it consumes one of our buildings in flames 3 minutes in. This was achieved with a matinee sequences which causes the flames to grow rapidly until the whole building is unaccessable, therefore limiting the play area to make the game go faster and to increase the difficulty.
Another significant particle feature is that it begins to rain in one of the buildings when there are 2 or more people inside in order to notify players of the whereabouts of eachother. Similarly, a vertical wind tunnel appears in another building.
Throughout the map, particle systems have been put in place for guidance;giving players a sense of direction and an idea of where to go. For example, a vertical red laser beam highlights the location of a jumppad which shoots the player from the bottom to the very top of a building.
Another important thing is the attachment of smoke particles to all 'hiding' players. This provides a little trail for the Seeker to follow whilst looking for other players.
Otherwise, particles take on an aesthetic role in the map and simply exist to give more life to the world such as the fire breathing dragon that you can ride on.
By watching the tutorial videos, I learnt how to make simples sparks and a fire effect. This is all I needed to know to create the vast range of particle systems we used in the final map. I'll start with fire. Fire has a major effect on our gameplay as it consumes one of our buildings in flames 3 minutes in. This was achieved with a matinee sequences which causes the flames to grow rapidly until the whole building is unaccessable, therefore limiting the play area to make the game go faster and to increase the difficulty.
Another significant particle feature is that it begins to rain in one of the buildings when there are 2 or more people inside in order to notify players of the whereabouts of eachother. Similarly, a vertical wind tunnel appears in another building.
Throughout the map, particle systems have been put in place for guidance;giving players a sense of direction and an idea of where to go. For example, a vertical red laser beam highlights the location of a jumppad which shoots the player from the bottom to the very top of a building.
Another important thing is the attachment of smoke particles to all 'hiding' players. This provides a little trail for the Seeker to follow whilst looking for other players.
Otherwise, particles take on an aesthetic role in the map and simply exist to give more life to the world such as the fire breathing dragon that you can ride on.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
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