Obsolete is my current game project. Following on from Cold War, I wanted to challenge myself both creatively and technically. I decided to try and create a rail shooter. I chose to make a rail shooter as they have largely disappeared from the modern era of games outside of VR. I was curious to see if I could find a way to breathe new life into the genre. I was also curious to see how my approach to level design would have to adapt for a highly controlled, strictly linear experience. The process so far has been challenging and rewarding in equal measure.
The game plays much like a traditional rail shooter, but with one major gameplay twist. Health and ammo are both one resource, specifically, the character's battery. The player can use certain powerful weapons in exchange for using up some of their remaining energy. The player's energy levels also dwindle naturally over time, and can only be renewed by continuously destroying enemies and obstacles.
This is an example of how I used blueprints to create a dynamic boundary system for the character, One that would adapt to changes in camera distance and FOV. While I considered simply using invisible objects to box in the character, I felt this system would allow for more dramatic changes of scale and scope should that be required in the game.
Creating an accurate aiming system took several iterations. Early versions of the aiming system (see right) were inaccurate and frustrating to use. The current aiming system, partially modeled off Panzer Dragoon, improves both the accuracy of each shot as well as the player's depth perception when aiming.
A short work-in-progress video for this demo can be seen below.
Screenshots
Marketplace assets used in this game demo:
Cartoon Shader - GametraIV
Stylized Handpainted Cartoon Cartoon Textures Pack - Scritta