Games (PC) Jurassic Extinction (Released)

I just couldnt go to bed without posting the new UI music, think youll like it, it fits well

 

A crapload of work done on the UI:

• Pics updated (beastiary).
  
• Scale of pics in panel (including title and discription) updated.
  
• Bold lettering set for credits.
  
• Support for resolutions 1024 x 728 and above implimented (tested), and dont mind the offset menu on the right, has to do with resolution compliance.
  
• Music audio reduced.

Overall im really happy with this UI. Honestly, this UI has been a challenge to say the least, but the work on it has been well worth it. Alot more info for the player, and room to expand if needed:

 

haha I love it. Did you make the music yourself?

 

Found it on a site a few months ago (commercial licence), loved the riff,

 

Wanted to throw an idea out there. I put this scene/video together to showcase an idea for JE, that would make it a much more player interacive game.

The storyline is your a marine on the way back to the states from costa rica, when your plane is hit and going down. You jump out of the plane in the area we call the bermuda triangle. You wake up to find youve been time-warped to an island in the jurassic era. You now must survive and find a way to time travel back home!.

Now, to mod the current version of JE wouldnt take long at all, as most of it is already done. I wouldnt loose anything, just modding the terrain/environment (as you can see in the video).
But there would be much more player interactions (finding weapons/supplies, crawling over logs over ravines, dino encounters, strange time storms that may give you info, other characters (that were on the plane) that also landed on the island, etc.).

I woke up this morning with this senario/story in my head, and i cant shake it, lol. Figured id whip up a sample of it to share, thoughts/input?. This could really be a great senario, would change the game for the better. Would really like some feedback, as alot of you have mentioned time-travel type senarios:

 

Don't forget you can use this template for pinning down your story.

https://forum.unity.com/threads/game-design-document-template.240038/

It can get very easy to become easily distracted, I feel if you have a solid concept the start to finish goal is easier.

Don't forget when you've cut some, you gotta cut some more! P.S I like the concept

 

I love it when dreams spark inspiration.

Bermuda triangle concept is very cool, seems fitting to the concept, and based on lore I guess it could be possible. I think it makes sense!

 

@Stephen_O Thnx, i think its a good storeyline fit

Well tonight i set up the 1st weapon pickup, and 1st dino encounter. I now use a new style of ground texture set up, also grass and trees are now more "spread out", not as dence.

I really like this new storyline and environment, as the scene setup is more blocked off (for occlusion culling), and being non-open world has benefits, and more controlable. Voice overs are coming soon, with triggers, for most all actions (pick up, time storm encounter, object inspection, communications).

 

Every Dev has a certain "style", you can look at a game and say "yep thats warthos style", or "thats Stephen_O's style", or "Antipodish's style", look @Khor, a snowball game, insanly cool, lol..

So thats what ive done these last 8 months, is forge my own style. I think ive done kick ass for the dino/fps/survival senario. Ive set myself a style that gets better over time, and learn many lessons along the way, lol.

 

Definitely, you've come along way.

Just a few critiques on the UX.

1.Try and follow this, I noticed some padding alignment issues.
https://uxdesign.cc/responsive-grids-and-how-to-actually-use-them-970de4c16e01

2. I think the blood splatter logo should be more saturated darker with white reversal text.
3. Not sure on the enigmatic games logo, looks cliparty atm.
4. Not a fan of the right floating menu, I'm sure you can fix that for different resolutions.
5.Also would love to see a little more care taken with grahics and shaders. It feels very unity 4/5 right now which isn't a bad thing as you're in the prototype phases.

 

P.S this very thread inspired my little game but I doubt I got the time to continue lol

 

@iamthwee Thnx for the input, i agree the blood particle effect could be adjusted a bit more, also needs to be thinner. The alignment issue is only cause i just set up that dino, havent had time to fine tune yet (with Emerald AI). And yes, ive just started playing with some shaders (theres so many!).
You should try and finish your game, orig concept, i like it. Im glad this thread inspired you, hopefully you will continue on

 

Heya guys What im doing with JE (due to new time travel storyline), is im breaking the island up into seperate scenes (which is a good thing). Each time a scene is completed, youll see a time warp storm event, and be transported to another part of the island.

Its like dividing the current JE into 4-6 seperate pieces (scenes). Now performance will be even better, and i can add more player interaction, better gfx, etc. (more head room/resources). Ive got the second enconter area almost done, looking great, and another weapon pick up crate.

Video tomorrow night, promise. I really like the new style/story for the game. Should have done this from the start, lol. Teaser image:

 

By alignment issues I meant on the UI. Where you have the dinosaurs and text underneath it doesn't follow a grid with proper padding and gutters. Sorry I'm obsessed with typography and consistency lol! I know it is just your first prototype.

I use this which is way better than doing it by eye.

http://gridcalculator.dk/

I'd love to finish off my game haha, but I got to concentrate on exams so meh (

You've worked really hard with the dinosaurs + animation + AI. I really like it, and I feel it could do really well on steam.

 

Heres the new area with all foliage, ground textures, etc. (adding in dead trees and edge rocks as we speak). A few things to note: the LODS have to be adjusted (you can see transitions), and the dinos havent been added yet, but will be tomorrow night. The next area will be the final area of the 1st scene.

This scene has 4 areas (start, 1st encounter, 2nd encounter, and 3rd encounter/time storm). Each scene will have a different number of areas, depending on story line. Havent decided on deferred or forward rendering yet (currently forward). Heres the vid of the 2nd encounter area, note: impact and fall death is now implimented. At the end of the vid youll see. Also if anyone can climb over the rock wall formations, you also die, lol:

 

Looking good, I'm in suspense wondering what's going to happen here.

Something I noticed that I've fought from the start of my project (and that might be why I notice it), vegetation color pop when LOD transition. They pop from a light to a darker color, maybe it's the shadows that cause it, if I see it once then I start looking for pops instead of being more immersed. Maybe you can adjust the tint of the billboard or low res LOD to be darker to hide it. I know based on view angle and scene light this can be a challenge.

 

@Stephen_O thnx, yea il, try to get to the LODS tonight, if not will be done this weekend. Most times its the LOD0 shade is too light, as all the other LODS act fine.

 

Sorry guys the video will be delayed just for a night, and the Raptors are to blame, lol. I dropped the Raptors into the area, they acted excellent, but they would NOT go onto the rocks! (top of the ravine rocks). I tried object avoidance with Emerald AI, navmesh baking (as a walkable area), adding ravine rocks to a seperate layer for inclusion, etc. They hate the rocks!, lol.

Problem solved. In the following pic you can see (in-dev shot), the rocks for the edge of the ravine are now updated. Its now steeper drop off, and if your on the rocks, the Raptors can still get you, and knock you off:



At 1st i had to knock down the Raptors health, as i could almost unload a full clip (handgun) and it was still coming at me. Right now it takes 8 hits to kill, still too many. Will be adjusted.

One last note: look in the lower left corner. Thats my main "dirt" base terrain color that (in real life) you would find digging in your back yard, anywhere in the world. Its my main base texture, then add other textures and plants/trees, etc. A good practice that has served me well.

 

As promised. The 3rd area is finished (for the most part). You have 3 raptors to deal with (currently adjusting dmg and health as we speak), and every area has a item crate. Its up to you to find it at times.

This weekend is working on the 4th final area of this scene. I can tell you it will involve a crashed plane, a new weapon, and those pesky Compy's Im also working on the "time storm". Ive been working on a custom particle effect, to see if it will function and look realistic.

Also due note: this is all main game updates without "cutscenes" and interactions, which will play a big role in JE. Your seeing the actual gameplay, without cutscenes, full menu, saving/pause menu, and storyline video (which is planned and coming soon):

 

Heya guys, been roughing out the 4th area today, and wanted to share a SS of the WIP so you can see the set up. Not sure if im going to put compy's here, might want the last area of every scene to be sort of a boss fight.

 

Like shotguns?. Its the new weapon, and your going to need it. Also note the dead body of your flight crew member (Omar Khoury, the boss/money of the operation). But he looks to have been here for months? Wait...that isnt our plane? What the hell is going on?.

Remember the Beastiary? know your species. The boss of the final area is the Triceratops, large, alot of HP, and hits hard (only when provoked):

 

Now that the 1st level/scene is done, onto the next Started work on the next encounter area, and this will be a swamp type. If you look at the beastiary youll see theres at least 4 species that are swamp/water types, and they will be in this scene (sarcosuchus, baryonx, xenacanthus, and plesiosaur).

Was also thinking of adding in grenades, not to kill dinos with, but to blast down a rock wall, etc. Ill be posting a video once the area is closer to done, building the main swamp area now

On a great sidenote: by deving the scenes/levels the way i am, performance is no longer an issue, so far anywhere on the map is 80 - 90 fps (forward rendering, 2xAA):

 

Got some great news! Ive decided to take the 1st level/scene (4 areas) and use it for a Alpha Demo! (im sure youll all pick it apart and let me have it, lol). It should be ready this weekend, theres a bit more work, and i need to set up a download server account. Current build is around 500mb.
Heres some info on the alpha demo and what to expect/not expect:

• Currently running at 80 - 90 FPS (forward rendering).
  
• PPE added (Bloom, Ambient Occlusion, vignette, FXAA).
  
• Using heavily modified version of Easy Main Menu (loading screen, main menu, pause menu).
  
• EMM/UFPS integration is there (weapon wheel), but NOT implimented yet.
  
• LODS adjusted, hardly any poping, needs fine tune.
  
• You start out with a knife and gain weapons along the way.
  
• Every area has an Items Crate (health, weapons, ammo, etc.).
  
• More dinos are being added to areas.
  
• Health-to-damage adjusted.
  
• All images updated to the new version of JE (loading screen, BGs, etc.).
  
• Major work to GUI: options/settings dont work (as i have to integrate Save System for UFPS and decide what options/settings ill use in final version).
  
• Attack speed, range, and stopping distance of dinos adjusted (EmeraldAI).
  
• (known issue/bug): pause menu up when game loads (press ESC x2 to correct till fixed).
  
• (known issue/bug): pause menu options not working/set up.
• (known issue/bug): looking down at a certain angle with the controller causes "stutter", (keep weapon/arm level or higher to correct till fixed).

See you guys this weekend, more info to follow, ill keep you up to date when i can
Alpha footage, enjoy:

 

Been getting the demo ready, adjusting things, fixing bugs, wanted to share info. Dont waste your ammo, ive calculated how many shots it takes to kill the dinos in encounters. Ill be adjusting that ratio as we go along. Ive adjusted PPE and LODS, and still performing around 75-80 fps. Performs great, i can do a full speed run/jump anywhere, no slow down at all. Hopefully get to re-spawn points and saving by this weekend. We will see, heres the latest updates:

• Weapon Wheel now implimented, and being customized (scale, icons, hue, etc.).
  
• Set health packs to not re-spawn (they re-spawned after 5 seconds).
  
• Low volume BG music added.
  
• Audio master/mixer set up, all sound will be routed through mixer with certain channels
  controlling certain audio (more control).
• EMM/UFPS integration is complete (UI, weapons, items, and weapon wheel inventory).
  
• Dilophosaurus has a mate, now 2 dilos in 2nd area.

I want to get the alpha demo done before i resume work on the next level/scene. Im working as fast and as accurate as i can to stay on schedule (hard to balance).

 

Alpha demo is shaping up, the last 5 hours produced alot of good results:

• When or if you die, your current weapon drops, so you can retrieve it (finish the job).
  
• Updated UFPS arms and weapon textures (GPU instanced).
  
• Attack distance increased for all dinos. (dont let the dilo or raptors get off their "2
  foot jumping attack", does good dmg).
• UI work continues, lots of custom work, Examples: health icon now red (was white) as it
  should be. Different colors for different ammo. Weapon wheel icon for handgun had
  silencer, um....no, and knife slot shows a machete, again, um...no.lol.
• Wind effect on plants, now adjusted.

Trying to get as much done as possible, remember, PC ONLY build (keyboard/mouse), no plans for x-box/playstation support, unless enough feedback warrents it.

 

Just to update, been having a few probs with the UI, and cant release the demo without bugs being fixed. Will update as soon as possible

 

Progress with Easy Main Menu (EMM). Cursor.lockState is driving me crazy, lol Going to be a bit to get all code sorted out. Cant wait to get back to working on the game, miss my dinos,

 

Wanted to update, lots of bugs fixed with EMM. Found out the integration of EMM with UFPS was causing probs (weapon wheel), with the pause menu. I understand the probs pause menus can have (cursorLock issues, etc.), and not everyone codes the same way, and have to check API alot.

• Sorry guys, the weapon wheel is out, at least for now, till i figure out that code mess, lol.
  
• Alot of icons (HUD, UI), are now colored.
  
• Dont mind the mess (WIP), resizing of fonts, containers, and alignment is being done as we speak.
  
• Graphics boost! Most base textures currently are 512 - 1024. All texture resolution will be boosted, 1024 - 2048. Again in-process.
  
• Post processing will be adjusted (forward rendering). Currently using: Ambient Occlusion, Auto Exposure, AA, and Color Grading. Has worked out nicely.

Heres a vid where you can see you can run fast anywhere, without any lag/bottle necks, etc.:

 

Looking really good!

 

Weekend is almost here, tonights work went fantastic on the alpha demo

• Post processing effects implimented: Ambient Occlution, Auto Exposure, Color Grading, Depth Of Field, Sun Shafts, and Motion Blur.
  
• All texture resolutions increased (foliage, rocks, environment).
  
• All dino textures are now 4096, (brought out alot of detail).

With the texture resolution increase/new additions, im amazed that we are still way over 70 FPS, with forward redering, and added PPEs. Next addition is climbing ivy vines, and palm trees. Im also testing to see if i need to increase dmg from player-to-dino/dino-to-player.

Side note to inspiring devs, ALWAYS use the basic colliders (cone, cylinder, box, sphere) on "in scene objects". As mesh colliders are bad, avoid using them at all costs. And dont forget about mesh polygon reduction, and PLEASE, when you use mesh poly reduction methods, TEST your models/objects after, to make sure your not reducing too much to effect visual quality. Some eye candy, its really running great and function is nice:

 

I love the vibrant colors, these recent changes really make the scene come to life and look much richer. but I think motion blur is a bit too intense, right now I feel like it overpowers everything else, this is most noticeable while running.

 

Thnx for the feedback, ill dial back the motion blur. Thnx on the colors, i worked hard to try and get them just right.

 

Glad to report progress has been great!. Overall visuals are starting to shape up, PPE still needs a bit of work, but looking really good, the texture res increase has done alot for detail.

• Motion blur reduced (thnx Stephen_O).
  
• Alot of UI work (re-scaling, font size, container placement, padding, etc.).
  
• All quality settings now set up with alot of options.
  
• Finished pause menu.
  
• Corrected a small artifact, narrowed it down to a Ambient Occlusion setting too high, now fixed.

JE is the 3rd game that ive dealt with UI elements in Unity. Have to say, not hard to grasp (canvas, camera/overlay, animations, button states, etc.), pretty functional. No video update, as weekend has just started, and im working as much as i can to get the alpha demo ready.

 

Wasnt going to do this, but here it goes...Heres the Alpha Demo in current state (WIP). A few things to note:

• To exit on the pause menu, just click "main menu" (with the mouse) and hit Enter (on the keyboard) with it, then use keyboard (arrows) to select quit.
  
• If you look down at a certain level, it stutters, keep weapon view level.

These bugs are currently being worked on. Im also entertaining the idea of converting to HDRP, and a 3rd person controller. More info to follow.

https://rapidgator.net/file/9c0972a...d208/jurassic_extinction_-_alpha_demo.7z.html

 

Hope everyone is having fun with the alpha demo, i play it alot myself. Remember its alpha and alot will be fixed/changed. Tonight ive added palm trees and climbing ivy, looking nice. I feel a 3rd person controller would better fit JE, (do tell if you dont agree).

Been playing around with Invector's 3rd person controller, not bad, out of the 8-10 models ive set up most have weapon bone/offset probs, but aside from that, pretty good. Ill be testing out Opsive's (UFPS) 3rd person controller, before i decide on which 3rd person controller will be used in final release.

Heres Invector controller, i do like the motion animation:

 

Nice, I'll check out the demo when I get some time.

Personally, I like the FPS style better, reminds me of Turok. (even though that game had almost no dinos)

Aside from nostalgia, when I compare this latest video to an earlier one, I feel like there's less immersion with the 3rd person setup. Seeing only the hands does make it feel like it could be me, while that sense is taken away by being able to see the whole body.

I think the 3rd person does look great, maybe if the game is more action focused it might make sense to be 3rd person.

 

hey - I tried the alpha. Great work My only feedback is that when walking there seems to be quite a bit of "vibration" up and down, maybe this is the stutter you mention above? Other than that very cool.

 

I tried your demo and it seems that you get stuck in crouch. Also there was some kind of jittering / stutter (although I did play on "fantastic" settings instead of default fastest).

 

I noticed the same things, the jittering / stutter is when you run, it makes it almost unplayable.

 

I gave your alpha a try. Not bad! noticed numerous issues like people mention above, is it headbob you added when running? I'd remove that, smooth it out, seems there is no story yet, why are you there in the wild? Is there a mini story you can add? Also the dinos I encountered don't have to face you to bite/injure you, is that normal? I noticed it is not difficult to get through the colliders, past /over the rocks to go past the game area, see screens. If normal players found that they'd have a field day about how "broken" the game is (I talk from experience esp. with steam users)...
e.g.

 

Thnx for the feedback guys. @khos thnx ill correct the colliders, easy fix, also its an alpha, no story or cutscenes yet, as im just trying to test the 1st scene of the game. The dinos attacks will also be adjusted, very easy. @Stephen_O think your right, want to stay 1st person for the reason you stated.

The biggest thing is the UFPS controller, i like it, but its been nothing but trouble, crouch being stuck, all the button on and button off states are correct, and it has stutter like you guys all saw, still no fix for it yet. i use it due to it being one of the few controllers that can integrate with EmeraldAI.

Im going to think about whats the next move, but i think i need to switch to another first person controller. EmeraldAI only supports UFPS, Third person controller by Invector, and NeoFPS. Its either that or use a different AI, which i would hate to cause i love EAI.

Thnx for the help guys, much appreciated.

 

Ok, @khos sorry bro, but you wont be able to get outside game play area anymore, lol. (leave it to you to find that ). The stuttering prob/bobing isnt correctable that i know of. It could be because of age of asset/compatability, as im using 2018.4.2f1 LTS, and UFPS v1.7.5 is older and not dev'd for my version of unity.

After investigation and thought one thing is for sure, im NOT changing my AI. EmeraldAI is hands down the best, specially for my dinos. I have bought the latest version of Invector third person template v2.5.0 (up to date), and the latest version of UFPS Ultimate FPS (up to date). Ill talk with Opsive and get integration with EAI, or ill have to use Invector 3rd person.

Ill be testing both and see what i can do, ill keep everyone updated. If all i have to worry about is the controller, no prob, everything else is good. Hopefully this weekend i can get to the story (cut scenes, intro, time storm teleports, etc.). My goal is to get the controller prob resolved, and get back to gameplay and the new areas.

 

If you decide to use Opsive's new controller, @magique has uploaded an integration with instructions to get Emerald AI & the player to damage each other. I think it's on either Opsive's forum or Emerald's.

 

Thnx, i got the integration with EAI, was on the Opsive forums. Downloading UFPS Ultimate as we speak. If all goes well, gonna be great, V2 of the controllers are a beast.

 

Heres Invectors Third Person Controller-Shooter Template v2.5.0 in action. I havent set up invector to EAI integration, just set up/modded the controller and took it for a spin. For a 3rd person controller, not bad at all. Cant wait to get the v2.0 UFPS in, from looking at the docs, its a very entailed controller with alot of function/options/add-ons. Code well documented, by looking through the opsive forums, looks like support is great. Onto the vid:

One thing is for sure, my next game will be a 3rd person melee, heres why...I think any shooter should be 1st person, and thats the view of that type weapon. 3rd person is best with melee, again, that the view of that type weapon. Just a rule i personally like to follow if posible

 

Happy to report, i imported Ultimate FPS v2.1.10, set everything up, added PPE, blam! No
errors, warnings, script probs, at all....went perfect.

Got layer and input set up, added in soldier model, working great. Currently working on
inventory/weapons/camera effects/etc., the IK system is very good. EmeraldAI integration
will be next, which will be this weekends work (thnx to Deckard_89 ), with a video to follow

 

Didnt want to wait too long to update, but been very busy with Invector and UltimateFPS. I have 2 versions of JE, invector on one, ultimateFPS on the other.

UltimateFPS takes longer to learn and impliment, as its a large scripted system. Its version 1 with many more added systems/functions. You create a character, create item types, then actual items, add weapon, adjust IK, add inventory, (must have as model with FPS arms seperated), etc, With invector just create character model, adjust the IK bone/handler for weapon alignment, done.

Another cool factor with Invector, i can use a larger base of character models, so the actual character/story line options is nice. Not giving up on UFPS, still working on it, round the clock. We will see what unfolds.

 

Great news guys! Ive corrected the "staggering" with the "view at a certain looking down angle "with the orig UFPS v1.7.5. I deleted the complete controller, and re-built it from the start. Now no staggering, working perfect. Yea baby!. Proof of concept:

Now i can get back to updating fixes for the Alpha Demo, and start work on storyline cutscenes. One thing i learned from this all, Invector is a more dev/user friendly asset than UFPS v2. Now-a-days, even UFPS v2 is more geared towards 3rd person. I had no prob using UFPS v2, know it well, and know what they changed from UFPS v1, but it now has alot more functions/options/systems, and you cant set it up in a weekend, takes alot of time to understand it and the API.

As far as Invector, ALOT of fun, got as far as EAI integration (code additions, spot-on), and i know EAI VERY well (integrations forgot a few things), player could dmg/kill dinos, but dinos wouldnt dmg player, would have figured it out/corrected, but im stayin with UFPS v1.7.5. Look at how many people still love v1 (read reviews from both v1 and v2).

Anywho...back on track. With this "main" version of JE, i have to add in the new colliders for the perimeter/rocks so peeps like @khos/steam users, dont jump ship, lol. Next is intro/cutscenes. Have to decide what asset ill use for that (cinemachine/pegasus/cinemadirector).

 

Heya guys, after correcting all the probs with the controller, i decided i wanted to do some scene work and fix a few probs at the same time:

• Colliders fixed on rocks. (points at khos)
  
• Controller "stutter" and head bob problems fixed (jamespaterson ).
  
• Crouch no longer sticks (Deckard_89 ).
  
• Removed motion blur. (thnx Stephen_O).
  
• Palm trees and more foliage added.

Still have climbing ivy and moss to add in, then its time to dev the next scene/level, or start work on cutscenes. Working on fog right now, and ill probably use Fog Volumes. Easier to set up a defined area with a certain type of fog, but will be a ground fog, not to high, will look great. Heres what the alpha demo scene looks like now (in the vid i crouched a few times, and looked down a few times to show all is good):

 

Heres a short vid to show the new changes. Controller is working great, i need to adjust the Jump, doesnt really show, looks like i tripped, lol. Dinos are working great too, do have to adjust their "attack distance" just a bit more (drawing them closer), as a few peeps said they were attacked out of normal range.

Palms are in, changed base grass, shut off sun shafts for now (resource hog), 2 areas left to add foliage, then done. Should have fog done by weekends end. Theres 2 types of fog, volumetric and dynamic. Both have pros and cons, testing out a few solutions.

Can say one thing, Aura2 is out, resource hungry in a scene of my type. If i used it, id have to switch to deferred rendering (and lose AA), to make up for the loss in FPS by using it. Anyway...this is looking damn good, shaping up: