DEV LOG: Firefighting Fire with Fire!
Action Game Studio
For last week’s assignment in my class Action Game Studio, we had to make an emergent system with various elements that interacted with each other. I immediately thought of fire spreading, and because I love superheroes, was inspired to have fire that interacts with civilians that could be harmed. I decided to create a system based on Spider-Man games such as Shattered Dimensions and Ultimate Spider-Man where you have to save civilians and get them to safety and the level of The Incredibles 2004 game where you have to damage your environment in a burning building to help people.
Drawing out the System
I started by sketching a diagram of how various elements of the system interact with each other. Fire can spread and damage both people and inanimate objects, and can be put out using extinguishers and water. Fire also contributes to a “Smoke Meter” that harms humans over time, but smoke can be reduced by opening windows. With the system and its elements defined it was time to get to work…
Spreading Fire and Jumping Really High
I started work by prototyping scalable fire spreading and damage systems. I created these systems using blueprint actor components and interfaces, so that every character could be affected in their own unique ways. Inanimate objects have a fire spreading component and damage interfaces that allow fire to spread while damaging them, and fires spawn and grow on objects they overlap with. This was the first step in creating a burnable world.
I worked on a movement system based on Ultimate Spider-Man 2005, where the character could hold down the jump button to do charge jumps, leaping from civilian to civilian! This combined made for the makings of a super hero game.
Adding more elements to the system
Once the fire spreading and movement were complete, I started upping the stakes! I created capsule-shaped civilians that could be picked up and brought to safe points as well as a smoke system, its value being added by burning fires in the map. For fun, I also added onomatopoeia like “SWOOOSH” and “CLICK” as particle effects to emphasize the comic-book aesthetic! Stay tuned for more updates as the semester goes on…