You want buzzwords? Here you go: VR! Motion tracking! Coop! Online multiplayer! Exciting dungeon crawler rogue-like thing game! Machine learning! (okay no ML, it's just #hype right now)

Final game build: Hikari no tō (2.0a Final) (as either .7z or .zip through Google Drive Share)


Final project document:

Hikari no tō is a 5 player coop multiplayer dungeon crawler with rogue-like and third person shooter elements. Sporting 4 unique crawler classes, the main objective is to clear a Japanese high rise tower floor by floor.

Our unique selling point is a VR master that supports the Crawlers on their way through the dungeon. As a demi-god entity, the Master's main objective is to guide the Crawlers through the dungeon, heal them or harm enemies with powerful physical abilities and help out in enemy encounters with buffs and debuffs. 

Only if the Crawlers and the Master work together, they can climb the tower of light.

Milestone #1: Game Pitch


(Schedule export breaks every time, full schedule also available at Agantty Project Schedule Chart)

Milestone #2: Prototype


 

Milestone #3: Interim Report


See the corresponding chapter in the notebook or our dev log: 

Dev Update 1: Interims

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Milestone #4: Alpha Release


See the corresponding chapter in the notebook or our dev log: 

Dev Update 2: Alpha

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Milestone #5: Playtesting


See the corresponding chapter in the notebook or our dev log: 

Dev Update 3: Playtesting

IMG_20180120_104325.jpgPlaytesting.pngplaytesting_bug_buff.gif

Milestone #6A: Final Release


See the corresponding chapter in the notebook or our dev log: 

Dev Update 4: Final Release

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Milestone #6B: Demo Day


Milestone #6C: Conclusion


See the corresponding chapter in the notebook or our dev log: 

Dev Update 5: Conclusion

Gameplay Video:

Also enjoy this brief clip of demo day impressions: 

Final game build: Hikari no tō (2.0a Final) (as either .7z or .zip through Google Drive Share)

Sources: Project Src on GitHub Doc Src on GitHub

19 Kommentare

  1. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga46puh) sagt:

    Really nice concept of having a godlike player helping the others in different ways.

    How are you planning on doing the procedural generation? In pre-made blocks?

  2. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga38qik) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?
      The communication aspect between the omniscient VR player and the dungeon crawlers seems quite cool to me.
      I also appreciate the style you're going for and that your setting is different from your typical "dungeon with monsters in it".

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?
      I'm personally not a huge fan of the style of combat system and not sure an actual "system" is even necessary here.
      I think it'd be interesting to focus more on the navigation challenge with the help of the VR player.

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?
      I would suggest going for a much simpler style of combat (i.e. no classes / skills / stats but only very few mechanics that are very fun to use).


  3. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga35huy) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    You shortly mentioned in your presentation that the "god player" will possibly be able to placed walls on the map. I think this could really have a great potential.

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    I guess the problem with the "god player" will be that either everyone wants to play him or nobody. Also, i would probably allow the players to use voice chat (like Skype or discord). Because games are just more fun if you hear other players panic.

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    Maybe the mechanic mention in 1. could be further explored. If the "god player" can block enemy, so that they will reach the crawlers later or maybe even reach the other crawler this could be really interesting. This way the god has to keep in mind how many enemies a single crawler can handle.

  4. Philipp Holl sagt:

    First off: I believe your project is quite ambitious. Programming a complete dungeon crawler with procedural map generation and animated and diverse characters, implementing and balancing two completely different play styles, networking... these are all tasks that can take up a lot of time which we don't have.

    Owning a VR headset myself, I like the idea that one player can play in VR. Most people do not, though, which is reflected well in your game, in that most players use standard input controls. Overall, I still believe that the requirements for actually setting up and playing your game are very high. You should at least provide a connection server so people don't need port forwarding and all that jazz.

    Proper balancing of the roles will be key to your game. A fun interaction between the master and the crawlers can only take place if the two groups have well-defined and distinct roles which complement each other in a sensible way. Making the master too strong or too weak will take the fun out of one of the roles.

    I feel that you will spend a lot of time on getting the game to run with multiplayer and VR support. Try not to loose focus of what makes a dungeon crawler fun in the first place: the actual combat and exploration.

  5. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga67got) sagt:

    What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    I like two things equally well. First of all the different graphical style that gives this well known genre a new touch. Secondly, the idea of an asymmetrical god player that maintains the role of a support.


    What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    Once all players have found each others the god role seems to loose a lot of impact.


    Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    I would suggest adding a forced separation from time to time. e.g. randomly teleporting a person to a new (unknown) location.


    (In general i would have preferred if the game proposal was a little more elaborate. e.g. how the enemies, players, player abilities, etc. look like exactly)

  6. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga38guk) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?
      I like the feature that the god player is in VR and can see the whole map. This can lead to some great player interactions with the crawlers.

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?
      A lot of the focus of diablo-esque looter shooters is on player progression. You should try and focus more on having rewarding loot and making the player want to progress to get better loot.

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?
      Since only the god player can see the whole map, I think it would be cool if the crawlers start at different locations on each floor so the challenge of bringing the crawlers together is more in focus.
  7. 1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    I quite like the combination of having one player in VR and the others just on a screen, it brings some interesting asymmetry to the gameplay.

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    Having your levels be procedurally generated might be a problem when it comes to balancing. Not only will you have to find a way to create interesting environments, but it might make the balancing of god/crawlers much more challenging.

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    I would focus on a few, really well crafted levels, and then put the necessary effort into balancing the interactions between all players instead.

  8. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga38doq) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    The central idea of having a real life game master in VR sounds very cool and opens up loads of possibilities for unique creative mechanics

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    I don't like the way that you presented your camera position for the crawlers. If you want to restrict the visibility then I would suggest making it first person. Otherwise, let me move my camera (Zwinkern)

    Overall your project seems pretty ambitious, including VR and networked multiplayer. I hope that more than one of you have a VR headset for development, since a group from previous semester said, they had big problems because only one of them had a VR headset (their game was only in VR though).

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    Maybe let the dungeon decide which side he wants to play on. Either supporting the players or controlling/managing the monsters.


    Additional Note: (I'm possibly going to write this beneath every (online) multiplayer game)

    Assuming you want to create your game with Unity:

    We made an online Multiplayer game last semester using Unity Networking. Back then the documentation was horrible. Therefore I would suggest you look at different networking libraries (such as Photon) before you start implementing.

    If you decide to use Unity Networking, the source code on Bitbucket might help.

  9. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga46puh) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    The interaction between the game master and the players. It promotes asymmetrical teamwork. Also allowing the players to see the game master head floating and giving thumbs up or down would be great.

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    I don't know if the 4 players (not the game master) have differences between each other. It could be nice to have a feature in which you need to collect things for the game master in order to receive his/her approval and be helped (like offerings to a god)

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    Create disparity between the 4 players.

  10. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga54xab) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    The integration of the VR headset sounds promising. This could be a pretty reasonable application of VR in a multiplayer game.

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    Apart from the VR experience, the game idea sounds like a normal hack and slay like diablo and others. To not make it another game from that genre, maybe instead of focusing on the combat system and the dungeons themselves, try to improve the VR gameplay and influence in the game. You could think of new roles and responsibilities for the VR player.

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    You are more than welcome to proof me wrong, but your game idea sounds way too ambitious to make it work out as you planned in the short time span of 3 months.

    I'm sure you can improve your final result a lot by removing a few parts from your schedule. As an idea, focus either on the online multiplayer part or the VR experience or the combat system. In my opinion, so far your idea is an overkill and needs some sort of reduction.

  11. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga97vob) sagt:

    Love the asymmetric multiplayer idea. That DM - crawler interaction has a lot of potential.

    But I'd expect balancing the game so that all players can feel like they had meaningful contributions throughout the run to be crazy hard..

    Hope you'll find a way to pull it off.

  12. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga96muc) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    It is always intresting to have VR multiplayer games that do not require all players to have a vr headset. I think your approach could be intresting.

    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    I personally dont like the way the god has to communicate with the other players. I would probably prefer voice, but that could be to strong.

    Your artstyle also probably is not the best in VR. (when its mostly dark and has bright elements) because the lens (atleast the VIVE, im not sure about the oculus ) adds some annoying effect to it. I think its called lens glare but im not sure.

    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    I would like to have pointers or other things for the god to use to show the players where to go. And for the players probably a firework to get attention.

    EDIT: wouldnt it be intresting to have a "bad" god?. So the VR player could controll the enemies / trapps ,... in the dungeon while the players have to fight the god together?

  13. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga38way) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    The setting sounds cool. The gameplay also sounds very interesting, and quite unique with the game master being part of the team and not an opponent.


    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    I think the balancing between the "normal" players and the game master needs to be done quite well. It might help to very clearly define which player (Normal Guy/Game Master) can take over which gameplay role (Dealing Damage, Healing, Guidance through the Level, Resource Collection, etc...)


    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    Maybe an element that the Game Master does not know about, for example some "cloaked" enemies that are invisible to the game master, so that that player also has some uncertainty in their strategy and also has to rely on some communication from the other players. Could also lead to some funny moments where a good game master saves someone without seeing the danger, or completely screwing up and wasting some powers because their assumption was wrong.

  14. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga97fek) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    Asymmetric coop. Communication via gestures/animations.


    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    How is the VR gameplay-wise any different from giving the god player a normal screen?


    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    "Crawlers need to cooperate" -> Maybe go for the holy trinity (healer, dd, tank)?

    Everything else, like coop as in Trine, might be really hard to implement.

    Also "fighting and gather loot" sounds simple, but is really much work to implement in a satisfying way.

  15. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga46jos) sagt:

    1.What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    Obviously the VR part. It's a new kind of interaction with the characters which offers a huge amount of space to include ordinary ideas. 

    2.What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    I hope the player has many tasks to do so it doesnt get boring just looking down at the map and waiting for something to happen.

  16. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga92win) sagt:

    I like the idea of having a master which helps the players, it is also very challenging and I hope you find a good balance.

    Also I think you should focus more on the game play with the master and the players and less on VR or dungeon generation. If you really want to implement all you mentioned, I think you will get loss in work. So the VR is a nice idear but i would make it optional for the last step. The game play should work without it.

    To improve the game, I would allow all players (include the master) to communicate with voice. For me it's more fun if you hear the reaction of other players and to communicate how to defeat an enemy. You might be need to make the enemies harder but I think that is fine.

  17. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga34mek) sagt:

    1. What is your favorite aspect of the proposed game? Why?

    The idea of the dungeon master is really interesting, because he can help the group in an original way.


    2. What is your least favorite aspect? Why?

    It could be really fun if executed well, but VR could also possibly limit the players fun, because of the possible imprecise controls. It depends strongly on how you implement it.


    3. Which single change or addition would you suggest to most improve the game?

    As it was mentioned before, your project could be too ambitious in the given time frame. Maybe you should shift some things like the procedural generated maps to the high target and extras.

  18. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga25yoy) sagt:

    I really like your game idea. However like some comments before more mentioned already, you should maybe first focus on a simplified game because your game seems time consuming to develop.

    Some stuff to think about:

    I really like the idea of the dungeon master and the crawlers working together or rather the dungeon master supporting the crawlers. However the game should be harder than diablo then, of course. Because otherwise with the additional help of the dungeon master this could get too easy and therefore boring for everyone. Maybe at some point in the map always make some kind of room outside the walls where there are just infinite enemies, so the navigation of the dungeon master is always necessary.


    Considering the dungeon master specifically, there is the risk that it is either too boring to play him, or if he is too powerful everybody wants to play him. The decision of the player should depend on the person he is. So maybe some kind of leadership or strategical quality is necessary for the person to feel like playing the VR god and somebody else who needs more action when playing the game just wants to be in the battle as a crawler.

  19. Unbekannter Benutzer (ga54tov) sagt:

    I think the asymmetrical co-op idea is pretty cool. Personally I'd think a more puzzly gameplay would be nice where the perspectives would play a role, but since you're going for combat, I'd suggest a more simple combat system and focusing more on the interaction between the god player and the crawlers.