4MB Interactive Ltd.

Category: Devblog

  • Undead Blackout: Reanimated Edition Has Launched On Steam

    Undead Blackout: Reanimated Edition Has Launched On Steam

    The definitive version (for now)

    After twelve months of dicking around and wasting time on boring “actual life stuff”, finally I have had the time to actually get Undead Blackout to the point I would like it to be at. This means I have rushed it onto Steam in time for the Summer Sale and while it still needs a little work the main thing is that the all-new and improved version of the game has arrived.

    REIMAGINED. REBOOTED.

    The game has been rebuilt from the ground up, many assets have of course been carried over but large chunks of the game are brand new. For all intents and purposes it is a ‘new’ game. Much closer to the kind of thing I was vaguely imagining like a million years ago.

    The game has been built using the latest version of Unreal Engine 4 (4.22.3 if you were wondering) and with this comes loads of improvements without me really having to do anything at all. The game runs smoother and faster. Alongside these built in improvements I have actually done a bit of work myself and many of the systems in the game are better optimised as are the levels themselves. Built in a much better way, they require less memory than before and shall be optimised even further in due course.

    The levels themselves, while a few are set in similar environments, have been totally changed. Gone are the three fairly open areas in which you had to hunt a key and in their place are various “Blackout Zones” and paths connecting them. The Blackout Zones now form the core part of the gameplay. Areas that player finds themselves trapped in and can only escape by powering up a big old metal door. Naturally of course, these areas are teeming with zombies so you have to balance powering the door up with taking them out or running away from them.These are the only areas of the game now in total darkness, everywhere else has a bit of moonlight or a fire or something to help you.

    The game is much more “arcadey” now. Zombies drop ammo, score boosts and health. You increase your multiplier by killing them and lose it once they successfully attack you. I was caught a little between trying to be a top-down Resident Evil and just a twin-stick shooter previously and it left the game worse off. Now we are purely arcade with the whole twist of it being pretty damn dark.

    The zombies are a lot dumber. This might come as a shock to you but the AI in the earlier version was actually pretty decent. Zombies would wander around and react to you running past or investigate gunshots. The problem was that this was actually no fun. A lot of the time they just wandered straight past you while in the next room.

    So now they are dumb. They just head straight for you. Can smell you a mile off or something. This might be less “realistic” but it is loads more fun. Provided you like shooting zombies.

    The other major difference is that the melee weapons are gone. I loved the idea of having melee weapons, but again, it just wasn’t that fun. You could spend ages looking for a gun and getting annoyed that you died so the decision was made to scrap the axe and give players a pistol by default. A pistol with infinite ammo.

    There are still Assault Rifles and Shotguns dotted about but you will at least be able to fend off the Undead with your trust pistol should you feel the urge. It has made the game more fun, more fast paced and actually more skill based seeing as you can one-shot kill the zombies when using the Aiming mode.

    2.1 AND BEYOND

    The game then is at a point I can say I don’t hate it. Absolutely I have pushed the update before it is 100% ready but I wanted to make the most of the sale so version 2.1 is not going to be far behind.

    There will be a lot of quality of life updates, nice little animations added in here and there. Some of the levels also look a little barren so I will be making them much more interesting. And of course, a whole load of bugs will be getting smashed to death.

    I am looking to get version 2.1 out in July at some point while 2.2, which is going to feature a funky new mode, will arrive in August.

  • It Is Almost Time For Omvorm

    It Is Almost Time For Omvorm

    You are not ready. You could never be ready.

    Remember our little Unreal Engine Spring Jam entry that is coming to Nintendo Switch? Omvorm? Well, it is very nearly ready. But you guessed that from the title. It has taken a little under a month for me to spruce it up. New modes have been added. Tweaks have been made to the speed of the game. All in all, it is a massive improvement over what was already a fun game.

    Currently, I am finishing up all the various tasks required before the game can be submitted to Nintendo. With any luck I can get that sorted this week or next, then it will be down to them to check there is nothing catastrophically wrong. I expect there will be some weird thing I need to fix so won’t guess at a release date just yet.

    Working with the Switch has been great fun. I think Unreal Engine makes this process so much easier with the ability to easily switch off effects or processes that could cause a drop in FPS. Getting good performance in both handheld and docked mode was a little challenging but got there in the end. A steep learning curve certainly but being able to playtest the game on the bus is just the best.

    Overall the development of this game has been markedly smoother than the previous three. No surprise really given I massively underestimated the work they needed. Galactic Defence Squadron is maybe the exception in terms of the ambition of the project. However, with that one, I got hugely stuck on some technical aspects which just wasn’t fun.

    Starting with the small Game Jam project then moving into proper development has been great. I had spoken earlier this year about the desire to create small, experimental projects alongside the bigger more ambitious titles and perhaps this is the way to do it. Enter some game jams throughout the year then take those ideas and develop them further if they seem to warrant it. If not, I am sure that the experience will prove valuable in its own right.

    Shifting Shapes

    What then has really changed between the hastily smashed together Shape Shift and Omvorm? In truth, not a huge amount but also in another way, everything has changed. At a quick glance, you might not think too much. In actual fact, there have been a whole host of changes, many under the hood.

    Changes for 1.0.0

    • Omvorm has been giving a huge amount of polish in preparation for release on Nintendo Switch and proper release on PC via the Itch.io store.
    • All new Blitz Mode. Quick challenges of 1,2 or 3 minutes to try and get as high a score as possible. The Vormwall starts at a much greater speed. Ideal for quick bursts of play.
    • All new Two-Player mode! Take on your opponent in Marathon Mode to see who can survive the longest and score the most points. Or battle it out in Blitz Mode, you and your opponent against the clock to get the most points.
    • New Power-Ups! All new PowerDown will take away points should you collect it or speed up your wall. While PowerSwap (only in 2player modes) will take points from your opponent or speed up their wall.
    • Power Up’s increased in size, again to make them easier to see.
    • Fixed an issue where power-ups could keep spawning even after the player has stopped playing.
      All new voiceover! Actress Lia Albers has kindly lent her voice to our in-game update robot lady. LEVEL UP!
    • Player now starts with one life in order to give them a bit more of a chance. Was a bit annoying otherwise?
    • Controls have been tweaked and fine-tuned, the shape change and player positioning are more responsive.
    • Multiple colour themes added to the level. The Player has the choice between red, white, blue, and pink. Blue is the best.
    • The Vormtunnel has been given a makeover and now looks amazing with new textures on the walls.
    • The lane that the Vorm appears in now lights up to make it easier for the player to navigate to the right space.
    • Vibration has been added when playing with a gamepad.
    • New Shape! The Cylinder is gone and a Diamond has replaced it. This is easier to see from a distance. This was less an issue when playing on a TV and more for multiplayer games in Switch Tabletop mode.
    • Removed the function where Vorms would occasionally change their colour once you got past level 10. The idea was to trick you with a Blue triangle but it was actually just really crap and annoying.
    • Level meshes have been replaced with BluePrint meshes to allow for easy dynamic colour changes mid-game. This results in the white lines on the wall flashing when the player speeds the Vormwall toward them.
    • Max Speed added to the Vormwalls. Previously they would keep increasing in speed forever, now they hit a top speed (which is really flippin’ quick) and will maintain that. They can go over this speed should you collect a PowerDown but will then revert to the max speed once you go up a level.
    • Wall Speed increases at an equal rate (+2.5 per level). Previously it was 1.25x the current wall speed.
    • Starting wall speed is now higher at 5 over the previous 2.5
    • The Main Menu has been totally redesigned. Scores are now in their own section while Options allows the player to change colours and delete local scores.
    • A tutorial section has been added to the main menu.
    • Pause Menu redesigned so that you can quit out to the Main Menu.
    • UI has been repositioned so it doesn’t go off the screen on some larger monitors or TV’s
    • Delay in the Try Again and Main Menu buttons appearing on the Game Over HUD to stop players accidentally restarting before seeing their score and entering their name.

    That’s it for now. But there are plenty of other changes I would love to bring to the game, but it very much depends on how well it does. Should it prove moderately successful then I will look at bringing in Online Leaderboards on Nintendo Switch as well as look into the possibility of a 4-player mode. Something I think could be really cool but not sure how well it would work on a smaller screen.

    That’s all in the future, right now it is about getting Omvorm over the finish line and then getting back to work on Undead Blackout. Will drop one more Omvorm update once the release date is set in stone, a date that hopefully won’t be too far away.

  • Menu’s, Highscores and Other Super Boring Undead Blackout Tasks

    Menu’s, Highscores and Other Super Boring Undead Blackout Tasks

    Menus are hard

    Our previous blog some 7 days ago was all about how we are moving into the Alpha build of Undead Blackout. The basic blocks were there but now literally everything else needed adding in. Well, the good news is that this process is almost done! Huzzah! Drinks all round.

    The best thing about this phase of development is that you stop working on fun things like shooting and running and dying and instead work on… menus. Save Game systems. Game statistics. Other things that are really useful but oh so very dull to actually work on.

    However, all these things are so incredibly important. If you cannot navigate the menu with a pad then Xbox are not going to be happy. If the scores don’t save properly then that is just rubbish. The difference this time is that I am working on these things now and not leaving them all until last. All the nice visual stuff and animations are coming later. The bones of the game need to be firmly in place first.

    So our main menu works with a pad. There are sections for high scores per level and overall stats. All those stats and scores are updating and saving correctly. What else have I been working on over the past week?

    Rock Out With Your Block Out

    Originally I was planning on getting one level blocked out, then working on all the other things before moving onto any other level work. However, I totally didn’t do that at all. I got into the flow with blocking out the levels and so I managed to block out all ten. My desire was to properly design each level but given I am working in this funky new “circular design” way, I resisted.

    Previously I have spent ages on the level design way too early in the whole process. I spent hours trying to get a ceiling tile material to look right when zombie AI was still not working properly. This is dumb and you should not do it.

    But all ten levels are mapped out and have the relevant triggers in the relevant places. Essentially the game then is very, very nearly “done”. You could play from level one to level ten, record high scores, kills loads of zombies, and finish the game. Although nothing would happen when you finish the game as I have not designed that yet.

    That has actually been an incredibly ponderous task to complete, moving around the various triggers and making sure the BluePrints are all linked up correctly so that TriggerVolume7 correctly sets BlackoutBlocker4 to move and not accidentally BlackoutBlocker5. But game development is definitely not all fun, exciting explodey things. It is a lot of tedious stuff that in the end is 100% worth it.

    Looking toward a Beta future

    I have to finish getting the menu working 100%. Currently, the Pause Menu doesn’t work at all with a gamepad. Once that is done there will be a thorough playtest on both PC and Xbox One.

    In theory, everything should work fine. The mechanics behind each level are the same, just in different places. It is all working on the main level where I am testing so the others should also be fine. But a proper test will find out the truth of that.

    If I can complete each level without too much hassle then Undead Blackout will be ready to move into Beta. This is the time when I can spend hours on ceiling tile materials. Obviously not the most useful visual feature in a top-down game but whatever.

    The list of tasks I have for this portion is filled with little visual flourishes and ideas. Of course, it also has things like “Actually build the level so it isn’t a crapload of white blocks”. An important task I am sure you can agree. However, I do see the appeal of games that go for a very clean, sterile environment as part of their visual style. Maybe I can do that next time.

  • Undead Blackout Is Not Totally Dead Just Yet

    Undead Blackout Is Not Totally Dead Just Yet

    Is it Undead though?

    It is safe to say that Undead Blackout has not been a huge success and this should come as no surprise to anyone at all, least of all me. When the game first released on February 3rd, 2017, I was exhausted and the game was an unfinished mess. It sold a few copies but not enough for the gold-plated Lamborghini I crave and I had to settle for a gold-plated Vauxhall Corsa.

    The game was then given a massive update that landed just before Christmas and while this improved and fixed so many elements, it still hasn’t reached a level where I am happy enough to let it go. Crucially the game is slated to release on Xbox One through the ID@Xbox program but it just does not work on Xbox One. Not ideal really.

    Part of me wants to just let it go and move on, another part of me wants to go back to the drawing board (for like the tenth time) and get it right. So guess which part has won this internal battle? That’s right, Undead Blackout has gone back to the now battered drawing board for one final time. 

    Over the past month or so I have been putting together an all-new version of the game which is currently sitting in a pre-alpha stage, ready to move into alpha. That is to say, the mechanics are all present but there is only one crappy level and the whole thing looks ugly as sin. Crucially it is working absolutely perfectly on the Xbox One dev kit.

    Every element of the game is going to be improved upon but perhaps where the biggest change will be seen is in the design of the levels. The existing levels were quite open in many instances and this led to a lot of wandering around looking for keys and ammo and often completely failing to find either. Also given the zombies had their own AI-powered wandering you could often fail to run into them altogether.

    The new levels will be a lot more focused. I am not completely ditching the open aspects in favour of some crappy top-down corridor shooter, instead, the levels will adopt a more even flow, taking the player through some narrower sections before opening out into a larger area and so on. The current plan is for 10 new levels, many of which will be based on existing level themes while a couple will be all new areas.

    The gameplay is heading in a much more arcadey direction, the slight “top-down Resident Evil” vibe is very much gone and this is much more toward the Smash TV x Left4Dead end of the spectrum. Even in the exceptionally basic test arena I currently have working, the game is arguably already more fun due to the increase in action.

    Many other parts of the game will be thoroughly polished and improved upon and I won’t bother listing them here as that is just boring but shall detail them as we go through this rebuild process. I am hoping for weekly dev blogs and lots of updates on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

    One final super important point (especially if you are thinking about buying the game), I fully expect that once the game has been massively improved and the amount of content has increased that I will push the price up from $3.99 to $4.99. Not a huge increase of course but still, if you want to save yourself a small amount of money then grab the game now.