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Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/18

Now that the tutorial is finished, I need to get back to work on the campaign interstitial menu for todays Bloodborne Kart dev post as that's what's loaded after said tutorial is completed!

The first thing I did was make the main interstitial menu right justified, as all the new features (like the 'next level' text box and the 'replay level' button) made it start to obscure the art in the background

I also worked on the level up screen, which is similar to the level up screen in B...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/17

Did a lot more work on the tutorial for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!  I further expanded the messenger trio note system and introduced jumps, tricks, power ups, blood echoes and more!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/16

Working on the tutorial for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

On top of making an endless stretch of road that uses smoke and mirrors to seamlessly teleport the kart back to the start whenever the player enters the tunnel, I also overhauled the messenger note system to allow for longer strings of text which now supports button prompts!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/15

Worked on the opening of Bloodborne Kart's campaign for todays dev post! The number of variables that need to be set when a new game is started is so small that a whole menu was overkill & I really liked the idea of the messenger trio being a framing device for the entire game.

After this sequence, the game will load into the tutorial and then the campaign is officially started!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/14

Working on the campaign mode for today's Bloodborne PSX dev post!

On top of the load game menu (which tracks progression by number of matchers played, instead of level like the original game as that doesn't really exist in kart), I also made the new game function that will start the introduction to the campaign, which currently is the beginnings of a conversation with the messenger trio.

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/12

Working on the save system for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

The new save system is based on the save system made for Bloodborne PSX, but with some fixes and improvements to the backend to make it easier to manage. I also had to change the save files contents as the data that's saved in Kart is different compared to PSX

Now that the save system is integrated however, I can now work on the progression system! As the player goes through the campaign they unlock karts, weapons an...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/11

Finally, finally starting campaign mode for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!! It will be very simple, as is to be expected for a kart racer, with plot conveyed via an interstitial card that displays text over an image between races.

Once that is complete (or if the players skips it), it will then transition to a menu where the player can change their kart / weapon, as well as upgrade their stats and save their progress.

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/10

Doing some split screen bug fixes for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

Part 1: I made the kart arrows display the player number if the racer associated with the arrow is player controlled. Prioritizing players over AI is common in multiplayer so I wanted there to be an easy way to differentiate players from AI.

Part 2: The piercing rifle scope zoom broke the camera when used in split screen, this is now fixed!

Part 3: There was an issue where only 1 engine sound could play ...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/7

Completely redid how racer arrows work in todays Bloodborne Kart dev post!

First off, arrows are now 50% smaller as too many of them obscure the actual game. On top of that, there are now red arrows for enemy racers, but they are only visible when racers are within lock-on range!

Speaking of lock-on, the red racer arrow will revert back to its larger size when the enemy associated with said arrow is locked-on to further make the enemy stand out.

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/6

Big update for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post, where I finish up the Plague game type (formerly known as Infection)!

On top of getting the scoring and win / lost state systems up and running, I also added announcer hits to help players get a read on the current state of the match.

Speaking of readability, I also added a purple poison mist to infected players to create a visual distinction between the two teams, which I feel is important for an asymmetrical game type.

I als...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/5

Working on the new Infection game type for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post! This game type necessitates a function that switches players to a new team mid match, so I went ahead and wrote it.

With this new function, I was able to get the fundamentals down for this game type where players will switch from red team to the "infected" blue team on death!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/4

Finally got split screen working in battle mode for todays Bloodborne Kart dev post! There were a lot of developer oversights when it came to calculating teams (as AI and Player team data is stored in separate arrays) but it's all fixed up and running now!

I also made a lot of changes to the UI that's exclusive to battle mode, so assets are legible in split screen (mostly making the scoring systems bigger so players dont have to squint to read the numbers)

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/3

Working on battle mode multi-racer select for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

It's similar to races, but there is an added complexity of assigning each player to a different team, so I went ahead and implemented that to both player and AI selection screens. Assigning a team color to AI is a bit cumbersome, but I think that it's acceptable for a niche function that not a lot of players would use.

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/2

Took a lot of work, but finally got multi-racer selection up and running, meaning that we now finally have a first playable of split screen!

The way UE4 is set up makes it difficult to spawn multiple players that are all focused on a single racer select widget, so this easier split screen approach will suffice

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/3/1

Updating the character select screen in preparation for split screen for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

The new selection screen is a single horizontal row of characters that scrolls infinitely. This not only makes it easier to add characters, but it also makes it so players with a single axis controller (like a steering wheel) can use it.

It also frees up space for properly displaying the racer and their kart in the background. I want to add 'I'm picked, yay!' animations when ...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/27

Doing more splitscreen work for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post! This time I worked on 3 player splitscreen, where the first player is at an 8:3 ratio, while players 2 and 3 are at the normal 4:3 ratio (excuse my terrible driving 😅)

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/26

Working on something exciting for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post: multiplayer! Right now it's local only, but later I'll be trying my darndest to get online in as well at a later date.

Part 1: Here is a demo of 4 player split screen (excuse the clumsiness of my trying to operate two controllers at once 😛) I had to change the UI a bit to keep things readable at half the resolution

Part 2: And here is a demo of 2 player split screen, which has a wider FOV and UI to match!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/21

Making further progress on the main menu racer spread for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post! Still have to tweak the visuals a bit but it's looking and sounding really good so far!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/20

Animated the main menu racer spread that will display under the title screen for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post! Took a lot of work but I'm really happy with the result. Check it out!

Next time I'll get it up and running in engine! Can't wait 😁

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/19

Working on arcade mode for some reason for today's Bloodborne Kart dev thread!

Added a simple switch in the game instance that will alter the game in certain ways, primarily simplifying menu navigation significantly.

I also added a 'random' option in the racer select, mostly so I can have the selection screen have an even 8 options 😛

On top of this, I also smoothed out the UX a bit by adding a proper loading screen with the controls visible and re-activating the ...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/17

Hey everyone, finishing up the Messenger racer for todays Bloodborne Kart dev post!

Finished up the remaining animations that were needed (small things like the backup animation and the death animation), added their floor fog particles, and integrated them into the racer select screen!

Check out a race with them as a demonstration!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/15

Hey everyone, doing more power up animations for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

Did anim sets for all the consumables and held firearms today. This is actually the only racer so far where they reload the lever action shotgun 'correctly' and not spinning it one handed terminator 2 style as I felt that would be out of the messengers capabilities do to their small stature.

I also based the firearm hold animation on the messenger who grants the pistol in the original game, where th...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/11

You can finally honk in Bloodborne Kart!!

I needed to move 'show score' to the same button as pause and made it a 'hold to show score and tap to pause' function so I could free up the triangle button for horn. That was as good excuse as any to finally make the pause screen, so I went ahead and did it.

The pause screen also shows the controls for the game which I felt should be easily accessible information due to the arcade nature of it. Had a lot of fun drawing the pixel art cont...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/10

Working on the new Messenger Trio racer for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

Didn't want to make a trailer as I felt like I've been going a bit overboard with em recently (& they take time away from dev) so let's do a normal low-key post, starting with the base driving and drifting animations, as well as the melee weapon anim set!

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/9

Doing more announcer hits for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

Part 1: Did multikill support that operates under the same rules as Halo (gett a kill 4 seconds after a previous one to register)

Part 2: Made a 'trick shot' hit that displays when a racer takes out an enemy while doing a trick in the air with the piercing rifle

Part 3: Made eliminations of teams in the Last Hunter Standing game type get announcer hits as well.

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/7

Did a lot of Last Hunter Standing game type polish for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

Made announcer hits trigger during high stress moments in this game mode, like displaying "last enemy" when there is one remaning racer on the opposite team which will transition the music to the 'final lap' variant as well.

Also updated the racer arrow UI elements. The arrow will stop displaying when the racer in question is dead and will also display a red arrow on the last enemy racer to ke...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/6

Started working on elimination mode for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post, called Last Hunter Standing! It's a simple 'no respawns' game mode where the goal is to survive long enough to take out the entire enemy team.

For this game type I made the scoring system count the number of spawned racers and detracts points on player death, effectively turning it into a lives counter, which is useful information to know in an elimination match. The system will look at this scoring system and wi...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/5

Finished up attract mode for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!

Part 1: When start is pressed during attract mode, it will do the expected UX of playing the title read, zooming the camera in slightly and fading down before loading the main menu in a newly made 'skip logos, titles, and start prompts' mode

Part 2: Now that this mode for the main menu has been created, I can now properly load said main menu after a match has been completed.

Part 3: Had some extra time so I decid...

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/4

Worked on the attract mode for today's Bloodborne Kart dev thread! When the main menu music finishes, the game will load a race in attract mode, which will display the title splash instead of the normal UI and also spawn an AI that will drive the player kart.

Bloodborne Kart dev update 2023/2/3

Wrapping up the Yharnam Sewer Circuit for today's Bloodborne Kart dev post!  I created the minimap, and also integrated the track into the main menu free play selection screen, meaning that the track is now in a shippable state!