Month two and going strong
Managing nights and sacrificing game time seemed like a breeze this past month. As things change within my day to day work environment, working on a personal project becomes more of a much needed "getaway" creative and technical zone. Thanks to that, My commitment to this project has increased exponentially month over month.
While there were many things worked on in May, My focus has been three main areas; item pickup and regeneration for ammo and armor, implementing a weapons system with the rocket launcher, and replacing the stand in Roblox Flags with the traditional Weapons Factory Red and Blue Flags.
Item Pickup and Regeneration
Last month rotating items for ammo packs and armor in the spawn room showed up in the video update, but it did not react to the player picking it up. Here, you'll see picking up ammo packs and armor with sound and particle FX matching the latest known Q2WF gameplay.
What is a spawn room? A spawn room is a safe place (typically with spawn music) where players of the same team spawn at the start of a map before game start, or after death to regain momentum.
Why pickup ammo packs and armor? To maximize your health, armor and ammo points before jumping out into the battle. The spawn room is often accessible in strategic location on the map within your teams color side via doors or portals. This video doesn't show the HUD (Heads Up Display), where you'd want to see these points visible. We'll save that for the June update, however I did spend the time to make sure this functionality works. I've provided a print out from the Roblox output window for 4 ammo pack pick ups.
These numbers match what occurs in Quake 2 Weapons Factory, including Armor type with Heavy (Red) vs Light (Yellow) armor.
Custom Weapon System and the Rocket Launcher
Let's face it, the weapons in Q2WF really help define each class within this FPS genre that is so iconic. As mentioned back in January, My first goal is to bring the Marine class to life with the the Rocket Launcher. I hope I've captured the nostalgic feel, with some addition to the reaction of the weapon when players run, jump and grapple around.
What is the custom weapon system?
Inspired by Q2WF, each class has a config file that defines everything about them. In the Roblox context, this means when a player.Character is loaded based on the selected class, the system will load the appropriate configuration data for that class and dynamically populate the player equipment.
Of course this system wouldn't work without a strict convention and structure for each item. Here is an example of the rocket launcher.
While this isn't configurable by a player and is driven by the server, this system allows the developer to define configuration files for all 10 classes in weapons factory, or N number of classes in the future.
Rocket Hit Explosions
There are a couple variations of explosions that come from rockets in Quake 2. I've captured all three and randomized the visuals on each rocket hit event. However, there is one specific explosion visual that will never happen unless it hits the floor. Can you guess which one?
For those interested in how I approached this, I first tagged all floor mesh with a Boolean attribute called is_floor set to true. Once a rocket hits, the server fires an event to all clients. Here I defined two tables to get the visual index from. Based on the is_floor attribute of the touched object, it allows or disallows that specific visual to fire off.
This is also where we fire off the animated images bindable event that kicks off from another script.
The Weapons Factory Flag
Here it is. The authentic Red and Blue flag from Quake 2 Weapons Factory, brings forth the nostalgic feeling of wanting to steal and capture the flag. It's captivating stand animation breathes life into cherished memories, offering a new beginning on a beloved relic from a classic era of gaming.
Click the the left and right arrows to slide from one to the other.
Other Visual Improvements
Updated grapple rope aesthetic upon launching, hooking and pulling
Grapple hook sparks when attaching to an object
Portal particles are no longer stars, they are round and more accurate to q2wf.
Weapon shifts slightly while running
Flash screen slightly when picking up items
Next months focus
For Quake 2 Weapons Factory in Roblox
Add User Interface Heads Up Display ( HUD ) hooked up to Current Weapon, Health, Armor, and Ammo.
Ensure other clients see weapon visuals with proper server validation
Add the full weapon set for the Marine including Blaster, Shotgun, and Hyperblaster
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