Hi all!

So for the last 12 months I have been working on an early PSX mid 90's survival horror project, or to put it simply a resident evil clone. I started using ORK (which is actually brilliant for making early survival horror games!!!), but that ended up being way to overkill for what I actually needed. So 6 months in I switched over too Makinom and custom C# code, and oh boy, have I head a few headaches over these last few months. Now, I would feel the headaches would be non existent if I kept too a single player project (as this being my first actual public release)...But...I decided too Network it all using UNET (Both LAN + MatchMaking) Anyway, I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel as the project nears its end! :)

So to cut it short...I have created a Prerendered (But not limited too), Multiplayer, mid 90's Survival Horror project template, that has slowly progressed over the last few months (from about 20 different scrapped projects) into a full game. :)

Here is a video I posted 2 months ago demo'ing the basic's of "Room switching", synced sounds, footsteps, gun shooting, basic character select and basic inventory system.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6wpaQICYFXQ

I will have another video up at the end of the week with basic AI (can hunt/target all connected players within range, animations, health, basic attack all networked etc.

Characters are currently place holders, Honestly, will probably try and source a modeller/animator for the enemies as I want to get this as close as early psx as possible)

Below I leave you with a few prerendered backgrounds (Everything made in Unity)!

Thanks!

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  • This looks really cool - the video has this nice RE1 vibe to it :D
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  • the backgrounds look great, very atmospheric

    i remember playing the early resident evil games and wishing that they'd been set in full 3d environments, but in many ways having just static scenes added to the overall atmosphere of unease


    anyhoo, good luck with the game when you finally release it. i'd like to do a multiplayer some day, but i find it hard enough just getting a single player game up and working. maybe next year...
  • @gamingislove Thanks very much! I'm aiming for a Resi 2/3 sorta feel mostly, I loved the police station/streets! I will finish the mansion map too though for those nostalgia feels (Bonus map!) :D

    @HarryOminous See, I recently played Resident Evil Outbreak, and that's what made me start this project, but ugh the police station level in 3D, not cool. Resi 1/2/3 are my most memorable games, In fact same with final fantasy 7/8 they stick with me due to the epic backgrounds...I know PC/Consoles can handle it in 3D now but, just doesnt have the same feeling.

    Also regarding prerendered backgrounds you can actually have dynamic camera's, Not just limited to fixed angles, for instance final fantasy 7, parasite eve 1, Blade Runner and top down games. But fixed are much better for horror games.
    Main reason for prerendering though is I can port this too any device, phone, tablet, without worrying about any performance drops. (The images above average between 2million - 15million tris, verts and 1000-3000 batches in 3d with shadows. Prerendered = 500-2000tris and 1 batch for the background!

    Thanks again though! I will keep this thread updated! Honestly any part of game dev is hard. Especially if you have to do everything yourself, even with every asset in the world its still hard, thankfully some tools make life a lot easier though! Just keep at it everyone! :)

    P.S

    Below is a Scene view image just showing kind of how prerendering can work, Multiple ways of doing it! Any questions regarding prerendering (Fixed, Dynamic, top down etc), just ask (Its actually quite easy!)

    ORK + Prerendered backgrounds = Win!?

    Thanks again!

    image




  • Prerendered backgrounds are king! KING!
  • Sweet! Good luck with your release, what platforms were you thinking of releasing on?
  • @Griffin Haha! They are indeed...Although can be an absolute nightmare to work with sometimes!

    @stuart Thanks very much! First release will be Android (with a small pc release along side it) all released as Alpha for the time being, Depending on interest other platforms may follow.

    Few updates (performance):

    I was originally instantiating bullets then destroying (not good!), Have now switched non projectile guns (melee, pistol, rifles) to raycast, All projectile guns (shotgun, grenade launcher) are now Networked pooled.

    Inventory improved (Equip/Use, Check Item, Drop, Give),

    Debug Menu added/Cheat menu (More for testing reference, eg Room change/Reset player/Add inventory items/God mode etc).

    Basic Chat feature.

    Should have larger update/early demo release soon. I have had too drastically change my work flow in level building, to make life a lot easier in the unity editor, so currently the whole project is split open on the operating table! Slowly being stitched back together! :D

  • It's so great to see other developers working on pre-rendered games as well. Let the PSX/N64 throwback era begin!

    So how are you handling pre-rendered objects in the foreground (that the character can walk behind)? I'm guessing you're taking the depth data of the renders and applying that to simplified versions of the original 3D objects in a depth buffer only shader?

    If all of that sounded like nonsense or if this has been a problem you're running into, I can point you to some useful tutorials.

    Also, we should keep in touch. I'm sure we're both going to be running into issues that most of the internet doesn't have answers for since pre-rendered games are an untapped indie market.
  • @braytendo For sure!

    Yep that's it! Just a masking material on foreground objects which is just the DepthMask shader wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=DepthMask. The map is one large scene, so each room is surrounded by a large masking box too, So can't see other players/enemies/3d objects. 2 Camera's one for the bg images, and one for the 3d scene. It's a real basic way of doing it, But works and gets the job done. I do everything in Unity, build high poly scene, render in unity etc!

    I had a few experiments with dynamic prerendered camera's too, for instance, Parasite eve/Final fantasy 7/8 with good success (Just not fitting for a horror).

    One method I really would love to know how to do would be Blade Runner (PC point and click game), Dynamic camera's, I think its just clever camera tricks/pre rendered video though.

    And yes most definitely keep in touch! Prerendered would be ideal for ORK!!! In fact, Indie in general...In all honesty though, It died out for a reason, Tech these days can run insane stuff, but yea info on the internet is lacking for prerendering...Well we are kind of 20+ years late for this technology though :D

  • Hi all!

    So after numerous cancellations of the project. Huge progress has been made and a stable alpha v0.1 release is due this week.

    Below is just a quick tester video of the very basic Android mechanic's. Still a few bugs to iron out and to be honest a fairly long road ahead (estimated completion time 12 months), But I now have the basic template done I can now slowly upgrade over time!

    Current build is in 3D environment, Final version will be prerendered.

    PC version will greatly differ from the android version in terms of upgraded gameplay/gfx and general mechanics overall.

    Video demo's basic AI and AI sync, Synced health, Shoot mechanic, item/door interact. Random zombie spawn, random item placement. Zombies can now roam freely through doors and into rooms across the map!

    I will update with a link to the build in the next few days!

    Thanks!



  • Looking great, really takes me back to the good old days of classic survival horror games :)
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  • That looks fun, I like how the first zombie seems very determined to eat you!
  • This looks awesome! I'm actually bringing back my RPG project into Unity/ORK since I'm doing pre-rendered backgrounds for it (a la FF7-9). This has been majorly inspiring to read about and look at. I'll make sure to post some of my progress. Thanks for showing this off and keep up the great work!
  • Haha thanks all!

    Well I actually put out a small android app but decided to pull it from the store as I was rushing the build. I have now fully converted it to a 3D environment and changed to PC and mobile platform. However...

    Huge progress...

    I completely tore apart the project and decided to write most the code in c# just to see if I could haha. I am now just using Makinom as a beast camera rig set up, background music and a save system for single player down the line.

    Updates:

    - Fully UNET synced new UI inventory system. Players can equip/check/combine/ and drop items across the network with the values remaining the same eg, Ammo, item quantity etc.
    - IK Auto aim (silent hill style eg lock on target, rotate around)
    - IK Head look (Look at Items/Enemys nearby)
    - Manual Aim (Fixed aiming with up and down aiming, eg early Resident Evils)
    - Direction Joystick and Tank controls on the fly (Camera relative joystick, Dpad tank controls)
    - Dynamic cameras (Camera Look at, On rails, fly by)
    - Improved zombie AI (Zombies will fall after certain amount of shots, wait a random time and get up again until death)
    - Added 4 player support
    - In progress...Team computer controlled AI.

    Quick video below demo'ing inventory system across network!





    Hoping for a pc demo/alpha release end of October and android to follow!

    Thanks!







  • Looks very promising
  • edited December 2017
    Love the pre-rendered backgrounds, can't wait to see them back! Project seems really fun, will definitely keep an eye on it.
    Post edited by Minos on
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