[WIP] Maker From Below - [APK included]

[MimicryGames]

-------------------------------========= DOWNLOAD THE APK =========-------------------------------

Hi everyone!

My name is Thomas Papa, I'm a game developer from the Netherlands, operating under the name of Mimicry Games. I've worked on a bunch of VR projects before (which you can view on my website) and now I'm taking part in this jam!

I'm making a game called Maker From Below, a cooperative multiplayer first-person action game set in a science fiction desert environment. You play either as a smuggler or a sandworm.
Sandworms have the ability to see underground, similar to being underwater and being able to look up at the surface, but in a stylised way. This "sandvision" also visualises vibrations on the surface. Smugglers have the goal to cross the desert and make it to the other town. Sandworms have the goal to stop the smugglers and snatch them from the surface. The game is inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune and the Left 4 Dead series.

I'm working in UE4, which I am familiar with. Nailing down the VR mechanics for both the worm and the smugglers is a massive challenge. Mobile multiplayer is also quite new for me, so that's definitely a big challenge as well 🙂 Bear with me! I'll try to update my struggles and progress with screenshots and, at some point, videos as well.

Here's a piece of concept art visualising the core game elements in cross section. View on imgur.
2D_Cross_Section_Maker_From_Below.jpg
The desert sky is populated by wormbirds. Like vultures, these birds feed of off the remains of the sandworm’s prey. The birds have a special ability to see and track worms below the surface. This enables the smugglers to track the worms locations.

Since the start of the jam I've been keeping a little dev log on a tumblr, check it out if you want to know a bit more about the progress so far. I'll be cross-posting the most important things on this forum from now on as well.

I'm proud to be part of this great community of talented and creative individuals 🙂 and very excited to see all the other projects in the making.

Closing off this post with another piece of concept art, the maker from below, hope you guys like it and thanks for checking! View on imgur.

Sandworm_Maker_From_Below.jpg

[Bino]

Interested to see how this pans out. All the best 🙂

I read your blog and had the exact some frustration coming up with an idea. I still think there's a bigger\better idea I didn't think of... But on with the show!

[MimicryGames]

Thanks Bino! Yeah the concept phase can a tough one, deciding to go for something, to commit amidst a sea of other possibilities. In the end there will always be better ideas, especially as you gain new insights during development. For now I am glad that when I reached that :idea: moment, it didn't let go of me.

[sfaok]

Really cool idea - looking forward to seeing your progress, especially those sand worms!

[Joyhype]

Cool idea! Seems like it would be loads of fun. Reminds me of that old school movie Tremors.

[KominAaa]

Cool concept, I'm curious to see it all coming together!
The difference of scale between smugglers and worms will surely be a great feature and convey lots of meaning in the gameplay.

Best of luck to you 🙂

[HelloMeow]

Oh man, this reminds me of Tremors. I used to get nightmares about that movie as a kid.

[drash]

Wishing you luck on your entry -- I want to see this become a reality! Expansive sand dunes and large sand creatures are my kind of thing.

[MimicryGames]

Thanks for the ❤️ guys! I've just put Tremors on my movie watch list for this week 🙂

"kominaaa" wrote:
Cool concept, I'm curious to see it all coming together!
The difference of scale between smugglers and worms will surely be a great feature and convey lots of meaning in the gameplay.

Best of luck to you 🙂

🙂 Yes, I'm experimenting a lot with scale. Finding the right balance between a feeling of terrifying awe :shock: while keeping the worms agile enough.

"drash" wrote:
Wishing you luck on your entry -- I want to see this become a reality! Expansive sand dunes and large sand creatures are my kind of thing.

Coming from the creator of Titans of Space, that doesn't surprise me. Glad to hear! :mrgreen:

[MimicryGames]

Hey folks 🙂 , time for a quick update:

I've been heavily prototyping player movement, I’ve got a 2nd prototype of the game up and running. I’m developing a custom player controller in UE4 - doing lots of iterations to make it feel right. So far I've found nice values, even for strafing.

Rotation is, evidently, strictly controlled by head movement. Gameplay-context-wise I find that standing up or sitting on a swivel chair works best.

Today the Oculus Indiecade VR jam of 2013 popped up and I was reminded of Robert Yang coming to a useful conclusion while developing his narrative flying game Nostrum. More surface details mean more vertigo, sound obvious, but a good thing to keep in mind. :geek:

Test Level
I’ve built a quick test level, pictured below (editor screenshots). Mind you - this is all work in progress, it has a nice feel but it’s not quite what the final game will look like, but at the moment it works well as an environment for me to test the gameplay in.

makerfrombelow_test_level.jpg
makerfrombelow_test_level_2.jpg
FPS
The one thing I am keeping a very close eye on, constantly, is the framerate, and it’s currently at around 60FPS. Which feels great.

Particles
Today I’ve also spent some time trying different particle systems and testing how they impact the performance, so far - I am able to include multiple emitters emitting hundreds of particles without any noticeable performance impact. Particles in UE4 are still relatively new to me, but the engine’s tool for this, the cascade editor, is a pleasure to work with.

Now that the smuggler’s controls are starting to feel right, I’ll spend tomorrow working on the sandworm controls - exciting uncharted territory!

*If you are interested in reading the full updated and more, you can check out my devlog on Tumblr.