Blog 17 – Enemy Placement

Here’s a post about another important part of my level that I’ve always wanted to put in them, enemies, drones, or bots. Giving the player actual physical resistance to stand in their way other than the environment. Obstacles that can stop the player through death! There are 13 enemies in this level, 10 of them throughout the level and 3 more in the last room where the exit is.

Here is a shot of a PlayerStart that the enemies spawn from through Kismet. (It’s on the left hand side of this picture)




Here’s a shot of the same area, but during gameplay. They will be shooting at me & hunting me down when I run. For most of this post I will be taking shots from the editor windows.




Here is the Kismet set up for spawning bots. Most of the bots spawn when the level starts up. The Level Loaded is connected to the Actor Factory where the AI, name, inventory, and etc. The PlayerStarts are the point where the bots spawn into the level when it is loaded.




Most of the enemies are nothing special that have the default inventory or maybe a different weapon to give the player a better fight. I placed bots to have UT Powers like Berserk and Damage. But with enough play testing it became apparent that these power-ups only last for a brief period of time. So, when the player encountered these special enemies they were nothing special. I came up with a solution on my own. I added “TriggerVolumes” to the level and if the player stepped within the “TriggerVolume” box the enemies will spawn and will have all its power-ups right then and there.




Using the “TriggerVolumes” allowed me to spawn powerful adversaries to give the player the idea that there must be something of value where it’s guarding. Like weapons, armor, and even keys.




I want to thank chrishm7 for his tutorial on spawning bots through level loading.

Next Post, I’ll do some work on placing checkpoints in the level.

Blog 16 – Items and Weapons Pick-ups

Here’s a post about another important part of my level, Items; it being weapons, health, ammo, and armor. Pick-ups give the player something to look forward to while progressing throughout the level. Items offer help, power, replenishing of supplies, and etc.

Here is a Health Vial. The smallest health the player can get. If the player health is at 100% and picks it up, it’ll boost the health maximum by 5 points. There are 9 of these hidden in the level. The player will have to search for them.




This is ammo for the Shock Rifle Weapon. The replenishing of the ammo won’t be applied until you first acquire the weapon and then pick up the ammo. The player can always go back to grab the ammo after acquiring the corresponding weapon. There are 4 of these in this level.




Here is a Health Kit. This restores 25 points of the players lost health. Unlike the Health Vials, they will not increase the player’s maximum health when they are at 100%, so the player will have to pick these up more strategically. There are 2 of these in this level.




Here’s a power-up pick up. This one is called UT Damage. As the name suggest, it allows whomever that picks it up weapons do more a lot more damage for brief period of time. There are 2 of these in this level.




Here’s one of the first weapons that the player can pick up: The Link Gun. The white Link Gun offers a faster fire rate and probably more powerful in contrast to the default black Link Gun the player starts off with. Yes, one does get the white Link Gun after killing a player, but only if they have it equipped when you kill them. Having a white Link Gun lying around helps players who have died and need a weapon with more fire power. There is only1 Link Gun weapon pick up spot in this level.




This is ammo for the Rocket Launcher Weapon. The replenishing of the ammo won’t be applied until you first acquire the weapon and then pick up the ammo. The player can always go back to grab the ammo after acquiring the weapon like all the other ammo pickups. There are 4 of these in this level.



Here’s one of the first armor that the player can pick up: Thigh Pads. Thigh Pads offers 30% of protection from damage (might not protect from fall, splash, or explosion damage). Once armor is depleted damage will be deducted from as normal. There is only1Thigh Pads armor pick up spot in this level.




Here’s another armor to provide protection: Base Armor. Base Armor offers 50% of protection from damage. There is only1 Base Armor pick up spot in this level.




Here’s a power-up pick up. This one is called Berserk. This power-up allows the player fire rate increase dramatically for a brief period of time. This allows for fast kills, but be cautious because this also drains ammo considerably. There are 2 of these in this level.





Here’s the second available weapon for pick-up: The Shock Rifle (one of my favorites). This weapon has a combo with the Right Mouse button that launches an energy ball and then shooting the energy ball with a lightning bolt to cause major area damage. There is only1 Shock Rifle weapon pick up spot in this level.




Here’s a very important health item: Super Health (A.K.A. “Big O’ Keg of Health”). This health pickup increases the player’s health by 100 points (MAX health 199). There is only1 Super Health pick up spot in this level.




Here is a very important armor pick-up: The Shield Belt. The armor offers 100% of protection from damage. There is only1 Shield Belt armor pick up spot in this level.




Here’s the most powerful weapon in this level and last available weapon to pick-up, the Rocket Launcher. This weapon has a couple of functions like spiraling rockets or grenades both of these features can be used with 2 or 3 rockets. This is a very versatile and destructive weapon. There is only1 Rocket Launcher weapon pick up spot in this level.




This room is before the boss battle of this level. This room contains 1 of each: Shock Rifle ammo, Rocket Launcher ammo, Link Gun ammo (only 1 in this level), and a Health Kit. This is the room is to replenish the player health and ammo before the fight. If the player needs more then he or she should go back throughout the level and collect items from the previous rooms. All the items reappear after a certain amount of time.




This room is where the boss battle is held which contains 1 of each UT Damage and Berserk power-ups. If one person collects both of them at the same time they will get the combination power-up: The Juggernaut! With combines both of these power-ups effects making the one who is the Juggernaut a killing machine.





Next Post, I’ll do some bots placing in the level.