Developer Diary 45 - Multiple Layers - Extending The Maze

After a week of AI, LOD and Gameplay improvements I fell victim to the infamous 37.5 FPS lock. So while I was looking for a solution to minimize the amount of objects and blueprints that are visible to the player while moving through the woods (both meshes and BPs of course have visibility spheres and culling enabled), I eventually had the idea of extending Lakini's Woods vertically: The top layer (seen above) is similar to a graveyard garden and has access to the open sky. The layer underneath is a surreal forest / cave / dungeon system that receives it's barriers from the walls of the top layer extending below. The lowest level is hidden underneath the ocean. The walls don't extend to the bottom, so the player is able to swim underneath the maze to any desired location (but of course he can only get back up if there is a connection to the upper layers).

The main advantage of this system is, that most objects are invisible to the player when he's moving through the middle layer as he can only see the objects and plants in the room section he is in. The top layer requires almost no adornment objects, as it contains the gothic towers of the wall barriers and the guiding lights, that eventually lead the player to the discovery of Lakini's rune, the location of the Dharmapala as well as Jonah's shadows. This new system gives me the ability to greatly reduce the culling distance for both blueprints and objects and therefore it might even get rid of the 37.5 FPS lock for good. Additionally the player has access to the open sky so he can use/transform into Hayagriva and fly through the world, or call Mahakala and cause all layers to be filled with water.

The screenshots above are from work I did last week on impact particle systems. I spent a lot of time on the impact FX from the soldier's rifle shots. They are now able to destroy buildings and objects when Jonah tries to hide behind them.

S.M