WIP - Arkanoid in UE5.1

EdgeOfMadness · 5:59am 28 Dec 2022

A few weeks back I created some mock-up screenshots for #screenshotsaturday of an interpretation of the Arkanoid game mechanic blocking humanity’s logistics and distribution centers.

I enjoyed making the static scene, so I decided that when I am not overburdened with relaxation this holiday season, I am going to try and recreate the game mechanics and share my progress with the community.

Here are the screenshot I made to start of with:

And here is the first iteration of the physics driven gameplay loop:

Looking forward to sharing my updates and iterations with the community over the next week or so remaining of the holiday.

EdgeOfMadness · 4:28pm 28 Dec 2022

I wasn't happy with how the light boxes just disappeared when the ball collided with them, so I added a particle emitter that acts as an illusion of the box shattering on impact.

This is how it turned out:

EdgeOfMadness · 4:32pm 29 Dec 2022

The first Power-Up has been added to my Arkanoid remake! The player's paddle extends when the dark blue capsule is collected by the paddle.

EdgeOfMadness · 5:02pm 3 Jan

Hello Everyone. I hope everybody had a great start to the new year.

I have managed to add the next PowerUp pickup to my Arkanoid UE5.1 remake.

The 'Slow Motion' pickup will slow the ball down for 30 seconds before returning it to its previous speed.

Here is a video demonstrating the pickup, audio and Particle FX for it:

EdgeOfMadness · 3:18pm 4 Jan

The next Power-Up is in my remake!

With this 'Power Up' the player can catch the ball with the paddle. They then have a three second window to aim/redirect and manually release the ball before the ball gets automatically released again.

(This was slightly more complicated to implement than what I initially thought it would be)

Here is the video of the Catch ball powerup working:

francoisvn · 4:24pm 4 Jan

Interesting! I like the juxtaposition of arcade arkanoid with the hyper realistic graphics.

Is there a build you can share with people for feedback?

EdgeOfMadness · 1:13pm 5 Jan

francoisvn said:
Interesting! I like the juxtaposition of arcade arkanoid with the hyper realistic graphics.

Thank you, that is what I was going for, and your feedback is much appreciated.

francoisvn said:
Is there a build you can share with people for feedback?

Right now I am only focused on remaking the original classic game for recreational, and educational purposes. If I decide to release it in the future, I would probably have to alter it sufficiently as not to get me into any trouble. But, that is only for consideration at a much later stage.

EdgeOfMadness · 1:18pm 5 Jan

It has Lasers!! Well, only if the player collects the red capsule with an L on it, then the paddle will transforms into a 'Tank Paddle' that allows the player to shoot twin laser bolts for as long as the power up is active.

Interestingly, this power-up capsule had a similar initial response from adult me than from what child me struggled with it all the time. I remember always getting distracted by either the capsule coming down, or by the shooting after collecting it, and stopped paying attention to blocking the ball with the paddle.

Here is the video of the simple transformation and the laser cannons firing:

francoisvn · 1:55pm 5 Jan

EdgeOfMadness said:

Right now I am only focused on remaking the original classic game for recreational, and educational purposes. If I decide to release it in the future, I would probably have to alter it sufficiently as not to get me into any trouble. But, that is only for consideration at a much later stage.

My 2: you don't have to worry about it being too similar to the original if you're uploading a build for free to somewhere like itch.io. It looks like you're making some good progress, but I think it would help you a lot to have a build that people can actually play and give you feedback on. That's the easiest way to iterate on your game and make it better, and I think it will both make it more fun and educational :)

EdgeOfMadness · 2:57pm 5 Jan

francoisvn said:
My 2: you don't have to worry about it....

Thank you, I will keep that in mind. I will make the decision once I have some sort of fail-states, the gameplay loop restart/end cycle implemented fully, and some basic UI done with a menu and score system in.

EdgeOfMadness · 3:12pm 6 Jan

I managed to finish all of the remaining 'Power-Ups' just in time for the weekend! (Well, all the power ups from the original game that is, I might add a few of my own later.)

First up is the 'Triple/Disrupt' power-up. When collected it triples all the balls in play. This power-up is stackable, so if there is currently multiple balls in play from a previous pick-up, they will get tripled. I guess this was called 'Disrupt' in the original game because it disrupts your focus when trying to pick which ball to play.

Here is the video for the 'Triple/Disrupt' power-up:

The second one is the 'Break All' power-up. It breaks all the remaining boxes remaining in the level, effectively giving the player a free pass and a score boost.

Here is the video for 'Break All' power-up:

There is one other power-up, but all it does is grant the player with an extra life. So, no need to create a video for that.

EdgeOfMadness · 8:23pm 10 Jan

I have added the Paddle Destruction event. When no balls remain in the playing field, the paddle explodes in a fireball with sparks. Maybe a bit dramatic, but I like it.

For now it just dips to black while the paddle is reset, but I am currently working on all of the UI elements needed for scoring, level transitioning, and life lost transition.

Here is the video with the paddle destruction FX:

Tristan · 8:58am 20 Jan

I love the art style of this game! It's honestly quite beautiful.

If you're wondering about music, I'd love to write something for this! If you're keen, we can chat and get you a custom score? I'd be happy to do it for free as portfolio work.

EdgeOfMadness · 7:34am 24 Jan

Tristan said:
I love the art style of this game! It's honestly quite beautiful.

Thank you, your feedback is much appreciated.

Tristan said:
If you're wondering about music, I'd love to write something for this! If you're keen, we can chat and get you a custom score? I'd be happy to do it for free as portfolio work.

Thank you for the offer, I will take your details down, and when I get to that stage of this project, I will send you a message and we can have a conversation about it.

EdgeOfMadness · 4:13pm 29 Jan

It has been a couple of weeks, but I finally have some updates to share!

The first 8 round/level layouts have been added to the game. Along with the game instance functionality, and the UI/HUD.

Regarding the round/level layouts:

I have decided to break the 32 main levels from the original game into 4 groups of 8 using the same environment. The first 8 will use the same warehouse scene, but sticking to my theme of 'The disruptions of humanity's logistics', each level will have more warehouse inventory accumulating that couldn't be shipped because of the blockage/obstruction.

Here is a screenshot of what round/level 8 looks like:

And here is a video of the HUD/UI and some gameplay from each of the first 8 Rounds:

WIP - Arkanoid in UE5.1

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