Does the Game Use Asset Packs?
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
Currently beta decay uses the following Unreal Engine Frameworks - 2 Main Points:
Locomotion System
The game uses an extremely modified version of the ALS locomotion system. Which is a very popular free movement system for Unreal Engine. “Extremely modified” is probably an understatement. The locomotion system alone has taken years of customization to get everything feeling and looking the way it does today.
In the future I will post a brief video of the baseline ALS locomotion system in comparison to the game's current locomotion.
The majority, If not all animations for the ALS system have either been modified (Animation Curves), or replaced completely.
In my opinion, the primary leverage points of the ALS Locomotion System are the core blend state transitions and additive / overlay layers. Not the animations themselves. In other words:
First Layer - Baseline logic and blend state machines that make movement look natural and fluid.
Second Layer - Unique animations and actions that blend on top.
A considerable amount of net new, custom work has been built into this system.
Arm IKs
Full Body IKs
Leaning
Sliding
Diving
Prone Systems
Cover Systems
Melee Systems
Near object detection for torso twisting for avoidance
Weapon near wall detection for arm IK bending
Inventory Systems and Animations
Picking up, carrying, equipping - to all different mountable slots
Additional Movement States for Mounting / Sitting / Climbing.
Additive Animations (Such as Idles and Emotes)
Weapon Specific animations (How the character holds the weapon for different weapon types such as pistols, rifles, RPGs, etc).
TPS to FPS Transitions
There are no separate models or animations between FPS or TPS - It is an extreme challenge to have the same TPS animations to not look awkward while in FPS view. Most games fake this with completely separate models and animations. I chose this path as I love the idea of what you see is what you get.
Stamina Systems - Where logic affects animation play rates
Custom Camera Systems - (Camera leaning, zooming, mode switching, shoulder switching).
Aiming Systems
Reloading Animations
The list goes on, but you get the idea.
Overall, the ALS System is a great starting point for core state blending, but the amount of work required to reach its current state has been nearly insurmountable. This is probably due to my own lack of understanding or not being the brightest learner, hah!
Effects
Currently, the following areas of pre-existing materials, and textures are being leveraged, but also heavily modified.
Weapon and Explosion textures
A Sun Flare Material and Texture.
Blood Effects.
Audio Effects .
(The majority of audio effects go through post processing and editing to remain unique).
I'm sure there are more items that either come native from Unreal Editor, old prototypes, or public domain materials that have found their way through - But the major items are listed above.
Refresh
The current build, which is heading toward Early Access, is a completely new project compared to the legacy Pre-Alpha. The decision to proceed with multiplayer development provided a great opportunity to upgrade the engine, start fresh, and remove all the bloat/prototype data that had been experimented with in the past.
Custom Built
All other game systems/features listed below are created in-house.
(List below has mostly taken from the Roadmap):
Asset Models
Weather Systems
Character Customization
FPS / TPS
Crosshairs
Dismemberment
ECS System
Pickup, Carry, Drop, and Inspection System
Furnishing (As part of the ECS System)
Injury System
Artillery System
Bullet Drop (The code functions are more-or-less natively built into Unreal Engine to handle this)
Destruction System
Terminals
Centauri Exchange (Stock Market)
Weapons and Mods
Exo-suits
SYNi
Phenomena
Life Support & PPE
Manufacturing
MCV's
Actionable Equipment
Economy
Combat Core
Visual Inventory
Save / Load Systems
Allegiances (All unique company names and logos)
V23 Helicopter
World Locations
AI Core
Roles and Contracts
Controller Support
Music Player
Crowd Systems
Vehicles and Vehicle Systems
Particle Effects
and so forth
Final Note
It would be nice to leverage a bunch of asset packs to expedite the development process - But that's not the goal - So, I do spend all the time modeling and building the systems above. This is what I enjoy doing - and is a major point of this project - So it's all good !
In the past, I quickly found that leveraging asset packs or pre-existing systems often causes more issues down the road. Constantly tweaking and adapting pre-made models or systems tends to become more detrimental than productive.
(The Locomotion System might be a good example of this - but I chose to stick with it). It can also hinder the uniqueness your craft. With beta decay especially, it would be extremely difficult to slap in pre-made systems for several of these features and have it all work together - Especially over the network. That would be a nightmare.
If any other pre-existing technology is leveraged, or something I forgot to mention I'll attempt to list it here. For example - The Voxel Plugin for Unreal - Is a big one that has been used in the past. However, it's usage for current/future versions of the game has not yet been 100% determined, therefore, it is not listed.
There had also been prototyping of a crowd based insects system within the pre-alpha - Which has been scrapped, however - prototyping with that system gave me the knowledge to develop my own crowd-based systems that are currently being used! Everything happens for a reason.