Kingdom: Source

We made it!

2008-03-21T12:54:00.002+01:00

Man, it went fantastically! The performance went fine and everybody loved it. Some of the teachers were more cheerful than we've ever seen them.

We've make a crap load of footage, both live and in-game, and there'll be a montage reel coming up soon. We'll post that as soon as it's done.

In any case, thanks to everybody who followed this blog. This has been a great project to work on!

-Rémy van den Wijngaart

Tonight!

2008-03-20T08:20:00.001+01:00

Tonight's the night! The level is done, and we're going to be practising all day today. Wish us luck!

Full Kingdom Video Walkthrough

2008-03-12T12:31:00.004+01:00

Have I got something for you today! A full video walkthrough, which takes us through the entire level. It is almost final, but some things are still missing (like injured NPCs etc). And it features a lot of bunnyhopping to get around. But it looks good, I think.

Also, a screenshot:

Wireframes

2008-03-03T13:10:00.006+01:00

Check out these wireframes. They look beautiful, don't you think?

The good news is that we can make the level in one map, so we don't have to level switch. Areaportals work fine in closing off the rooms, and the performance levels are optimal. So the above screenshot will not occur. Things are going well. *knocks on wood*

We are now working on the script, what the player will see do, etc. And we're working on the rooms, filling them with items and such so that they seem more lifelike.

New screenshot and progress

2008-02-29T16:05:00.001+01:00

First, the progress. I mailed with Valve, and I got tips on how to make level switches. But it turns out that one huge level works perfectly. Performance tests are optimal, and we will be able to do everything in one level.

And now, a screenshot of Edward's Office. Of course, the lights are flickering, and you don't see that on the pictures.

Areaportal problem (or is it?)

2008-02-26T12:05:00.003+01:00

The areaportal appears to be bugged. However, it works fine by the looks of it. It looks like it leaks, but Hammer doesn't rapport any problems. Is this an actual problem...?

Edward's Office Preview?

2008-02-19T16:32:00.002+01:00

A small screenshot of Edward's office. What you cannot see in the screen is that the light is flickering.

2008-02-19T16:31:00.007+01:00

Here are some screenshots of the level building progress.

The Engine Room:

The Office Space:

Leveldesign sketches

2008-02-14T13:16:00.012+01:00

These are the final designs of the different rooms that exist within our game.

This is the Player's Office, where the player spawns and starts the game. We've designed it to look luxurious, but futuristic and make the player feel like he has a certain status. The office has a large window/glass wall that allows sunlight into the room and gives a magnificent view.

From his office, the player can exit and walk into the work area that his office is attached to, the Cubicle Space. This is where paperwork and other office-like work is processed by employees. The desks and workstations are arranged so the stations can close after work is done; the stair shaped desks can "close" so nobody can reach the computers.

From the Cubicle space, the player can venture off into the Hallways. The hallways are mostly clean and without unnecessary objects so it's easy to navigate.

From the Hallways, there are different rooms you can reach; if they're not locked at that point in the game.

The Lounge is a place where employees can relax and rest a bit between the hard working hours. It has a small walkway with a pond on either side, and a fountain for that zen-feeling. The stairs at the end of the lounge lead to Edward's Office.

There's Edward's Office, the office of the highest boss of Kingdom Company, where the player will find Edward dead - murdered. This is where the game gets a different flavor; you'll soon discover that your own life is in danger as well.
This office is designed to look luxurious and futuristic, much like the player's own, but Edward's office has a large table and chairs where all the big bosses of Kingdom Company can discuss important busyness topics, with Edward sitting at the head.
Edward's office has a round, large window/glass wall surrounding his desk and workspace, which is up on a platform to emphasize his status as Big Boss.

From the Hallway, you can also reach the Controlroom. This is where all the technical magic takes place; the constant speed at which the office normally travels over the solar-panel wall, the enormous amounts of date that come from the engine room that have to be processed and checked for faults, it's intense!
The room features a walkway on the upper level and workstations that are on the lower level. You can view a window that shows part of the Engine Room, and a window that shows the outside world. Via the round staircase you can go down to the either side and look at the workstations and employees, or you can walk right under the bridge and reach the Engine Room.

The Engine Room features a large amount of machinery, pipes and steam. Lot's of steam. This room also has a puzzle in which the player has to work together with one of the performers to open a door. This room provides a big contrast compared to the clean, modern and spacey look of the rest of the office, it's raw, it has different, reddish lighting and large machinery. It might be considered scary by those easily scared.

She's walking! She's walking!

2008-02-11T12:17:00.000+01:00

Bless Synergy! Turns out there is a Holsterweapon command that puts away weapons and what makes players walk normally. This solves one of our biggest problem! Check it out:

Sun problem fixed, Synergy Crew helps!

2008-02-10T13:48:00.000+01:00

So, I fixed the sun problem. One thing Hans (Shiira) said to me made sense: You wouldn't be able to see the sun anyway. So now I used an light_environment to cast a sunbeam into the room. And regular lights to light the rest of the room. Screenshots will be coming soon.

Also, I got a mail from Synergy. They told me we can import random Half-Life models (e.g. G-man) and have them working as player models without any hassel. Furthermore, there is a "holsterweapon" command I oversaw. That should fix our "fist"-problem. Can't test that on my own however, so we'll have to do that tomorrow.

-Rémy

Sun Problem

2008-02-06T11:47:00.001+01:00

We've got a little problem with the sun light. I'm not good at lighting...

Level Design, Trailers...

2008-02-05T11:55:00.000+01:00

Here's our first piece of level design material: An overall-map, some in-detail-designs, and a test level.

Overall Design (English Version coming up):

Engine Room speed-painting:

Edward's Office speed-painting:

Control Room Test Level:

Cinematic Trailer and In-Game Performance

This isn't exactly new material, and it mostly pre-viz, but it will help you understand our concept.

This is the cinematic trailer we showed today. It shows the mood we hope to accomplish in the game. It's in essence our intro. Again, not final, just pre-viz.

This is a movie showing how things will work. It uses the Synergy-mod, allowing us to use NPCs and real players. A problem we're having now is, as you can see, the players have to hold either a weapon, or they have to make fists. Of course, this is a test, not final, very ugly, but you see how the triggers work. These triggers will be invisible, in another place, so only the performers can activate them.

Concept

2008-01-30T11:57:00.000+01:00

So, here's our concept for Kingdom: Source.

Story

In Kingdom: Source, the world depends on solar energy, in supposed to regular energy sources as oil and coal.

Around the globe, there is a huge wall.

This wall has super-efficient solar panels on it. The development of these panels is very inexpensive and it is the solution for the whole world's energy needs, after all the oilfields have died out, years ago. Now, attached to the wall is an office. This office can rotate all
around the globe, via some sort of rail, to follow the sun and thus control
the corresponding solar panels.

When the story begins, the player will be in his office and everything will seem to be alright. Then, a shock. Slowly you notice that the office (which always faces the sun) is now going in a
different direction, away from the sun. It will turn out that someone has sabotaged the sequence, and will use the chaos and darkness to assassinate the CEO of the company. Much like Richard assassinates King Edward in Shakespeare's Richard III.

Performance-wise

The project is going to be a live performance using Valve's Source Engine (probably using Half-Life 2: Episode One). It's basically a game, but instead of NPC and scripts, we will be acting the characters out ourselves, in real-time. This means that the performance will be different each time you play. As I said before, we will probably be using HL2:EP1, and we'll need LAN capabilities. We thought about using Team Fortress 2, but we don't think that has enough
flexibility. We need to be able to use triggers, NPCs etc. We'll make levels, and outside those levesl we'll have a sort of control room, where we can trigger events. That way we can decide real-time what and when we want things to happen.

If you want to give feedback at this point, please feel free. We are currently setting up our workflow for the production phase, and we will post level designs and such pretty soon.

-Rémy

Kingdom Source Blog

2008-01-30T11:18:00.000+01:00

Hey all,

This is the first post to the Kingdom: Source blog. This blog is about our newest project: Kingdom Source. It's our group's production of the Shakespeare Project. The Shakespeare Project is the current project we run at Design for Virtual Theatre and Games (DVTG). We had to read Shakespeare's Richard III, and then distill the things we would like to use. Like the theme, or even just one character. We chose the treason and coup. What we need to create was an interactive performance, that entertains a big audience. Think like 60-70 people.

From that started point we created a concept for a live-performance/game, using Valve's Source Engine. Specifically, Half-Life 2 (Episode One). That sounds very artsy and complicated, but what it basically means is that you play a game, but the people in-game will be performers. Furthermore, the line between virtual and reality will be crossed. I'll post up our concept as soon as possible.

This blog is for both ourselves and our teachers, as for people who want to give us feedback. So stuff like level design, music, and storylines will be posted her.