James is joining us as a writer to allow me to spend more time on the terrain and world map, while he works on NPC’s and some story arcs that can lead to better dialogue. Welcome James! Glad to have you with us and hope you do not mind the wild ride of game development. You can see more info about our team in the About Us section.
Finally, I will be talking about our game, Ashbourne’s Legacy
I had planned to wait until we had more, but…I made the mistake of hiring a writer to help with some things and he disappeared with my game idea. So instead of sobbing my eyes out, I am going to keep on going. Putting information out here to make sure our copyright is valid. Guy told us he was 15, worked for a company that does TTRPG scenarios. So if you see our game on any of your table top books, do not use it. Because we will shut it down. Sorry, but everything needs to find their story.
We are creating a small MMO, and we are making our own template, tossing away the WoW games and all the others. The game takes place in the future, after the world has been through climate change, wars, etc. Past 200 years, the people have found safety in far away places.
Dr. Ashbourne was a geneticist many years ago who discovered a gene that had someone appeared in many children and adults. A tragedy caused him to retreat, his books, and papers, and everything else was put away. He hid them, keeping the people in the future from using his research.
Our team made a major move last month, from sunny Florida to beautiful New Jersey! For the past 4 months, our lives have been consumed with boxes, packing tape, and moving pods. We are finally settling in but still much to do. My desk is still wrapped in the moving blankets.
Good news is that we are back to work on our projects. The priority right now for several of us is an AR contract that requires programming and artwork. It is lots of fun and we are all learning so much.
Ryan and I are back to working on the MMO and things are moving along finally.
Glad to be back and talking to my Unity friends, posting on the forums again, and checking out the asset store!
As a co-organizer for our local Unity User Group, one of my tasks is to find interesting subjects for our Monday Workshops each month. Sometimes, we meet someone who would love to speak. Other times, we need to make our own content for the meeting.
This coming Monday we have decided to do a hands-on workshop, especially for those who are new to Unity. So together with on of our programmers, we put together a science fiction scene, an alien planet.
We will use Unity Personal, which is a feature complete engine, unlike the old Unity Free. The only thing missing from Unity Personal are some add on services, most of which can be purchased a la carte. Of course, if one makes over $100k on their Unity related commercial products, then they will need to upgrade to a paid level. But until then, Unity Personal is great for learning and developing your first game.
Every asset in our alien world is free on the Unity asset store. While money will buy you more elaborate models, with the right lighting one can do amazing things even with free stuff. Asset store products make great models and tools for prototyping your world or in some cases, they can even make an entire game.
I will begin the presentation by showing the attendees how to build a terrain using real world data and showing them how I used a free tool to texture the terrain and use Unity’s terrain brush system to add rocks to the landscape. We will then place models on the world, and discuss the importance of matching your art. We will create lighting, including reflections in the scene and add a dramatic skybox. Audio sources will be added to create atmosphere.
Ryan will then walk through adding a first person character to the scene. A weapon will be added and the attendees will learn how to add bullets/lights that fire at the enemies. They will also set up a UI for the health bar.
Next, he will show how to add a Navmesh Agent and Mob Controller. Once this is done, an Animator Controller can be added to the alien monsters. A Navmesh will be added so the aliens can wander once they are spawned. The attendees will learn how to set up the Spawner.
Finally, I will show everyone what a few inexpensive paid assets can add to the scene such as blowing sand and a few other extras.
We are hoping our participants will take these projects home and tweak them, adding their own flavor to the scene. I cannot wait to see what they create!
Hopefully, we can present this to a group of homeschooler teens/preteens in the future as well. Games are fun, but learning to make your own games can teach you so much, not only about coding but about design and art.
I will post back about the experience and maybe with a link to a video in the next post.
Laura
A brand new website for a brand new company!
Watre Games is now official and is working hard to deliver our first title. We were a bit ambitious with this one but it is based on the lore from a game that failed, one that touched the hearts of thousands of people. So, while it is a big job for a small company, we are moving forward and a steady pace.
Most information will be found on the game websites rather than here but we wanted to have a business presence as well.
Our goal is to uplift others through our games. We do not strive to bring the best first person shooter or the most exciting survival game, but instead will concentrate on games that encourage cooperation and storytelling.
Legends of Aryiure will hopefully do both with a skill based system that depends on other players as well as unique features that support role players and those who wish to tell a story. Set in a fictional world with conflict and beauty, we will attempt to bring alive hundreds of NPCs and dozens of cities and towns where one can set their own stage and tell their own tale.
Glad you could be with us from the beginning.
Laura