Case Study of Super Blobby Fusion

THE ORIGINAL IDEA

Super Blobby Garden

Creature raising sandbox game similar to Sonic Adventure 2’s Chao Garden, but with Blobbies.
Various Minigames allowing the player to unlock resources to help raise their Blobby.

Inspiration

Sonic Adventure 2 (The Chao Garden)

Creature raising and minigames

My Singing Monsters

Plant Island Breeding Guide of a game where you breed different monsters together to get new ones

Slime Rancher

3D action game where the player collects slimes.

The Environment

Originally the game was going to take place on a big, single floating island with various biomes to explore. The idea was to move around and get various items or different Blobbies from the unique areas and then figure out how to raise ytour Blobby's stats like in the Chao Garden of Sonic Adventure 2.

The Minigames

The player would explore the world and find booths that they could access in order to play various minigames in order to obtain items and other rewards to help them raise Blobbies.

Memory Game

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Shoot the Targets

WHY THIS DID NOT WORK

Reasons why the project was reworked:

Too complicated for a 10-week project.
Not clear enough vision.
No distinct, singular core gameplay loop.
Too unfamiliar with the tech required to make it in time.

REIMAGINING

Super Blobby Fusion

3D puzzle platformer in which the player collects, fuses, and then transforms slimes called Blobbies to traverse the world and return home.
Simple Fusion system based on the color wheel.
Open-ended puzzle solving (player has to find and execute their own way of reaching the end of each stage)
Avoid an enemy AI that chases player.

Inspiration

deBlob

3D Platformer where the player colors the world, playing as a blob guy

Hue

2D Platformer where the plaery affects the world and how they traverse by changing colors

Slime Rancher

3D action game where the player collects slimes.

PictoMan: Sign Guy Saga

Student project from GAME 405 Studio I at SCAD by Miles Whitaker where the player plays as a pictograph man, using other picto-men of different colors to traverse through color-based puzzles.

Blobbies

Green Bridge!

Blue Blubby + Yellow Blobby

Orange Slope!

Red Blobby + Yellow Blobby

Purple Jump Pad!

Red Blobby + Blue Blobby

Paper and Table Prototypes (Proof of Concept)

PROTOTYPING

Early Level Blockout

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Updated Level Blockout

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

Stage 6

Features

You can collect Blobies by pressing E while in close proximity to them
You can open and check your inventory with the tab key
You can place your Blobbies back down with by clicking on its inventory slot with your Left Mouse Button
You can detect if there is a Blobby or not with a press of your Right Mouse Button
You can Fuse Blobbies by pressing Right Click on your mouse while looking at a Blobby while in close proximity to it and if it is detected as it being there
You can run and jump to traverse the structures in the world

Prototype Footage and Breakdowns

Story thus far:

You play as a young adventurer who has suddenly fallen into a Universe Rift, caused by the Universal Rupture which tore open the fabric of space-time. You now find yourself in a part of Glopolis, the capital of the ancient Great Empire of Pyramidia, the most powerful empire in the history of Blobbylonia, home of the Blobbies. Kind fellows those Blobbies, they decide to help you find the Universe Rift that can take you back to your world. Together with these primary-colored helpers you embark on a journey to traverse these unfamiliar lands using their power to fuse into secondary colors and transform into objects that can help with getting to places that are normally out of reach. But beware, as the Pharaoh of the Great Empire of Pyramidia, Isosceles the Conqueror does not want a strange invader to mount a Blobby army, no matter the reason. You must evade Isosceles' pursuit as you try to return to your home realm.

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

Issues and Bugs that arose

Code used Line and Sphere Traces to check and interact with the Blobby Blueprint, but it failed to cast.

Despite the ability to Fuse and Collect Blobbies worked before, placing them back down on the floor caused them to be unable to be picked back up. Some Blobbies could not be picked up in general either. Additionally, as I made an updated version of the project, Blobbies lost all ability to fuse and be collected.

I simply had to replace the single-type Traces to Multi Traces which would just check everything and then determine which object to interact with that was traced. This entirely fixed every part of the code related to that.

The Fix for the issues was a lot simpler than it seemed at first.

Mechanics Stopped Working (again)

For whatever reason, the mechanics involving multi sphere and line traces which allowed the player to collect, fuse, and transform Blobbies were not working.

Dialogue Mechanic was not working

Originally I was creating a Dialogue system which involved a text box widget being turned visible and displaying text whenever the player would interact with certain actors.

Basically, any actor that had the Dialogue component could have multiple array elements containing dialogue (text) that would be displayed in order. The player would be able to press a button to do a trace which would check if the object had the component, if it did, it would trigger a function checking if the object is speaking or not, and would correctly display the text. This just was not working and the widget wasn't displaying and the text wasn't being set correctly.

I had wanted to use this to make the tutorial for the player to learn the mechanics.

Blobby Fusion Bug

The way the player is able to fuse Blobbies together is by clicking on the checkbox next to a Blobby's button in the inventory, and then using the fusion function by pressing right click while looking at another Blobby on the ground. Right now there's a few things that are able to happen which are not intended:

Can consume a Blobby via Fusion trying to fuse it with a Blobby it is not able to fuse with, or create anything new with. Examples:
- Trying to fuse a Purple Blobby with a Blue Blobby will result in the Purple Blobby being consumed, but the Blue Blobby remains the same.
- Trying to fuse two Blobbies of the same color will just consume one.

Purple Jump Pad Glitch

The Purple Jump Pad was able to launch the player extremely high if there were multiple jump pads placed relatively close to each other, where the player could run into one and be launched upwards and collide with another jump pad in quick succession, effectively multiplying the height it should launch the player.

The Fletcher Glitch

During a playtest session, my classmate Fletcher Mosey discovered a replicable bug which allows the player to get an extra use of a Blobby in the inventory. Effectively, it causes a Blobby in your inventory to not be consumed during the fusion process, which allows it to be used again for fusion, or be spawned back into the world. It can be performed as follows:

Have two Blobbies in inventory
Check mark the Blobby below the other
Drop the above Blobby
Combine the two Blobbies
The check marked blobby is not removed from inventory

Blobby Spawn Bug

Though somewhat rare, it was possible to attempt to spawn a Blobby from the inventory and it would be consumed from it, and yet it would not actually appear in the level. This was due to collision.

Blobby Checkmark Bug

The player was capable of checking more than one check box which could potentially lead to issues and unintended results down the line.

No Footsteps?

Footstep sounds are not playing right now, despite the code seemingly being correct.

Pharaoh doesn't move

The enemy Pharaoh seems to act like an obstacle as far as the Nav-Mesh is concerned, and thus doesn't actually move towards the player.

Issues and Bugs that were resolved

Mechanics Working! (again!)

Thanks to the help of professor Walter Woods, I resolved the issue with the mechanics. It turns out that in my Blobby blueprint, the Slime mesh had a collision setting that blocked visibility trace checks, so my traces were not responding to the Blobbies the way they should. A simple change in the BP_Blobby has fixed all those issues and the game works as intended again.

Tutorial has been redesigned

I opted to scrap the Dialogue mechanic entirely, and instead chose to create a new way to teach the player the main mechanics.

I created a new actor blueprint which contains a simple signpost with a widget containing text that can be edited on instance. This means I can place an instance of the actor in the world and change that specific instance's text to display what it should. I used this to tell the player which buttons do what and how to use the mechanics.

Purple Jump Pad Nerfed

Thanks to my friend Aiden Harrell, the Purple Jump Pad has been nerfed and the bug is (seemingly) fixed. I have tried replicating the exploits found during playtests but the Jump Pad appears to actually work as intended and simply launch the player a specific height and nothing more.

Blobby Fusion Checkmark Works!

The player is now only able to select a single Blobby checkbox in the inventory. My friend Hunter Walton helped me resolve the issue.

Blobbies Spawn!

Thanks to the help of Hunter Walton, we have solved the bug. To fix it, Hunter added a check that makes sure the Blobby will not be spawned (and thus consumed from the inventory) if it will collide with an object such as a wall, a slope, and even other Blobbies when it will be spawned.

Blobby Fusion working without a hitch

Now Blobby Fusion only triggers if the Blobby the player has selected is valid for Fusion. Therefore, Fused Blobbies (Secondary Colors) cannot be fused at all, and nothing can be Fused to a Fused Blobby. Additionally, Blobbies of the same color cannot fuse with each other, so no Red + Red! (for now).

New Additions

New Player Character!

The Unreal Mannequin has been replaced with Ty, a character from Mixamo, complete with a new animation blueprint.

Isosceles, The Conqueror; Pharaoh of the Great Empire of Pyramidia from Ancient Blobbylonia.

The enemy Pharaoh has been implemented. He is able to chase the player and can instantly defeat you if he touches you.

Checkpoint System

The player can now stop by a campfire in order to create a checkpoint, so if they die, they can respawn at the checkpoint!

Player Health, Death, and Respawning

Player now has 1 Health, and can be killed by the Pharaoh. If the player dies, he can respawn by a checkpoint if one is created.

Notification System

You can now receive notifications on the screen. Mainly this is for checkpoints, but it can be used for multiple things!

PUSH TO ALPHA

Issues and Bugs that arose

Reticle not showing up

The Reticle widget which shows a simple circle reticle for the player to know where to aim isn't showing up properly on the screen.

Issues and Bugs that were resolved

The Pharaoh is at Full Power

Isosceles the Conqueror, Pharaoh of the Great Empire of Pyramidia is now fully functional and will chase the player through the Stage beginning from Stage 4 through Stage 6. If he touches you, you die and must respawn from your last checkpoint!

Are those footsteps I hear?

Footstep sounds are now working correctly (Thanks, Hunter!)

New Additions

Stage 10 is now Playable!

Stage 10 now has an endgoal, Blobbies, and props!

Improved Title Screen!

New Title Screen courtesy of Skyler Rooney.

The World Has A New Look!

THE END OF THE BEGINNING

Screenshot Collection

Showreel/Trailer

Postmortem Report

What Went Well

Mechanics came together at week 5.
Game is fun; all playtesters liked the concept and enjoyed playing it.
Low-Poly visual style emphasizes the silly and fun nature of the game.

What Can Be Improved

Enemy A.I. can be improved to be more functional.
Add more stages with higher variety of puzzles.
More types of Blobbies with more abilities.
Replace Unreal's default buttons with custom images that look nicer and more in-line with the game's aesthetics.

Lesson Learnt

It pays to have good connections with people who know more and can help you with areas you are struggling in such as Blueprinting.
Invest more time into making UI elements to enhance the look and feel of your game.
Sprint Sheets are an excellent organization tool to plan out sections of the project and the scope of each section.
Sprint Sheets made it much easier to keep track of all the work I had done and needed to do.

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