Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation What’s you rs is Mine... Making of Document – GDP 2023/2024 Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Contents High Concept ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... 3 Research ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 3 Design Goals ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 4 Design Considerations ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 5 Systems ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 6 Game Logic ................................ ................................ ................................ .................... 6 Player Systems ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 7 Enemy Systems ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 11 Mechanics ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................... 14 Player Mechanics ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 14 Enemy Mechanics ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 18 World Mechanics ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 22 Levels ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 22 Tutorial ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 23 Manor House ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 24 Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation High Concept Research What is an immersive sim? Player Freedom • Range of tools / weapons / skills to allow for a variety of playstyles. • Detailed interconnected level design to for freedom of movement. • A multitude of player - paths and sometimes mini - puzzles to gain shortcuts or combat advantages. Immersive World • Environmental storytelling to build atmosphere. • Systems, narrative, and environment all work together to sell the immersion of the world. • Lore communicated via audio recordings or readable items, as well as NPC dialogue. Simulated Environment • Resources and upgrades scattered throughout the level to incentivise exploration. • Guards with regular patrol paths and events to add dynamism to the level. • Clues, collectables, audio recordings or letters can be found in specific places in the level. What do current immersive sims do which make them unique? Dishonoured • Fast - paced combat system. • Advanced movement abilities (double jump, teleportation). • Variety of weapons (lethal & non - lethal) as well as additional powers. • Straightforward objective (assassinations) as well as multiple unique ways of achieving it. • A range of enemy traps which could be disabled or reversed. • Rating system based on detection and lethality. Filcher • Light and sound based stealth system. • Open ended goal (collect cash / loot) as well as additional objectives to attain completion (rare jewels or antique necklace). • Levels contained light and sound - based challenges (marble floor, lighthouse beam). • No direct combat (dart gun or bludgeoner only). • Rating system based on level of stealth and amount of loot compared to level total. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Design Goals What kind of immersive sim do I want to make? Stealth - based • Light system for sightline detection. If an enemy can see the player, then the players visibility is checked. If it is above a given threshold, then the enemy will be altered. • Sounds made by the player can be investigated based on volume and distance, as well as any muffling factors such as walls or doors. • Range of movement states for the player including both faster and slower paces of walking, as well as jumping, sliding, and crouching. Level exploration • Consumables dispersed throughout the level, this includes things like healing items or money. • Hidden level secrets requiring some level of deeper player interaction. This includes mini - puzzles, side - objectives for NPCs or a heavily guarded area. • Differing player paths, incentivising smart movement between cover and levels of verticality. Systemic design • Detailed guard enemies which patrol regularly and according to a schedule, allowing the player to slip through their lines undetected if properly coordinated. • Detection propagation and states of alert for groups of guards or whole sections of a given level based on rates of severity of player detection. • Different guard types, requiring a variety of approaches. Immersive world • Atmosphere created by the setting, level environment, lighting, and sound design. • World details provided using overheard NPC conversations and audio recordings / letters found throughout the world. • Narrative and gameplay work together to ensure ludo - harmony and cohesion of the players experience. Varying styles of play • Stealth - focused approach based around avoiding sightlines and producing little excess noise. Slower approach but ensures little risk. • Distraction - focused approach based around using level interactables and sound detection to distract guards to a specific location within a level, allowing the player to slip through undetected. • Hit - and - run style approach focuses on attacking enemies one at a time, killing them and then retreating into the shadows before restarting the process. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Design Considerations What do I think will be realistic for the project? A tutorial teaching the basic gameplay. • Light and sound based stealth systems. • Basic equipment mechanics. • Movement mechanics. • Detection and states of alert. A single level providing a decent number of options and replay - ability. • Single main objective with multiple methods of completion. • Several side objectives granting resources, extra equipment, or secrets. • Plenty of interconnectivity between level sections. Detailed player movement states. • Various rates of basic movement (slow walk, walk, jog). • Various states of verticality (jumping, crouching, standing). • Special movement states (sliding, climbing). Guard enemies as well as a detection system. • Guards investigate disturbances. • Guards will alert nearby guards if they detect the player. • Various states of alert based on previous detection levels (passive, standby, alert, lockdown). Stealth system based of sound and light levels. • Sight detection based on sightline distance and visibility rating. • In - game sounds attract attention based on volume and distance. A range of player equipment for attack, utility, and evasion. • Close range attack • Long range attack (limited ammo) • Stunning throwable • Lockpick • Decoy throwable Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Systems Game Logic Manager Hierarchy Game Manager Responsible for all setting up the game instance, the game manager sets up the other managers and provides them with references to other managers if needed. Enemy Manager Monitoring the different enemy types of the enemy manager tracks enemy alerts as well as removing or resetting them when needed. Loot Manager All smart objects are controlled via the loot manager, this includes all doors, keys and loot A reference to a ny item that can be interacted with will be stored here so that data can be logged regarding the state of the level. Mission Manager Interfacing with both the loot and enemy managers, the mission manager consolidates data to produce a final score for the player to view. This data is compiled into a custom scriptable object which can be used outside of the scene if needed. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Player Systems Light Detection To calculate the players visibility a real - time ray cast ing system is used, collecting exposure data from nearby light sources to determine the current visibility of the player. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Sound Detection To determine audio detection triggers a sound propagation system was implemented, allowing sound levels to be altered depending on distance and blocking colliders. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Tool Select The player can switch between various tools that can be used in - game, to alternate between these tools the player uses a weapon wheel which allows the player to select tools using their mouse movement. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Player Footsteps / Headbob Using the players movement this system creates a head bob effect which is synced up with the footstep sound triggering. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Enemy Systems Perception All enemy characters use the perception component to look or listen for potential stimuli. Guards use both sight and sound, while the security systems use sight (camera) or sound (alarm). Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Guard Enemy Guard enemies use a behaviour script to determine what actions they should take based on certain prerequisites. Data from the perception component is processed into alert data which can be used by the behaviour script to select an appropriate response from the action component. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Camera Enemy The security camera acts as a light detection obstacle . Forcing the player to maneuver around its field of view to stay concealed. Using a simplfied version of the guard behaviour the camera alerts its respective alarm system when the player is found, in doing so alerting nearby guards to the disturbance. Sound Detector Enemy The sound detector challenges the player through limiting their movement while they’re within range. Running, jumping or dropping down will all alert the detector and as such the player must plan around these obstacles. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Mechanics Player Mechanics Movement The player character has a variety of different movement states, allowing the player to control the movement of their character easily and precisely The character can jump and crouch, as well as walking at a reduced speed and running at an increased speed. They can also combine these actions if needed, such as crouch walking or sprint jumping. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Interaction The player can interact with many different smart objects within a chosen level , to interact with these objects the player must be within range as well as looking directly at the object. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Toolset The player has six tools at their disposal, each has a distinct use case where it is best suited. • Flashlight – Toggle on and off to shine a cone of light towards the players look rotation. • Whacker – Allows for the player to knock enemies’ unconscious if the player is close enough and undetected. • Lockpick – Provides the player with the ability to unlock locked doors if they do not require a key. • Keychain – Provides the player with the ability to unlock locked doors if they require a key and the key has been picked up by the player. • Dartgun – Shoots a ray cast and knocks out the target after a countdown. • Flashbang – Stuns any enemies within the blast radius. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Enemy Mechanics Patrol While in a passive state of alert the guard will patrol around a set series of points, each point possesses a different transform and wait time. Once the enemy reaches the point they will wait for the specified time before moving on. Guards can be set to l oop through the points as well as return in reverse order. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Investigate When a low - level stimulus is detected the guard enemy will move to the location to investigate further. Once at the location they will pick a series of points within the local area which they will then move between, searching for the player. Final Year Project – Kai Stevens (21020301) Stealth - based Immersive Simulation Alerted When alerted the guard enemy will pursue the player, if lost the enemy will start a timer after which they will lose the players location and investigate their last known position.