MeadowVille
Forsbergs School Project
Top Down Cozy Casual Strategy
Unreal Engine 5.2 / Unreal Engine Blueprints
Team: 4
Duration: 10 weeks
Role: NPC mechanics, Animations, NPC AI, Quest System, Events System, Audio Manager.
NPC Interaction & Dialogue
Using blueprints and a simple array of quotes that would be randomly selected on interaction was able to present a passable dialogue like system in game for player interaction. Each NPC has a specific set of quotes. Adding or deleting quotes is a simple matter of going into the array via the editor and making adjustments
Blueprint vs C++
We used a combination of both C++ programming, for educational purposes, and Blueprint scripting for higher development speed.
Quests & Events
Within the context of the game, there are also quests and events that pop up to challenge the player. Quests are voluntary, events happens and the player must overcome. This was relatively straight forward, although I ended up spending too much time on the Quest system over-engineering something that most we won’t use (YAGNI) But the system is very flexible, making quests very easy.
For the event system, I realised I did not need such
complexity and went with more basic system of enums
which lead to certain events.
Quests
Quests are displayed on interaction with the quest assigning component which can be added to any actor in the scene.
On acceptance of quest the quest is then displayed in the quest log with objects that are checked off as they are completed by the player. On completion of the quest, rewards can be set to be claimed automatically, or return to the quest giver to claim reward.
Events
Events Generator
“Events” occur randomly to challenge the player and the player’s ability to handle unexpected crisis that pop up in the life of any farmer.
a simple enum of events was created, detailing each event that occurs, a check of random chance of an event occurring, and when it occurs a random event is selected.
Event - The Birds
These events are binary in nature, with the player either having the requisite farm upgrade to counteract the negative effects of the event, or the player must accept the consequences of the event and perhaps aim to upgrade the farm to prevent the next event from happening
Farm Upgrades
Certain farm upgrades have ability to offset Events that may randomly occur, immunizing the player from the effects of negative random occurences. Like a Well would negate a drought, Cat would negate mice infestation. An incentive for player to earn more money to upgrade the farm
Audio Manager
To create the iconic musical experience of Meadowville, we made the decision to try to have the background ambient music tie into the different seasons of the game. As the seasons change, so does the music track that is playing in the background. This was achieved by adding event listener to the audio manager, which listened for the broadcast by the time changing interfaces that would broadcast the change of season.