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Camp Trip
[Engine: Source, Half-Life 2] [Team Size: 1 person]
Description | Custom Features | Downloads | Screenshots | Videos
Camp Trip combines the gameplay of a first person shooter with the structure of a role-playing game. Players find and receive quests, exploring a story-rich environment and battling the combine.
Custom Features:
- quest-based objectives
- questing management system
- dialog system
- scripted NPCs for missions and ambience
- detailed BSP sculpting and texturing to create buildings with depth and decor
Downloads:
- Download Camp Trip [ 34.5MB, zipped ] - requires Half-Life 2, Episode 2.
- Download Installation Instructions [ 2.0KB, txt ]
This is a full run-through of Camp Trip, demonstrating the experience from the beginning to the end.
At the beginning of the level, the player must complete a paint can collection quest.
To assist the player in finding paint cans, spilled paint decals mark areas where players can expect to find cans.
For example, one paint can rolled under a dumpster. The white decal on the floor (running beneath the dumpster) hints that a paint can is near. If the player crouches, he sees that a can rolled under the dumpster. To obtain the can, the player activates the forklift.
Initially, playtesters commented that this quest was too difficult. To ease the difficulty, I added more paint cans (5 total) than the quest requires (3 total). I also applied the white paint decals more liberally. Lastly, I scripted the NPCs to provide clues around paint can locations.
Camp Trip features a custom RPG-style questing system. Players accept quests from NPCs with talk bubbles above their heads. Quest Givers assign the player new objectives, reward them for completing quests, and provide some back story.
The quest and dialog systems are entirely handled in script. Putting this together required a lot of planning, testing, and organization. Furthermore, I found that it helped having a robust naming system in place in order to manage the number of entities required
I also applied the game/quest states and the dialog system to the crowd NPCs. Depending on the player's quest status, these NPCs will say a number of different things at random. Occasionally, these NPCs provide backstory or hints to the player. Overall, allowing the player to talk to the ambient NPCs creates a more immersive, interactive environment.
The video above demonstrates how the dialog system coordinates with the game states. At each game state, Alex (NPC) responds differently.
This video also shows how scripted animations bring life to dialog.
For the final quest in Camp Trip, the player must protect Elena (NPC) as she runs through the labor camp to collect provisions for her escape.
This escort quest pulls the player into dangerous zones; thus, the player must be alert as he keeps watch for Combine and maintains focus on Elena.
My goal for this quest was to challenge the player with risk-reward tradeoffs. Along the way, the player can run into rooms or alleyways to find health and ammo. However, collecting pickups causes the player to briefly deviate from the quest at hand.
One of the challenges of scripting this quest was composing the dropship and Combine events to occur in-view as the player traverses the compound. This involved frequent testing and a readiness to re-think the way I triggered events.
Another challenge was tuning the quest to be easier for players. Playtesters commented that it was too easy to lose track of the NPC. To help solve this problem, I implemented a warning message when he strays too far from the NPC. Also, I scripted the NPC to stop and wait for the player at certain stations. This allows the player to take care of the Combine before returning to the NPC.