Welcome back to another production blog of ZIEF! My name is Justin and I’m looking forward to discussing all the incredible work and progress our team has made during sprint 5. ZIEF is a tactical zombie stealth game in which a player is dropped off in an infested zone where they can complete a variety of missions. The focus of Sprint 5 was creating our currency system, adding our attachment UI screen, building interiors and more models to populate the game environment. If you’re interested in learning more about the design you can read the designer Christian’s blog here.

As we are approaching the end of our production cycle our team has been working to refine the game loop and add final features to the game. With the mission system completed we now needed to give players a reason to play through the game loop. In order to provide motivation for the player we are adding a series of attachments that will allow the player to improve their weapons and defeat zombies quicker. 

Modeling:

Our modeling team has continued to create new props and assets to populate the game world. Using the modular buildings we have created many different buildings for the player to explore. The modeling team has focused on making assets that will be used to fill out the many buildings that will be around the game world. In order to fill rooms our modelers have created a modular cabinet system that will allow our level designer to create many variations of cabinets that can be placed in rooms. While exploring there will be more objects for players to interact with. Our modelers have created containers and locked crates that will contain pickups so players can make progress on their missions. We also have added specialized locales like an abandoned gas station. Look below to see examples of work completed by our modeling team. 

Programming: 

Our programming team has continued to create the systems that will be necessary to create the game loop of ZIEF. Players will now be able to gain currency when completing missions. The currency earned can now be used to purchase attachments for guns including scopes, silencers and extended magazines. These attachments will allow players options when customizing their weapons loadouts so that they can approach missions in a way that will suit their personal playstyle. We’ve also added new zombie horde AI that moves zombies individually within a horde so that they appear to move at random. The programming team has also begun animating various interactables within the game. As players approach doors, cash registers or creates they will be able to open them by using the interact button. Check out some of the features completed by our programming team down below. 

Level Design:

As we approach the end of our production our level designer has finished blocking out what the game world will look like. To better convey to players that the quarantine zones were placed around existing parts of the town we changed the level so that roads run directly into barricades. Our level designer has also begun blocking out what the interior of buildings will look like. Interiors of buildings have to consist of pickups to be discovered by the player, zombies to avoid or fight and multiple paths to navigate through buildings. Work created by our level designer can be viewed in the images shown below. 

Conclusion:

Our team continues to make amazing progress during the development of ZIEF! This sprint the team was assigned 213 points and completed a total of 159 points. As we enter the final stages or our production cycle we will implement and connect all our systems. Players will be able to play through the entirety of the game loop. We will also be finalizing our game world by populating with all the work our modelers have been making all semester. Upon beating a mission players will be able to purchase weapon attachments in preparation for the next mission. Please stay tuned for more updates and further development of the post-apocalyptic world of ZIEF!