Introduction
CrisisX is a survival, open-world, crafting game(SOC). The game is now testing in Southeastern Asia and North America. The game is focusing on PvPvE, which means players can choose to fight agains AI zombies or other players or both. Players play as survivors in a zombie world. They can collect resources, build guilds, and kill all kinds of living things.
Contributions
· Designed and implemented character state machines for twelve firearms and two types of bows and crossbows, including first person and third person
· Collaborated with art and programming teams to fine-tune combat performance, significantly reducing animation asset quantity and development costs
· Designed and implemented recoil and reloading systems for firearms, improving design efficiency and combat performance
· Implemented 12 firearms by the systems above-mentioned, meet a satisfactory result
· Optimized and balanced firearm statistics to realize the targeted combat experience
· Developed a basic ping system and shooting range tools to quickly validate firearm statistics
· Designed and optimized the state machine for throwables
· Designed and implemented the ladder-climbing system and character state machine to improve productivity
· Collaborated with art and programming teams to fine-tune combat performance, significantly reducing animation asset quantity and development costs
· Designed and implemented recoil and reloading systems for firearms, improving design efficiency and combat performance
· Implemented 12 firearms by the systems above-mentioned, meet a satisfactory result
· Optimized and balanced firearm statistics to realize the targeted combat experience
· Developed a basic ping system and shooting range tools to quickly validate firearm statistics
· Designed and optimized the state machine for throwables
· Designed and implemented the ladder-climbing system and character state machine to improve productivity
Stories Behind
Character State Machines
I took charge of part of the character state machines, mainly the ranged weapons aspect, collaberating with my leader. After I dived into the work, I found that the state machines' work was more complex than I expected. The desinger of the state machines, who quitted the job, failed to organize the systems that the state machines were almost impossible to expand for more actions. In order to optimize it, I decided to refactor the whole state machine.
Firstly, I meticulously planned what states I needed, and splitted them into detailed parts. After communicating with the animation team frequently, I came out with a thorough plan of how to make the state machines.
For the firearm parts, I divided the state machines into 2 parts, based on how the characters holded the guns. Based on these 2 parts, I overlayed different hand postures to make sure the characters were holding different firearms correctly.
Then, in order to address the problem that different firearms had different length, this was where the IK system took control. I spent several meetings with the programmer team, and figured out a set of IK to control the characters hand and arm positions.
Holding Pistols
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Man_holding_handgun.jpg
Holding Rifles
https://itoldya420.getarchive.net/media/a-marine-holds-his-rifle-in-the-ready-position-during-eacde1
Player using shotguns against zombies
Firearms Designs
After finishing the state machines, I worked to design firearms from nothing, including the initial plans and positions, and the statics of them. I planned 12 firearms in total. There were pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, and sub-machine guns. Working with the programmer team, we managed to develop a system that reflects a realistic recoil system.
After the system was built, I collaborated with numerical designer to determine the statistics of the firearms. To simplify the process, I developed a shooting range and a ping system in order to testify the statistics.
Character Creation State Machines
For a side work, I helped the animation team to create state machines for character creations. The work was mainly about implementing the animations into the game, and making sure they are being played correctly. Also, I was responsible for combining the weapons and items onto the characters and move along with the animation.
In addition, I helped to debug some issues during character creations. For example, the sliders failed to control corresponding parts of the body.
Character Creation Animation