Where to start? I’ve been working on this project for a long time, and now it’s time to come back to it and implement a new direction I want to take with it.

Besides working on a VR project that’s set to release in a couple of months, I’ve also been revisiting an older project. I felt it was time to pick it up again.

I had some new directions and ideas I wanted to explore. Since this was my first project when I started learning Unreal Engine, I invested so much time and love into it. However, I had to step away because of real-life troubles. Now, I’ve decided it’s time to return to it. That said, this isn’t a project I can just release quickly. Developing it takes a significant amount of time. For now, I’ll be working on it off and on. While I hope it won’t take too long to develop, I know it won’t be done within a couple of months. There’s a long list of things to create and clean up, which will take time.

One exciting feature I’ve been developing is a level generator. I built it with some guidance from a video I watched, adapting the blueprint code to my needs. It’s not finished yet, but it’s coming along. The generator places rooms randomly and works in phases.

• Phase One: The base walls, floors, and ceilings spawn.
• Phase Two: After identifying the last room that’s farthest from the starting room, it spawns cavern rooms to add variety to the level.

It’s not easy to create this, as there are many methods for making a random level generator. After researching other solutions, I decided this approach was the best for my needs and easiest to adapt. I’m also considering rewriting it in C++ in Unreal Engine and potentially releasing it on Unreal’s Fab page. For now, I’ll stick with blueprints and focus on making it work for my game.

I don’t want to reveal too much about the project just yet, but I can say it’s going to be a 4-player co-op horror/action/tactics game, focusing on all three elements.

I’m still facing several challenges, particularly optimizing NPC spawning and models. At the moment, I’m considering using a plugin for Unreal Engine or creating my own NPC/level director system. This would manage NPCs by resetting them out of the player’s sight and returning them to the beginning instead of destroying them. Destroying NPCs can consume CPU/GPU resources, which I want to avoid. Resetting them will also use performance resources, but there might be ways to handle this—like waiting until players aren’t actively engaging in tasks. This could help reduce frame cost and improve game performance.

There’s still a lot to think about, but as they say, all in good time.

Until the next post, stay safe and peace out.