CyberPunch
Developer Logs
CyberPunch Release
[April 17th, 2023]
Our team spent this last week polishing up our project to improve user experience and enjoyment.
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Training Room:
This week we added custom interactions with 4 unique NPCs and improved their colliders so they cannot phase through the punching bag.
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We hope you enjoy interacting with all of them and maybe even learn a thing or two after interacting with them!
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Mini Game:
Vastly improved the visuals of the minigame and improved gameplay by adjusting the spawn rate and speed of the targets, walls, and fists to block.
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We hope you enjoy the new streamlined UI that looks significantly better than previous releases. A tutorial was added for the user to read before they start the mini-game, so it is easier to understand.
VR Boxing Trainer Alpha
[April 10th, 2023]
Our team improved our minigame and leveled up our in-game immersion with improvements to the NPCs. ​
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Minigame Improvements
We added various new features to our target minigame this sprint. The player must hit each target with either their left or right hand, indicated by the target's color. We also added walls the player must duck under, and switched the game to use a decreasing health system instead of a flat timer. These updates raise the ceiling for challenge and provide more variety for the player.
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We also altered the logic of target spawning and game balance for a smoother experience, and changed the player's hands into actual boxing mitts.
NPC Interaction
We also made significant progress with our NPC system. We added blocking to our hit mechanics, and along with new hurt animations the NPCs come alive more than before.
NPCs now look at the player when approached and speak some dialogue. They also demonstrate 2 boxing lessons to the player, fleshing out the educational aspect of our product.
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Goals for final sprint
For our final sprint, we will focus on polishing the game and getting it showcase-ready. We also plan on varying our target minigame a little more, such as shrinking targets over time, and aim to round out the NPC interactions with more lessons.
VR Boxing Trainer Milestone 2
[April 3rd, 2023]
This week we made considerable progress in building the foundation of our game.
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Mini Game Progress
We implemented a high score menu and timer to our game so it last for 60 seconds now, and the player's objective is to hit as many targets as they can in the minute. We made it so the player is teleported to the back of the room facing the target spawner when the game is started and disabled teleportation in the mini-game room to provide a better gameplay experience.
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We plan on adding more obstacles in the next week to improve the gameplay and exercise mechanics of the game.
UI Elements
We have implemented nicer looking UI to give the player a better idea of where the various menu buttons will teleport them and to improve the visuals.
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Hit Registration/AI
We have done extensive work this week trying to create dynamic effects when the AI character is struck while performing various animations. We struggled with getting collisions to work well for the AI character. We are going to prioritize this development this week.
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We have improved the player character to apply an impulse whenever it strikes a punchable target to better simulate real-world physics rather than using the built-in physics simulation which made every punchable target feel weightless.
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Goals for next week
Have the AI better implemented and be able to spar with a basic AI player character. Have hitboxes sent up for the player pawn so they can take damage from the AI's attacks
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Improve the mini-game with more obstacles, make the target's location spawn more random, and make new targets - one for the left hand and one for the right hand so players will have to punch with the specified hand.
VR Boxing Trainer Milestone 1
[March 27th, 2023]
This last week, the team met up to decide what our final project would consist of. We were in between working on an endless runner fitness game or a boxing simulator. We decided to work on the boxing simulator using Unreal Engine 5.0.3 to create an immersive trainer within VR.
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This game is designed to help novice boxers train and become familiar with the sport. The current issue with most VR boxing games is that they don't do a great job teaching the player how to box, they typically just put the player on the map where they are left to punch their opponents or moving targets. Our goal is to put the player into the boxing ring with a personal trainer who is able to teach them different strategies to take down their opponents.
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This week we were able to get a block out of the map created, with a working punching bag and target punching mini-game.
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Social Impact:
Our goal with this project is to provide a fun and convenient way for beginner boxers to develop their skills and learn the sport of boxing. We are looking to make this application as a way to introduce people to the sport.
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Novelty:
There are many boxing games sold on steam, but from our research, most of them do not have any lessons to teach the player how to box. Our goal is to introduce a more educational aspect into the game, so the player will learn how to box while exercising in the game.
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Technicals:
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Researching how to implement AI for players to fight against and how to create hitboxes for the player without full-body motion capture.
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Implementing a challenge book to provide the player with goals to accomplish while playing the game.
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Creating full boxing animations using motion capture suits. This way the player can click on a menu to have a full demonstration of the boxing form.
Financials:
We plan on selling this game on steam for a flat cost and potentially have microtransactions within the game for cosmetic purposes.
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XR Emphasis:
This experience is entirely reliant on virtual reality to immerse the player into the gym and provide them with a truly virtual boxing experience.
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Here is a video demo showing our first week of progress:
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