Details
Sugarcoated Slaughter
Ragdoll Rumble Studios
Gameplay Video
Work in progress, but it is on itch.io
Game Description
Sugarcoated Slaughter is a mobile game in which players fight against other gummy bears in various arenas to be crowned the ultimate winner.
Player’s can customize their character to distinguish themselves from other gummy bears by choosing different hats, weapons, and colors.
Engine: Unreal Engine 5.4
Team Size: 7
Duration: 16 weeks
Role: Lead/Sole Programmer
Dates: August 2024 - December 2024
Code Snippets
Active Ragdoll
When the game begins, the player’s character simulates physics (ragdolls) everywhere below the bone closest to the root. If the root bone is selected as the target from which all bodies below it simulate physics, the player’s character will be spinning around and unable to remain upright. Simulating from the bone closest to the root allows the player’s character to remain somewhat upright, which is also influenced by the physical animation settings.
Physical animation settings are applied to adjust how the ragdolling of the character behaves. The values of the physcial animation data can be tweaked to adjust how the physics are applied. For example, lowering the orientation strength to 10 results in the player’s character being unable to adjust back to its original upright orientation. With the orientation setting at 10, the player’s character looks to be laying on the ground as they walk around the map.
The active ragdoll was a crucial feature for Sugarcoated Slaughter, and it helps create silliness, a key aspect of the game, as players fling themselves around the map and attempt to hit enemies by swinging their weapon.
Active ragdoll can be seen throughout the majority of the gameplay video at the top of the page.
Difficulty Settings Saving
The changing of difficulty settings can be seen right when the gameplay video at the top of the page begins.
From the main menu, the player is able to click on the difficulty settings, which allows them to make the game easier or harder for themselves.
The settings included in the difficulty settings menu are, the number of enemies to spawn, the enemies’ health, and the player’s health. If the player wants to play against more enemies, they can simply move the number of enemies slider to a higher number. Once the player presses the save button in the bottom right of their screen, they will have the settings applied when they spawn in. If the player set the number of enemies to 25 and spawned into the Colosseum map, it would be rather hectic, which some player’s may find fun.
Offering the player various settings that they can tweak to adjust how easy or hard the game is helps make the game more accessible to player’s of varying skill levels. Additionally, it allows for player’s to customize the type of experience they will receive. They can make the game more challenging, or easier, based on what kind of experience they want from the game.
Player Character Spinning in Customization Menu
The spinning of the player character in the customization menu can be seen at 20 seconds in the gameplay video page.
Once the player has pressed the play button on the main menu and chosen their desired level, they are able to customize their character. As the player is customizing their character in the customization screen, they are able to spin their character around the z axis to see how their weapon, hat, and color look from different angles.
The speed at which the character spins around the z axis is determined by the speed of the player’s finger as it moves across the x axis of the screen, in addition to the rotation speed that is set in the blueprint. When the player takes their finger off the screen, the rotation of the character stops. The opposite occurs when the player puts their finger back on the screen; they are able to spin their character again.
Although the character spinning was not a required feature to make the game work, it helps add to the overall silliness of the game. The character in the customization screen is simulating physics, so it can be enjoyable to violently spin the character to see how the ragdoll behaves.