Folkvang Studios

03/28/2025

While still in development infancy, the AI system is coming along very nicely. Instead of doing standard behavior trees for AI, I am building out a neural network system.

What you are seeing is the NPC's patrolling about, remembering objects seen and picking up health potions and swords. They respond to attacks, will defend and if needed, flee.

At this stage the combat system is very "in development" and only has punches. The health system doesn't properly handle zero health yet. But that isn't the goal at this stage. NPC's collecting items and exploring their world, while learning behaviors is the goal.

Once I can start adding more item variety, like money, food and resources, I'll run this as a massive simulation to train the NPCs for an initial game ready intelligence that will grow with the gamer.

03/16/2025

Not my most exciting updates visually. This dives into the behind the scenes Intelligent AI system I am working on for the in development game.

My goal is to have a learning AI that adapts to the player and presents an increasing challenge. It has emergent behaviors as an Orc could potentially befriend a bunny and have it follow him into battle.

I'm using the old school Neural Network AI to create this. There also will be a StoryTeller AI that starts creating world events based on player actions. The goal is to keep things interesting and engaging without too much scripted out behaviors.

I got into game programming explicitly for AI. Smart, intelligent, learning and emergent AI gameplay. The AI in my "Super Panda" series games was a first step. The AI had a limited awareness of the environment, didn't need waypoints, and could simply be drag and dropped into the level and just work no matter where it was. It made level design and boss fights super easy.

So What I am working on here is my next step in AI design. A neural network fueling the AIController instead of Behavior Trees. The downside is this AI will actually need to be pre-trained before game release. The upside is that this AI can learn and evolve to match and exceed the player. I will need to adjust the learning rate to give the game a decent difficulty curve.

But that is all for now this week. Happy Ides of March.

03/09/2025

Hello and welcome to another game development update. This time I am in a smaller (yes another test level) level to focus on the current gameplay and future look of the Island. These level assets showcase exactly the vision I have for the game's look and feel. The houses look a lot more permanent than the current houses in the Dock town. They're also fully furnished so I don't have to worry about that time consuming task. They also have a pretty long foundation which makes placement so much easier, as I don't need to paint a "no grass" zone under each house. I also don't need to perfectly level the terrain underneath, giving each placement a significantly more natural feel to it. It's also a sneaky little time saver trick too.

I placed in some static NPC's to give the town a little more "life" to it, it's cheap but it worked since this is simply a walking tour of what is to come. The NPC's will all have a purpose and will wander around to wherever they feel like going, since they will have an actual albeit small brain.

Talking about brains. I'm finishing up the neural network brains of my Fauna and "sentient" enemies. They will be learning and adapting to the player over time. Interesting enough if an Orc feeds a rat, it will grow affinity towards him and eventually become a pet... Of course Unreal decides it didn't like my C++ project and refuses to compile. What a headache this has become trying to troubleshoot. Especially since I'm right at the point where the system can finally be tested. I anticipate a week or two before this gets working again.

03/08/2025

Here's a quick draft of how I'll be implementing the neural brain for the Enemy NPC system. There's a few more items to add in but this is the start. I will most likely add a few more hidden layers depending on performance. Since each monster type gets their own brain instance, it may become a bit intensive. This gist of it is this uses the Unreal EQS and Perception system to form a basic environmental awareness.

The Instance AI will be the World controller, spawning enemies and creating world events while adjusting the challenge level to keep things always interesting.

03/07/2025

Happy International Woman's Day(Early). Sorry about the poor audio quality on the second half, my OBS settings were messed up yet again.

I'm really excited to be getting this video out. A lot has been in the works as far as The Realm is concerned. The Island is the same 4x4km, which probably is far too big. A new settlement has sprung up and is rather amazing. Yes, it is an asset from the Unreal store, however it really adds to the feel I'm trying to get into the game.

I moved the main city to a much better and more natural feeling location. They have a cliffside over the ocean now. Where I have originally placed the city just didn't look right, it was too unnatural.

The dock town also got it's update. The area was smoothed out to be a bit more eroded and the path into the mainland has a much better look, as if it's been there forever. Textures and materials are updated. The housing will be swapped out for better looking, more sturdy looking houses that should be by an ocean dock. Especially in a land where the people never die (for long).

Second half I showcase the parallel project, currently it's just a battle arena with 2 enemy types and a Boss. Nothing super exciting, but still took 2 months to build with Unreal GAS system. This is going to be where I develop and Test the AI agents. Why a side project? It's cleaner, smaller and doesn't take forever to load. I can focus on a very uncluttered environment, then roll in the changes to the main project. It may be a weird way to work, but it is efficient.

The AI will use Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms along with Behavior trees and the EQS system. They will have environmental awareness. A need to find food and health. Will remember the player's moves and technique and slowly adjust their style. They will use group combat tactics and all sorts of other interesting ways to grow in difficulty with the player. Maybe I'll call it "Cylon-AI". I probably can't due to copyright, but I can dream.

03/06/2025

The Realm is expanding.

Hello all. I haven't done an update in quite a long time. I have been working on yet another combat system, this one using Unreal's GAS system. It's not a simple thing for sure. As far as world building, nothing significant has been going on. The Island has a Main City now. The other city moved to a more natural location and the docks are still in place. I am going to do a major asset swap on both my original cities to give the houses a more "permanent" look.

02/07/2025

After a few (dozen) hours trying Path of Exile, I went on to finally try Grim Dawn.
I am just drawn to ARPGs. So this is the Path I'll be taking this project. Granted with my team size, this game won't even come close to these two incredible games. But I can at least (try to) capture the parts that are purely enjoyable.

01/28/2025

Dev Update 08: Bear with me here. This looks like a step backwards again. Because you're all going to ask "well what happened to the playable game?" I assure you the game portion is still there. At the moment, I'm focusing on different AI techniques and combat skill systems. These things are mostly behind the scenes stuff and are very time consuming. Especially UI, that stuff makes nightmares hide. When I get to building out the crafting system, I expect this too will take time. My 2025 challenge will be in showing off weekly progress as was originally planned, while keeping it interesting.

Section 1 is AI, I am working out different AI systems as well as boss fights. I'm torn between the main player as a warrior or magician. I may only have both these classes in the initial Early Access release. I would love to have a Rogue, Bard... and other traditional classes added later on. Heck, If I can work out a party system, I may have 4 or so main characters that you can choose to play from and they'll all be in the game. Future thinking here.

Section 2 is Dungeon Architect. I bought DA for Unity back around 2019 or earlier. Built a nice steampunk city with it and just stopped. Dynamic navmesh just would not work and I moved on to focusing on "Animal Friends Adventure" XBOX release. So I reached out to the creator and basically said "hey here's my purchase receipt, I moved to Unreal Engine, Is it possible to migrate?" and he sent me a file. Not a store key, just the current version. So any updates I would have to buy from the Epic store. Still, not a bad deal as I can get my project going while I wait for Dungeon Architect to go on sale. $300 is a bit out of my price range at the moment. I'd totally have bought it at full price if I had the means, just because the creator was so awesome about it.

Section 3: is about the world building. While I love the dock city asset, it is greatly lacking in the feeling of "permanence". The buildings are wood with thatched roofing, they look like a settlement that just landed. Not one that has been around for thousands of years. they need more stone architecture and a feeling of built to last. Also they lacked furnishing and that in itself would be a massive project. Thanks to Humble Bundle, I snatched up a sweet Dock town asset with fully furnished houses that also look a bit more permanent. They have a solid stone foundation, interior lighting and basic furnishings. Ideal for starting a Medieval RPG game.

All in all, I've been quite busy trying to nail down the direction of the game making it possible to release in my lifetime.

01/26/2025

It just "Hits" differently when the enemy strafing and surrounding the player mechanism works. Unreal Engine has so many built in functionality, sometimes it's like a hidden cheat code. Their EQS system is next level stuff. Back in the day I had to write out A* Algorithms to start to get this level of pathfinding and crowd avoidance. In Unreal, just write a few C++ lines, feed the data up to the Behavior Tree and Tinker with a few EQS parameters.

This is a side project to just focus on the Unreal GAS (Gameplay Ability System) and Enemy AI mechanics. I'm at a good place where I can start building the world instead of having this big empty island.

01/14/2025

Why do I occasionally post seemingly random screenshots accompanied by an equally random blurb? Allow me to explain, as best as I can. I'm currently diving into a few Unreal Engine projects, exploring its myriad components and intricacies. But as someone with ADHD, my learning process is, let’s say, unconventional. My mind thrives on a kind of intellectual parkour—leaping from one concept to another before circling back. These screenshots often represent those ‘eureka’ moments when a piece of the puzzle suddenly clicks into place, and I feel compelled to capture and document it.

It’s not just impulsive; it’s intentional. It’s part of what’s called "reinforcement learning"—a term beloved by AI enthusiasts and neuroscientists alike. You see, the brain operates on a dual-track system: inputs (like sight and sound) and outputs (how we act, explain, or create). But learning something doesn’t always translate to being able to apply it. That’s why disciplines like martial arts often have students teach what they’ve learned—to strengthen the output pathways of their brains. Mastery isn’t just about absorbing information; it’s about retraining your mind to articulate and apply it.

Last year, my focus was all about input—absorbing as much knowledge as possible, head down, deep in the trenches of study. This year, I’m flipping the script. I’m working to actively output what I’ve learned. Writing these blurbs helps me solidify my understanding, refine my thoughts, and—hopefully—contribute something useful to others. It’s not just a habit; it’s a strategy for growth. And, honestly, it’s a lot of fun to see the tangents where my brain decides to wander.

01/13/2025

Fear not, my fellow GameDev adventurers! I'll soon start creating bite-sized GameDev Gems shorts to share with the world. Until then, you’ll have to endure my screenshot dumps and chaotic brain spirals. Trust me, it'll be worth it... eventually.

Today’s gem? Let’s talk about the unsung hero of Unreal Engine: Animation Blueprint Templates. My first encounter with these beauties was last year, thanks to Stephen Ulibarri's Unreal course. It was like discovering a secret weapon hiding in plain sight—a weapon that makes you feel like a wizard wielding the ultimate spell. Cue Gandalf voice: “This is no mere blueprint.”

Here’s the thing: Animation Blueprint Templates are one of those features that can completely revolutionize your workflow—if you know they exist. (Spoiler: Most people miss them because, like a boss fight behind a nondescript door, they’re easy to overlook.)

What makes these templates magical is their flexibility. Imagine creating a single Animation Blueprint (let’s call it the Master Anim Wizard). With this blueprint, you can control a whole legion of NPCs and enemy characters. How? Because these templates don’t chain you to a single skeleton. Nope! They’re like a universal remote for animations. You create one template, and then assign skeleton-specific animations to each of its child copies. It’s like raising an army where every soldier gets their own fighting style—but all take orders from the same general.

It’s the ultimate time-saver and creativity-unlocker. Gone are the days of creating individual blueprints for every character because “Oh no, this one’s got a tail” or “That one’s got extra arms.” With Animation Blueprint Templates, it’s truly One Template to Rule Them All. (Yes, I went full Tolkien fanboi there. Don’t pretend you didn’t smile.)

But wait, there’s more! The brilliance of these templates shines brightest when you’re juggling complex animation systems for different characters. Need to swap out animations for a zombie, a knight, or a robot? No problem. The base template stays the same—you just plug in the relevant animations for the skeleton at hand. It’s like swapping out LEGO bricks without tearing down the whole castle.

Pro tip: Don’t underestimate the power of proper organization. That easily-missed tab I mentioned? It can derail your day faster than a rogue bug. So when setting up your Animation Blueprint Template, keep things tidy. Future-you will thank present-you for not creating a spaghetti monster of animation logic.

So there you have it—Animation Blueprint Templates, the unsung MVP of Unreal’s animation tools. Stay tuned for more gems, and until then, remember: With great power (and a well-organized ABP) comes great responsibility. Now go forth and animate like the wizard you are!

01/13/2025

One of the elegant beauties of the Unreal animation system (Left) is it's familiarity to popular video editing software like Adobe Premier Pro (Right). I tried doing the Split screen look but it's hard to see here :-p

In the "Final Product" known as the Animation Montage (this one is quite simple), you can bring in multiple animations, play in sequence or individually depending on the call. Sounds can be dropped in either as a Sound Cue, Wav, or the new MetaSound. One can then slide the different notifications around at the frame level to get all the various timing perfect.

In another project, I had all the combos in a single montage and it would play depending on a variable in code. In this case, the weapon specific montages are kept in a map on a GameplayAbility attached directly to the weapon Axe/Sword/Halberd...

Doing things this way, keeps the master Animation Blueprint clean, and these different animations are swapped in via an Interface component instead. Project Lyra does it this way and it seems to be the Unreal standard now.

SoundCues and Metasounds allow one to do all the audio logic where it belongs, with the audio system. For repetitive sounds, they can be used to randomize pitch, volume... and/or pull a random sound from a list. This creates a very nice workflow especially in teams where you have an audio engineer, animator, programmer and level designer...

01/12/2025

One of the concepts in Unreal Engine that I have trouble grasping is C++ classes being used in the Blueprints. This BP function is from the C++ class RPGGeneralFunctionLibrary. The power of C++ functions used in Blueprints is something that just cannot be overlooked to make a streamlined and efficient game. I've been on this Unreal journey for over a year now, and it's still a constant learning experience. I love it and hate it all at once. I hate it mostly because I am impatient and want to get some projects pushed out. But I refuse to release garbage.

01/12/2025

Creating combat combo montages in Unreal. Once I got the hang of the overwhelming animation system, it's amazingly efficient in getting the job done.

Essentially you build a bunch of little components, use them to make bigger components and then blend them all in the final Blueprint.

This is just a POC (Proof Of Concept) game to practice the GAS (Gameplay Ability System) system.

01/10/2025

Why such a focus on AI for aRPG NPC characters when all they do is stand around? Monsters just run at you, or stand back and shoot projectiles.

The New Year has started and I'm excitedly boiling over with ideas. I'm certainly not the first person to think of a more advanced AI in video games. The Sims, Black&White even Dragon's Dogma 2. Even Skyrim had a decent AI subsystem. But with more and more powerful home PC's and consoles, AI can really take the forefront here. Indie studios like me can't afford hyper realistic ultra generation graphics. So the GPU and CPU will be pretty bored waiting for more work to come at it. This is where the neural networking side of AI comes in.

RPG games in general are the perfect hotbed for AI. Imagine if Cyberpunk put more thinking into their NPCs. They're already pretty good but there is so much more to explore.

aRPG games basically have two game AI types. The monster either charges at you or stands at a distance flinging stuff. I have been exploring the excellent "Path of Exile" and that is pretty much it. Blasting through endless hoards of these two AI types and the variations, with elemental stats to add depth.

Imagine if the monsters went at you, stopped after a few got dispatched by the player and they retreated to formulate a new attack strategy. Instead of padding difficulty with more Armor/HP/Damage... have the monsters constantly learning and evolving strategy against the player. This is where Genetic Algorithms and reinforcement learning come into play.

As said in another post. imagine NPC's outside of the standard Blacksmith, Vendor and other "Key" NPCs are all going about their business and bringing a little life into each town. Especially with quests generated by the NPC to meet their specific need at the moment.

It's just so exciting thinking of this and now that I have the core parts of Unreal understood, I can start focusing on the parts I really want to implement.

01/10/2025

01/10/2025

Image for Illustrative purposes.

My ultimate design goal for the aRPG will be a focus on NPC AI. Like the actual C++ coded neural networks style AI that will constantly keep learning through a reinforcement style learning system.

They will have personality sliders and wants/needs as well as jobs and some basic emotion. The NPC's will tie into a quest system for dynamic quest generation as well.

So as the picture shows, Johnny stole an apple from Sue. He did this a few times and Sue remembers it. Because Johnny keeps getting away with the theft, the AI system sees that as his "reward" reinforcing further bad behavior. Because the theft is a negative reward for Sue, she gets more angry at Johnny. Eventually she submits a quest for the player to "punish" Johnny.

The apple is food, so eating it satiates hunger which is a reward for the AI. Buying the apple with currency would have given Johnny a better reward, but he's poor and could not afford it. Or, he has the money, but his Adventure/Risk setting might be too high...

Of course this is all theoretical pondering at the time. It's in the plan to get started for mid 2025.

01/10/2025

I'm very glad that the C++ standards added in the "not" keyword. While use of the not '!' operator is still common practice, it can be easily missed. I recently wasted a good hour scouring my code looking for why the weapon would not properly equip and that pesky '!', or lack of was to blame.

Granted while I learned the early versions of c++ when there was only the '!' operator, I am not above changing for the better and writing more readable code. Especially since I often will drop a project for a year to work on something else.