Down But Not Out Device Design Example

The Down But Not Out device can save players from elimination. Even if a player loses all their health, another player can swoop in and revive them before it’s too late!

In this example, the objective is to occupy the capture area at the mountain's summit for a specified time to win the game, with players working cooperatively to achieve the objective.

This device is an excellent choice for team vs. team games, allowing players to rescue teammates in danger. You will learn how to build a cooperative mountain-climbing game where players have to rely on each other to overcome the dangers of the mountain and reach the summit!

Devices Used

• 2 x Player Spawner devices (for two players)

• 1 x Physics Boulder device

• 1 x VFX Creator device

• 1 x Audio Player device

• 1 x Volume device

• 1 x Damage Volume device

• 1 x Capture Area device

• 1 x Down But Not Out device

Build Your Own

For this example, you will configure the island settings, build your mountain, and add and modify devices.

Configure the Island Settings

Since this game is about climbing, you'll want to make sure that the players move in ways that support that gameplay.

1. Go to Island Settings, then make the following changes.

2. Select Player, then Locomotion.

3. Scroll down as needed to make the following modifications:

   

   

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Allow Mantling	On	Players can mantle up the mountain.
   Allow Hurdling	On	Players can hurdle over barriers as they scale.
   Allow Sprinting	On	Players can increase speed or height of jump.
   Sprinting Energy Cost Per Second	25	The increased cost of sprinting makes the game more challenging.
   Glider Redeploy	Off	Players cannot use a glider if they fall off the mountain.

Build the Mountain

There are a number of galleries with big pieces of rock that make a great starting point for your mountain-climbing game. This design example uses terrain pieces from the Modular Mountain Gallery Temperate Buildable and Modular Rock Gallery Temperate A galleries, but feel free to select from other galleries as well.

Build the Mountain Base

1. Place some rocks to build the base for your mountain. The bigger the base of your mountain, the more rocks you can add to make it fun to climb!

2. Scale each rock as needed to fit with the other rocks.

   

Add Ledges for Climbing

The bottom rocks provide the base for your mini-game, but you should continue to pile on more to ensure that players can scale from the bottom to the peak.

Using rocks as ledges also lets the player take advantage of movements like mantling.

Explore the galleries and you’ll find all sorts of interesting shapes for players to climb over.

If you need to scale or rotate the rocks, make sure the Quick Menu (Tab > Quick Menu) Collision setting is on Terrain.

This lets you push the ledge rocks into the base mountain to create an upward path.

Be sure to test the path that you build — if you can’t climb from ground to peak, it's likely no one else can either!

Add Some Danger!

On the mountain, players have to watch out for dangerous boulders rolling down from above. You'll use devices to help players identify dangerous areas with showers of falling rocks and a rumbling sound when they enter into an area where a boulder can fall.

Place a Physics Boulder Device

To find this device, use the search box, or look at the Environment subcategory under Devices.

1. Place a Physics Boulder device on your island. Place this device near your mountain. You will change the position later.

2. Use the following settings to customize it.

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Damage to Players	100.0	This is lower than the default damage to give other players a chance to use the DBNO feature.
   Damage to Environment	0.0	For this game mechanic, you don't need damage to the environment, only to players.
   Balanced Boulder Respawns on Timer	Off	Once a boulder tumbles, you don't want it to respawn.
   Leave Base	Off	You will want the base to come down with the boulder.

Place a VFX Creator Device

You will use this device to create a visual effect for falling rocks.

1. Add a VFX Creator device near the Physics Boulder device.

2. Use the following settings to create a visual effect that looks like a shower of falling rocks:

   

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Enabled During Phase	Gameplay Only	Player will only see this effect once the game starts.
   Sprite Shape	Splatter	This looks like clumps of dirt.
   Sprite Size	2X	This sets the initial size of the sprites at twice the default, to make it look more like clumps of dirt.
   Sprite Duration	3S	The clumps will fall then fade after 3 seconds.
   Main Color	#3B3B3B	The hex code color for a shade of brown.
   Main Color Brightness	7.7/%	This is brighter than the default value to make it more obvious.
   Use Secondary Color	Yes	This is the color the clumps transition to.
   Secondary Color	5A595A	The code for a shade of gray.
   Secondary Color Brightness	7.7/%	Brighter than the default value.
   Effect Gravity	10 percent	Slows down how fast the particles fall.
   Keep Size	No	Lets the particles change size over time.
   Spawn Mode	Bursts	Instead of a continuous splatter effect, it will happen in bursts.
   Time Between Loops	5S	Sets 5 seconds between each burst.
   Spawn Zone Size	0.6	This size is slightly larger than the default.

Place an Audio Player Device

Not every spot on the mountain is safe, and rolling boulders are a constant danger. You'll use an audio player to play a dramatic sound effect that will help warn players that a huge rock is about to tumble down on their heads!

1. Add an Audio Player device near the Physics Boulder device.

2. Customize the device with the following values:

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Enabled During Phase	Gameplay Only	This effect is only needed for gameplay.
   Audio	Spooky Lobby Thunder	Produces a sound like the rumbling of falling rocks.
   Volume	2.5	Ups the volume enough to be mildly alarming.
   Play on Hit	Off	The audio will be triggered through a different mechanic, covered under Bind the Devices below.

Place a Volume Device

The boulders are only released when players enter certain areas. You’ll use a Volume device to bind the other devices and create the hazards climbers will encounter when climbing your mountain.

1. Place the Volume device close to the other devices.

2. Customize it with the following settings:

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Vehicle Events Enabled	Off	Keeps vehicles from triggering devices bound with this volume.
   Creature and Wildlife Events Enabled	Off	Keeps creatures and wildlife from triggering.
   Guard Events Enabled	Off	Also blocks guards from triggering the devices.

This leaves only the Player Events Enabled, which means that when a player enters or leaves this volume, bound devices will be triggered.

Bind the Devices

Direct event binding is how devices communicate with each other. There are several bindings you'll need to set up for the game mechanics to work correctly.

You will bind the Physics Boulder, VFX Creator and the Audio Player to the Volume device to activate all of them when a player enters volume, and to send the boulder rolling down the side of the mountain when they exit the volume!

All of this binding can be done from the Volume device.

1. Open the Customize Volume and go to the Events tab.

2. Set the following event bindings:

   

   Event	Select Device	Select Function
   On Enter Send Event To	VFX Creator	Start Effect at Device
   On Enter Send Event To	Audio Player	Play
   On Exit Send Event To	Physics Boulder	Release Rolling Boulder
   On Exit Send Event To	Physics Boulder	Destroy Base
   On Exit Send Event To	VFX Creator	Disable

These settings result in a warning of eminent rock fall to a player when they enter the volume, followed by an actual falling boulder when the player moves out of the volume.

Position the Obstacles on Your Mountain

Now that you've configured the first four devices, it's time to get them ready to do their dangerous magic.

1. Rotate the Physics Boulder onto its side so the big rock can roll freely once the device is triggered.

   

2. Place the VFX Creator device under the Physics Boulder device. This will help direct players' attention toward the danger.

3. Place the Audio Player device above the boulder.

4. Group select all three devices, then copy and paste them together on your mountain.

5. Place the Volume device along the path beneath the devices that the players will climb. Adjust the size of the volume so it fits the ledge where you place it.

   

6. If you've created multiple paths, repeat steps 4 and 5 to add more obstacles.

Set the Win Condition Devices

Some mountain peaks rise so high that breathing becomes difficult when a climber scales them. Mountain climbers call this region the death zone. The remaining devices will set up the game mechanics for your mountain's death zone.

Place a Damage Volume Device

1. Place a Damage Volume device and center it in your mountain.

2. Adjust the depth, width, and height so it covers the top ledges that players must climb to reach the summit without covering the top summit area.

   Don’t let the Damage Volume extend above the summit.

   

3. Customize the Damage Volume device:

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Damage	1	Reduces the amount of damage done to work better with the DBNO device.
   Affects Creatures	No	Creatures are not affected by this device.
   Affects Guards	No	Guards are not affected by this device.
   Affects Vehicles	No	Vehicles are not affected by this device.

The last three settings leave only players losing health from this damage volume.

Place a Capture Area Device

You will add a Capture Area device to your mountain that covers the summit area. This defines the peak of the mountain as the objective for your players to climb to.

1. Place the Capture Area device.

   

2. Configure the device with the following settings.

   

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Capture Radius	1 Tile	The size of the capture area.
   Capture Height	½ Tile	Its height.
   Item Visible in Game	Off	Hides the area hologram in-game.
   Visible During Game	Off	Hides the device in-game. This also turns off collision properties for the device, meaning that players can pass through the device when in the area.
   Consume Item on Scoring	No	Since no items are required to enter the area, no items are consumed.
   Consume Item When Dropped	No	Again, no points are made for dropped items.
   Can Be Used for Periodic Scoring By	All	Since this game is cooperative, not competitive, the area can be used by all players.
   Item Delivery Score	0	No score is awarded for delivered items.
   Control Time	10 Seconds	Sets how long a player needs to be in the area to take control.
   Take Control Faster Per Player	X2	Increases control based on the number of players in the area.
   Take Control Faster While Emoting	X2	Affects how much emoting increases the player's ownership of the area. Dance for victory!
   Progress Decay Type	Instant	Removes the need for a player to carry an object to gain control of the area.
   Count as Objective	On	This lets the area count as the game objective.

Place a Down But Not Out Device

The final device here is Down But Not Out. With this, players can rescue each other from the dangers of the climb so they can all reach the summit together!

1. Place the DBNO device.

2. Customize it with the following settings.

   

   Option	Value	Description
   DBNO Enabled	Yes	Determines whether players can be put into a Down But Not Out state.
   Time to Revive	5 Seconds	How long it takes to revive a downed teammate.

Complete Island Settings Configurations

The final step is to configure the Mode and Round settings in your Island Settings.

1. Go to Island Settings, then select Mode > Structure.

2. Make the following changes:

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Max Players	4	Controls how many players can enter the game at a time.
   Teams	Cooperative	This keeps all players working together.
   Team Size	1	This ensures everyone is on the same team.

3. Go to Round > End Condition, and make the following changes:

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Time Limit	None	There is no time limit to the game.
   Objectives to End	1	Only 1 objective is required for the players to win the game.

4. Go to Round > Victory Condition, and make the following changes:

   

   Option	Value	Description
   Round Win Condition	Objectives	Once the objective is accomplished, the game is over!

And there you have it — a cooperative mountain climbing adventure!

Design Tip

Explore adding other devices to create even more obstacles on your mountain!