Dev log #1 The Dosimeter
Every game which is focused around a nuclear disaster should have a properly modeled radiation system and a way of feedbacking player about the level of radiation he is standing in and how much of a threat it is to him.
In our game every single spot on all of the maps has some level of gamma radiation assigned to it. In most cases it’s just a regular (albeit heightened) background radiation which is harmless to our character in the timescale the game takes place.
However there are also alfa, beta and gamma hotspots (usually created by overlapping fields of various irradiated elements scattered nearby each other or clouds of dust filling the air of some closed off room) which are way more dangerous
Player is informed about this danger by a variety of means, with the most important one being his suit-attached dosimeter which we have integrated into the hud.
Its current version looks like this:
As you can see the dosimeter has two separate pointers:
- the black one shows the amount of combined environmental radiation that the player is surrounded with - its end of scale is 200 x 1000 Roentgen / h - which is an extremely deadly environment, able to incapacitate a human being within seconds of exposure
- fortunately we have a green pointer - it gives us an information of how much of this outside radiation is able to penetrate through character’s protection and actually affect his organism
- the additional indicators below the pointers mark other environmental hazards than the radiation - that includes high temperature, bio-chem hazards, electric shock and low oxygen level.
In CLS you’ll have a variety of ways to protect yourself from radiation as well as other harmful influences. But remember - preparation and careful equipment selection is always the key…
As always if you liked this article and would like to support us in making this game, please wishlist it on Steam :) Thanks!
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