Tear the Planks Down

How do you get players to interact with the environment in a "deathmatch" game?

Tear the Planks Down is a multiplayer 3D first-person melee combat game about WRECKING STUFF! Players must literally tear down the parts of an establishment or knock each other out for points while using food, trash, and other everyday objects as weapons.

TTPD was inspired by classic early 2000s Roblox "building destruction", "bloxxer", and "swordfighting" games, combined with modern first-person melee combat. It was also inspired by the sheer chaos of a "food fight" and using unexpected objects as weapons.

The game is aiming for a target audience of Ages 9+ and cross-play between PC, mobile, and console (XBox).

State of the Project

I created Tear the Planks Down originally for personal game design, playtesting, and UI practice throughout Summer 2023. Throughout 2023 and 2024, I'm also expanding the game's narrative and world to support the chaotic gameplay.

The project began as a "spiritual successor" to Mega Man Arena X, a previous FPS project that I worked on, except that the highlight would be on messing with the environment instead of garnering "knock-outs". It reuses MMAX's object destruction code, but makes it significantly more optimized.

As of October 2023, I am currently workshopping the narrative and marketing of the game, under the supervision of two professors at USC Games.

Narrative Design - High Concept Pitch (Animated Google Slides)

UI Design in Figma

Student Live-ops Pitch Deck (May 2024)

Overview

Timeline

May 2023 - May 2024
12 months (intermittent development)

Platform

PC / Mac
Mobile Phone / Tablet
Gamepad

Role

Solo Developer

Tools

Roblox Studio
Figma
Paint.NET

Contributors

Dr. Lyz Reblin-Renshaw (Supervising Professor - Narrative)

Robert Nashak (Supervising Professor - Business)

My Contributions

Design

Modular Tagging for Levels: Designed and engineered a modular tagging system to calculate points, destruction conditions, and material-based sound effects on 3D model buildings and other interactable objects, enabling scalable level design within the destructible environments system
Modular Weapons Framework: Designed and engineered a modular weapons and weapon drops framework with 29 exposed variables in editor, making it more efficient to create and update data values, animations, and SFX for dozens of weapons by up to 75%
Scoring System Design: Designed a scoring system economy split between "positive" and "negative" points to shift and intensify the dynamics of gameplay between breaking objects and active combat, balancing the advantages and risks of players in all ranks
First-person Combat Design: Designed and implemented a first-person melee combat system with 5 attack types, engaging players with the core system of destructible environments
First-person Camera Design: Implemented and iterated on 4 camera effects systems and 20+ combat and movement animations to compliment the game's high-speed nature while mitigating usability concerns, improving readability and reducing discomfort during gameplay

Other Contributions

Engineering

UI Animation Tools: Engineered a collection of UI animation tools for a playful and active UI style

Art & UI/UX Design

Dynamic UI Design: Created and iterated on interface layouts for 4 game screens using Figma to provide important information (health, durability, money, points and point penalties, context-sensitive pick-ups, etc.) to the player in a stylized and intuitive way
Pixel Art Assets: Drew pixel art assets for the UI tailored to the tone: a combination between classic medieval D&D RPGs and wackiness

Narrative

Narrative Structure Writing: Wrote and revised a high-concept pitch deck, a 1-page and 3-page treatment, and an original IP pitch deck to define the game world with at least 6 quests
Party Game Narrative-Design Integration: Integrated the "road trip" style round voting structure with the progression of a dramatic comedy plot, pitting a lowly band of demolitionists against two passionately corrupt queens

Guiding Principles

Experience Goals & Pillars

Experience Goals (AKA the "end-goal impacts" for our players):

Playful Chaos & Silliness
Dishing Out Payback
Scrappy Fantasy

Pillars (AKA the main ways that the Experience Goals are supported):

“Mundane Objects” as Not-Really-Lethal Weapons
Punchy, Kinetic Combat with Suddenly-Shifting Fortunes
“Medieval Wrecking Crew”

More information can be found on the Game Design Document.

Game Design Document
(Google Docs)

Inspirations

Design Breakdown

A breakdown of the design and engineering of some of the prominent mechanics and tools in the game.

Mechanics Overview

The main mechanics of TTPD include:

Breaking parts (AKA wrecking)
A combat system consisting of melee and throwing, and multi-limb damage
A varied arsenal of weapons (made of Mundane Objects, such as wooden planks and rocks)
Scoring separated into 2 metrics: Salary (positive points) and Bills (negative points)

A map of the game loop, particularly how wrecking stuff is the core of the game. By connecting all main mechanics to "wrecking", I create a cohesive theme.

Overall System - A "Push-and-Pull" Dynamic

A simplified systems map illustrating the push and pull of resources.

A core design principle of TTPD is to enable a "push-and-pull" dynamic, including in resource management and blow-to-blow combat.

The game's economy has a direct correlation between the presence of Weapons (such as Planks of Wood) and access to destructive capabilities.

There is a direct tradeoff between where you can go, what you can destroy, and how many Weapons you can pick up.
The mechanic of Weapons dropping when breaking parts of certain materials (ex. wood) encourages players to destroy buildings to get more powerful Weapons.

In other words, it is easier to get Weapons if you already have Weapons and you strategize with them intentionally.

Wrecking

Wrecking is the core of TTPD. It affects:

the environment,
traversal,
scoring,
weapon supply,
other players,
etc.

As such, the game feel needed to be robust, smooth, and optimized.

Why Constructive SOlid Geometry (CSG) Slicing?

Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) is Roblox's technology for generating Unions using primitives and booleans, which can be executed at runtime.

In Roblox, runtime CSG cannot be executed on Meshes and 3D models not built with Roblox's Parts (primitives).

TTPD's maps are built with Roblox's Parts because this building style is the classic standard for the platform, especially for younger players and developers.

In general, it is easier and more accessible to make maps in this modular style.

TTPD is a multiplayer game that grows, and as such needs modular systems.

Almost every Part of a map must be breakable for the game to work.
If every object had custom debris meshes, the scope would skyrocket.
CSG Slicing is therefore the best course of action.

Prototype

For the destruction prototype, I amplified the game feel of "breaking stuff" through:

strategic combat mechanics,
reactive sound design, and
3D CSG slicing functionality.

Most attacks caused clear and huge impacts on the environment due to the aforementioned factors. But the conditions for breaking something were invisible to the player.

The next step was thus to indicate to players the practical (mathematical) reason why they needed to break stuff to incentivize players to earn points.

Version 1 - Implementing Points and UI

I expanded on wrecking by:

fully implementing the core game loop (rounds and scoring),
putting the destruction mechanics in a full map,
bringing out the game's "cartoony" nature, and
presenting game information through stylish UI that fits the tone of the world

This implementation showcased the potential of chaos in the game:

buildings could collapse and crush players,
players can knock each other off rooftops, and
you can see debris crashing through walls in the sky.

Further iterations on the game screen were added, such as putting the points triangles as pop-ups in the environment to immediately tell the player how many points they are gaining or losing. This clarified the practical benefits (points) that players can earn for their wreckage.

Melee Combat

TTPD's combat system needed to be entirely melee combat, supplemented by a bombastic throwing mechanic, to uphold the experience goal of "scrappy fantasy". Having guns and other robust weapons would feel "too clean". Instead, players should be using makeshift "weapons". Additionally, the primary way to play the game is in a first-person view.

One of the game's biggest challenges is to make a very chaotic first-person melee combat system that still allows players to understand what is happening in the heat of battle. Multiple iterations have been done on the signifiers of the system to support this throughout development.

VISUAL SIGNIFIERS FOR FIRST-PERSON USING DYNAMIC FOV SHIFTS

When players attack, the combat system slows them down to prevent mindless attacking and running. But in first-person, this forced slow-down was originally not very obvious due to the combat intensity.

To solve this, I implemented a Dynamic Field of View (FoV) system, which increases the FoV based on the current velocity of the player character. This allows players to clearly see if they are slowing down (or speeding up), such as if they try attacking while running. It also makes knockback effects more dramatic.

Prototype - Melee Combat without Part Destruction

In an early prototype, I playtested the melee combat without part destruction with friends to see how they would interact with it.

(+) The combat was like literally horsing around, establishing the game's comedic nature.
(-) However, my friends were sometimes confused with what was happening on the screen since the Fists hitbox was too tight.

In the final game, I refined the melee combat experience by extending the hitbox and tying it together with part destruction. Throughout Production, I also added reactive UI elements for player feedback.

Melee Combat - Version 1 Implementation

To uphold the "scrappy" experience goal, I aimed to make Version 1 of the combat system encourage a "push and pull" flow of gameplay to keep players engaged and balanced. I designed:

combos,
aerial attacks, and
knockback states

to allow players to keep each other close in the heat of a fight or push each other back when trying to escape.

Damage Based on Number of Limbs Hit - Arcs of Attacks Matter

The experience goal of "Scrappy Fantasy" requires that players be allowed to play dirty and feel powerful doing so. Therefore players should have immediate and specific feedback on what and where they were hitting. Also, to deliver on that maximized power, each hit of a single swing needed to deal damage.

The accuracy of the Raycast Hitbox and its multi-part-collision functionality allows attacks to deal multiple hits on 1 or more Players based on number of limbs hit with just 1 attack input.
For example, the base attack of Fists Attack 1 deals 1 damage. However, if the attack hits 3 limbs at once, it will deal 1 * 3 = 3 damage total.

Ground-attacks (Combos) - High Damage, Some Knockback, Medium Frequency, Medium Risk

Each attack in a ground-attack combo has a unique animation and trajectory and also slows down the player's speed. Combined with the Limb Damage mechanic, combos introduce a risk-and-reward dynamic where players can stay in a full combo to hit as much as possible, at the cost of lower mobility.

A combo refers to a set of attacks that are executed in a succession of inputs. In this game, the attack input is a single button or key referred to as [Attack Button]. A combo chain can be canceled at any time by stopping additional inputs.
Combos can be performed only when grounded (i.e. feet planted on the ground, either standing still or moving).
Performing combos slows the Player’s WalkSpeed based on a divider specific to the current Weapon. This means that there is a mobility cost to ground-attacking, so Players must think more carefully about when and where they attack.

Jump-attacks - Low Damage, High Knockback, High Frequency, Low Risk

Close-quarters melee combat can easily become overwhelming. Jump-attacks help to alleviate this by allowing players to push each other away at the cost of low damage. The trajectories of most jump-attacks also have a long-range, down-forward arc, making them easy to aim.

A jump-attack refers to a single attack performed when the Player is in mid-air. When the Player is currently standing on the ground, the input is [Jump Button], then [Attack Button]. When the Player is already falling from a height, the input is simply [Attack Button].
Unlike ground-attacks, jump-attacks do not slow down the Player.
Additionally, some (most) Weapons’ jump-attacks deal Knockback with a Force and Speed specific to the Weapon’s properties.
As a cost, jump-attacks deal significantly less damage than ground-attacks.

Throwing Weapons - Extreme Damage, Destroys Weapon, Low Frequency, High Risk

Throwing is one of the most powerful attacks in TTPD since it functions like a bomb. High risk, high reward.

Throwing Weapons closes the distance between brawlers with high-damaging attacks, in exchange for the Weapon being destroyed outright.
These high-damaging throws also have the capability to explosively collapse large parts and buildings in the environment.
If you want to destroy something huge, you should throw your weapon!

KNOCKBACK - APPLIES TO Ground-attacks, JUMP-ATTACKS, AND THROWS

Knockback is a classic mechanic in combat systems. In TTPD, it's used as a balancing mechanic and a comedic element. The mechanic is paired with a ragdoll state and dynamic field-of-view system to emphasize its effect.

Knockback refers to an impact force being applied to a Player hit by certain attacks. In addition to the knockback itself, Players are also momentarily sent spiraling into a ragdoll (set with the Platformstanding Humanoid state), leaving them vulnerable.
For most Weapons, knockback is dealt with the last attack of a combo or with jump-attacks. It is also applied when Weapons are thrown.
Dealing knockback generates distance between Players for multiple balancing reasons:
- It allows Players to “swat away” each other from crowded / popular areas.
- It prevents stronger Players from continuing to attack other Players without risking getting closer first.

Varied Weapons

A demonstration of the raycast hitbox in use.

To further the comedic and non-serious tone of the world, I created a ridiculous Mundane Objects Weapons system.

Starting with Fists—the objectively worst “weapon” in the game—players would rush to find and pick up additional Weapons placed around the map or break parts of the appropriate materials to salvage a Plank of Wood or a Small Rock.

Each Weapon has a certain durability count, different damage numbers, damage speeds, knockback amounts, raycast hitboxes, etc.
To ensure accurate hitboxes, I used Swordphin's Raycast Hitbox resource, which uses attachments and raycasts for melee detection instead of inconsistent Region3 collisions.

Weapon Framework - A Tools Editor System with Exposed Variables for Design

To make this system work smoothly, I engineered a framework to make it easy for me to modify exposed variables and stats, raycast hitbox attachments, handles, and models, and animations easily.

This weapon framework is a significant improvement over the lack of framework in Mega Man Arena X.
Creating a framework helped development speed up by letting me easily change stats without going into scripts.
I tracked all stats for each weapon in a spreadsheet, then matched them up for in-game implementation.

A snippet of the Weapons List spreadsheet (living document).

FUll Weapons List
(Google Sheets)

A snippet of the exposed variables list for the Mundane Objects framework.

Scoring

I designed TTPD’s Scoring and Points system to acknowledge and subvert the expectations of "deathmatch"-style games.

In most deathmatch games, players are expected to win by garnering the most "kills" within the time limit.
For TTPD, I wanted players to focus on messing with the environment, making knockouts a second priority.

I thus designed the Scoring system to be based around two metrics:

Salary (positive points) and
Bills (negative points).

Gaining points as Salary.

Losing points as Bills.

How Scoring Works

In the game universe, Salary refers to the theoretical "gold" gained while on the job, while Bills refers to medical bills for getting knocked out.

Players gain Salary from wrecking stuff, and rack up Bills from getting knocked out.

Getting KO’ed removes 50% of the given player’s current Salary, making KO’s devastating for players in the lead.
In short, Total Points = Salary - Bills.
The winner of the round is determined by the player with the highest Total Points.

By designing points as two separate metrics, I encourage players to prioritize gaining Salary by interacting with the environment instead of attacking other players.

However, the Scoring system still allows attacking to become an advantage later in a round.

This is because if there is one player who has a particularly high Salary, other players can target that player in combat and knock them out to turn 50% of their Salary into Bills.
Basically, the higher your Salary is, the more you risk to lose if you get KO’ed!

How Scoring is Applied to Modular CSG Destruction - By "Part Tagging" in Maps

I simplified level design, building, and scoring calculations by creating scripts to allow a system of modular destruction part tagging for any Roblox-built map that I create or import.

The script works by placing it in a Folder that consists of the part-built environment that I want it to scan.
The algorithm then calculates Points for each part in the folder based on the volume of the part times a multiplier.
It removes parts from the breakable list if it’s over a certain maximum volume (at which they are considered to be “unbreakable parts”).
So parts break if the attack’s damage number is greater than the part’s volume times a multiplier.
As long as the map is separated into appropriate folders, I can filter out and run the script only in the desired parts.