New Game PC, PS3 and XBOX360 - Knights of al-Aqsa Mosque

[udkultimate]

Assalamu Alaykum (Peace be with you)

My name is Nidal Nijm, I am Brazillian Muslim, from Arab ascendance, my father is from Palestine.

I am just an indie solo developer trying to find my place in the game industry.

I am well known on the homebrew PS3 community. Just search on google UDK Ultimate Engine (http://wololo.net/2019/09/24/a-look-at- ... ase-an-or/)

Summarizing, some years ago I did port UDK Engine (the free version of Unreal Engine 3) from EPIC Games to PS3 and Xbox360 creating the first and only Fully 3D Engine for developing homebrew games for PS3 and Xbox360. This project stayed online for almost 3 years, it got a lot of visibility, millions of download, untill recently EPIC Games got aware of this project and asked me to take it down, because it breaks their EULA and Copyrights.

So I did take down this project, and did apologize for EPIC Games, because I never intended to harm them in anyway. EPIC Games were so kind with me, they recognized my efforts and talent on porting their engine for home consoles by myself, and allowed me to keep using my modified version of their engine, they gave me a Unreal Engine 3 License, I signed with them a contract, and now I am developing my first comercial game.

I even created a very fun and free mini game recently, for PC, PS3 and Xbox360, using my modified version of UDK Engine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXSy-oq406U

The download links are on the video description on my YouTube Channel.



So now with a Commercial License for using Unreal Engine 3, I decided to develop my first commercial game, a game about the War in Palestine.

I know this theme may be very sensitive for many people, as we all know there are victims on both sides of this war, however, I will try to explain what my game is about, and will show that my game does not promote violence or terrorist propaganda.

First of all, In this game, the player does not shoot Israeli civilians, women, children, elderly, only soldiers. Also in this game there are NO images of sexual content, illicit drugs, religious desecration, hate of speech against any group, ethnicity or religion, anti-Semitist propaganda against Jews, Nazi propaganda or boasting of any terrorist groups and / or other unlawful acts. This game only contains the virtual representation of the Palestinian Resistance Movement against the Israeli Military Occupation, which is officially recognized by the United Nations (UN).

I want to be clear that my objective in this game is not to make you hate Israel or Love Palestine, I just want to players experience a war game through another perspective. From since I was a Kid I always asked myself why there are no games on which we, Arabs and Muslims, are portraied as heroes, instead of villains and terrorists? And this is true, the representation of Arabs and Muslims in games for a long time was just through the flag of Terrorists, Killers, Assassins, Bandits, and so on. Only recently middle-eastern and muslim characters are portraied as heroes and "cool" characters, like in Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Overwatch, and others.

Please watch this GDC talk about this matter:
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/326 ... _games.php

Added to this, my father was a Fighter of the Palestine Resistance Movement, he fought against Israel Army in the Lebanese Civil War on the 70's, and from since I was a kid, I felt too much proud of my father and the Palestine People in General, because of their Strenght and Constant Resistance. So this game is kinda tribute to the Brave People of Palestine and their Resistance against Military Occupation.

Talking about the game itself, Fursan al-Aqsa - Knights of al-Aqsa Mosque is a Third Person Action Game on which you play as Ahmad al-Ghazzawi, a young Palestinian Student who was unjustly tortured and jailed by Israeli Soldiers for 5 years, had all his family killed by an Israeli Airstrike and now after getting out from the prison he seeks revenge against those who wronged him, killed his family and stolen his homeland.

This game is being developed during the course of 4 years by one person (me, Nidal Nijm), in a custom version of UDK Engine (Unreal Engine 3), using the best technology to tell a compelling story through a game packed with non stop action, advanced 3D graphics and modern gameplay mechanics, however keeping the soul of old school shooters. You will play in missions accross ground, sea and sky, you have many objectives to accomplish in each mission, epic bosses battles, powerful guns, vehicles to drive, helicopters to take down, and much more. Expect a LOT of Action and Adrenaline!!!

This game also is greatly inspired by Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid, Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Insurgency Sandstorm.

I hope untill the end of this month (november) release a free demo of this game (for PC, PS3 and Xbox360), so people can enjoy and feel what my game is about, enjoy the gameplay, feel the action. I plan to make something similar to Metal Gear Solid VR Missions (If you may remember), on which I will teach the player the basis of the Gameplay, like training the player for the true battle that will come on the final game. About the first episode (mission), I hope to release it untill the end of December, beginning of January 2020.

Now I will show you some trailers of the game itself, a beta version of this game. I am already redoing everything from scratch, remaking the models, animations, and maps, raising the overall quality, polishing things here and there, to deliver a high quality product for all people enjoy.

Also you can see the new updated model for my character protagonist, and the difference between the new player model and the old one, so you all can be sure I am commited to do my best on this game. These old models were just placeholders for me develop the basic game programming framework and features.

This trailer tells the history of how the muslims re-conquered Jerusalem:

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... al-trailer

This trailer tells the history of the Game's Protagonist:

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... deos/video

This is the promotional trailer "Join the Resistance":

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... ce-trailer

This is the PC Gameplay Trailer. The PC Version supports ANY Gamepad through xbox360 controller emulator (already included):

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... lay-teaser

This is the PS3 Gameplay Trailer (sorry for the video quality, I don't have a HDMI Capture Card):

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... lay-teaser

This is the Xbox360 Gameplay Trailer (sorry for the video quality, I don't have a HDMI Capture Card):

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... lay-teaser

Some Screenshots of the new Player Model In-Game:








Now some Behind the Scenes Trailers.

Making off "Crusader Battle Trailer":

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... making-off

Making off "Ahmad al-Ghazzawi":

https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... making-off

You can follow the development of my game here:
https://sites.google.com/view/fursanalaqsagame/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcw8iE ... Tq4ducTpw/
https://twitter.com/UdkUltimate
https://www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-a ... qsa-mosque
https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... qsa-mosque

Jazakom Allah Khayr (May God give you the best)

[udkultimate]

Something important I forgot to say.

This map, which will be the first mission (episode) of my game:



It's a remake of a Custom Map for Counter Strike Global Offensive, the map name is de_heat.

Whenever I create my maps, I like to take many games as reference, and I prefer to use Source Engine Games Maps, because it's easy to import on 3dsmax, and use the original map as a reference to model my map over the original map.

I have choosen this map, because it's similar to the real city of "Old Jerusalem", which is where the first mission of my game takes place.

However, I contacted the original author of this map from since I began creating this map in UDK Engine, last year. And he was very kind to me and gave me authorization to remake his map for my game:



However, as I told before, these screenshots of this map, and the gameplay trailers, are a bit outdated, because I am already working on changing this map a bit, especially changing some assets (props) which are from Valve (the devs of Counter Strike) and not from the map author.

I am replacing these assets with some assets created by me and others purchased on 3D Marketplaces arround the internet. This is very common especially for indie and solo developers, purchase assets, download royalty-free assets to use whenever developing a game.

Imagine if all indies would make games creating all the assets from scratch. You would not see so many indie games arround there.

The same is truth for my new updated protagonist model. This new updated model is a mix of character parts from many models, which I purchased recently to update my 3d models library, which was a bit outdated (the marjority of my old models were from the time of Counter Strike Source).



However, you may think: "Man, getting ready models to create a game is very easy, because you have done almost nothing". I must inform you that the truth is far away for this thought. In game development there is no a "copy and paste", or "plug and play" solution, just one click and your game is done! No, even using pre-made 3d Models, you will never get the model which you want to fit on your project unless you do the dirty work of modifying this asset to fit on your game. Yeah, there is a LOT of work to be done.

I have done a lot of manual changes on this model, in example, the head cover was untill the neck, however I wanted this headcover to raise down untill the chest, so I manually modelled that extra part to make it reach the chest. Also the original texture was a plain black, so I manually created in Photoshop this Shemagh Texture in red color, the traditional Palestine Head Cover. Also to add some more depth, I did bake some small shadows on the texture to make it look more realistic and give a kind of fake volume to this head cover.

Another change I have done, because I am using the default UDK Skeleton (Unreal Tournament 3 Rig), and the default Animation System in UDK Engine (UE3) is pre programmed to work with the UT3 Skeleton outside the box, I did manually rig the character mesh to the UT3 Skeleton, as you can see in the video. And the character arms I used for this model, were a bit larger than the UT3 Skeleton, so I had to manually reduce the arms lenght, thus repositioning the hands aswell, to fit perfectly to UT3 Skeleton (so I don't have to re-program the Animation System).

Cheers and untill next update!

[udkultimate]

For those who may think my game is terrorist propaganda: I sent the game synopsis alongside gameplay to Brazillian Government Justice Department for Approval and Age Rating. My game was approved, and got Age Rating +18!

[udkultimate]

There just 2 days left for the competition, so if you did not vote yet, please vote now: https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... qsa-mosque

[udkultimate]

I would like to thank all my friends for voting in my game on @IndieDB

I don't have words to say how happy I am with all your support guys.

You are awesome people who are supporting me and my game. I think the best word is:

جزاكم الله خير

May Allah (God) give you the best

My game is now on the top 100 list, and first one on its category!

There is still 10 days to go!

Please vote again for this second phase: http://tiny.cc/5lu9gz

[udkultimate]

Fursan al-Aqsa Dev Blog #5 - Updated Animations for Ahmad al-Ghazzawi

www.moddb.com/games/fursan-al-aqsa-knig ... -off-mocap

In game development is a common practice to use placeholder assets, which can be 3D Models, Textures and even Animations. Whenever I first began developing this game 2 years ago, I use the default UDK AnimationSet, which includes all the Character Animations used in Unreal Tournament 3. However, to give my game some originality, I decided to replace some of these stock UT3 (Unreal Tournament 3) animations by other animations from my Assets Library (which includes MOCAP animations from MegaMoCap, TrueBones, TurboSquid, NaturalMotion, and others).

I did not make too much polishments on these first animations I used, as I was just bored to look all time to the Default UDK Animations, so I just wanted something provisory, to polish later.



UDK/UE3 Engine has a perfectly working Animation System, pre-configured to work outside the box for a Shooter Game. One of these functions is what we call Aiming Profiles, which means, for any type of weapon the player carries, there are a different set of animations: in example, run forward rifle, run left pistol, rifle idle animation, bazooka run forward, and so on. For the sake of simplicity, I just replaced many of these stock UDK animationsby these new mocap files (retargetting these animations to the default UDK Skeleton in Motion Builder).

It would be very cool if using custom animations for UDK was just a matter of copy and paste. Even though the retargetting animations process is flawlessy inside Motion Builder, however, because of differences in skeleton size (UDK Skeleton x Custom MOCAP Skeletons), I had to manually edit each mocap animation to fit into UDK Skeleton. The fixes is just reposition of the character skeleton to fit and work flawlessly. In Motion Builder I just added a new animaton layer and added some key frame animations to fix the MOCAP, one by one.

Added to this, I did some Custom MOCAP using my Kinect Camera, as you san see in the video above. I must admit that is far better using professional captured MOCAP files than doing it yourself. I used Custom Kinect MOCAP files whenever I could not find, inside my assets library, the animation wanted, so it is time for "Do it Yourself". Again, after some (MANY) tweaks on these custom kinect mocap files, I got something good looking wich you can check aswell on the above video. And these will be the final animations for the game's protagonist.

I hope you are enjoying de follow the development of Fursan al-Aqsa.

P.S: If you did not vote yet for Fursan al-Aqsa, please vote now, it is disputing the Top 10 Indie Games of 2019, it is now the #1 of Upcoming Third Person Shooter:

http://tiny.cc/18blhz

Cheers and until Next Update!

[udkultimate]

New Updated Model for Zionist Soldier - Work in Progress

[udkultimate]

Today I began to sketchup some ideas of Maps for Fursan al-Aqsa Training Missions. Besides the Campaign Mode, I will add a Training Mode for my game with a LOT of Cool Missions, inspired by Metal Gear Solid 2 VR Missions (Kill All, Stealth, Weapon Shooting and Variety).






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[udkultimate]

I decided to change my custom camera to make it look more similar to MetalGearSolid4. I am happy with the final result, so now my game has more of that MGS feeling! Next step will be add the iconic solid snake's crawling animation!

[udkultimate]

Be like a Chameleon. Suprise your enemies by invading their base disguised as one of them, and kill them all without mercy! Just testing a new feature on #FursanAlaqsaGame for the stealth missions mode!

[udkultimate]

Hello guys, some new promo art here:
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[udkultimate]

Fursan al-Aqsa Dev Blog #6 - Updated Models for IDF Soldiers



This article shows a small gameplay test of the new Updated Models for Israeli Soldiers running on Playstation 3, and a small "Behind the Scenes" of the creation of the new IDF Models:

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... f-soldiers

[udkultimate]

Fursan al-Aqsa Split Screen Multiplayer on Playstation 3

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... an-al-aqsa

[udkultimate]

Do you Remember? Who misses that Golden Era? Multiplayer Madness is Back on Fursan al-Aqsa! 

The mayhem is coming soon to PC, PS3, Xbox360...

[udkultimate]

Multiplayer SplitScreen and all its glory running on Xbox 360 RGH:

https://indiedb.com/games/fursan-al-aqs ... ltiplayer1

[udkultimate]

Fursan al-Aqsa Dev Blog #7 - Making Off SplitScreen Multiplayer

In this article I discuss the technical details of how I implemented the Multiplayer with SplitScreen for my game.

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... ultiplayer

It's worth a reading

[udkultimate]

Fursan al-Aqsa - Enemies AI Update



https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... -ai-update

This video shows the updated enemies AI in action, alongside the preview of a very fun new game mode: "Blow Them Up"

Let's frag!

In the next post I will reveal the tech detail of this new AI system I created using Kismet, the Visual Programming Language of Unreal Engine 3.

Cheers!

[udkultimate]

Fursan al-Aqsa Dev Blog #8 - Enhanced Artificial Intelligence for Enemies

In this article I discuss the technical details of how I created various AI algorithms for my game entirely in Kismet, the Visual Programming Language of Unreal Engine 3.

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... or-enemies

[udkultimate]

#FursanAlaqsaGame meets @MortalKombat!

Can you guess what I am planning next to my game?

Cheers!

#Blood #KnifeKills #FinishHim #FlawlessVictory #Fatality

[udkultimate]

Hello guys! Just want to show off here something cool I created. A cool HeadShots Counter for the Special Ops Mode.

The basic tech behind it is very simple.

On the UnrealScript Class that control the enemy behaviour, I created a boolean variable called HeadShot. Then on the TakeDamage Event of the enemy UnrealScript Class I created a small function to detect which bone of the skeleton was hit by the weapon projectile (in case Head and Neck Bones).

So whenever the weapon projectile hits the Head or Neck Bones, the boolean variable HeadShot is set to true (it begins the code as false).

And then on Kismet there is a node which can read object properties (variables). So I simply added this node to read the variable HeadShot value, and if its true, I made increment in 1 another variable (kismet variable) which is the HeadShot Counter. So that means, each time the player shoots the head of the enemy. the HeadShot Counter will increment in one, so the player performs 3 headhsots on the enemy, the HeadShotCounter will be 3.

Next step is add another counter to count total number of enemies on map. It begins by counting all enemies an add them to an array, and then add an event (Enemy Death), and each time this even occurs, one enemy will be removed fromt the array (ObjectList). So whenever this array becomes empty, that means we killed all enemyes. And after killing all the enemies, then we go there and check for the value of HeadShotsCounter variable. If I want the player to perform at least 10 HeadShots, I need to check if this variable is >= (bigger or equal) than 10. If yes, then the mission is accomplished. If it is < (less) than 10, then mission failed.

It's that simple!

Cheers!

[udkultimate]

In this small video I show some cool and custom pickup items I created for the #Multiplayer mode, in the best style of #RetroFPS and Classic #FPSGames like @Quake and @DOOM. Also you can see the finished HUD for Multiplayer.

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... er-pickups

[udkultimate]

Fursan al-Aqsa Dev Blog #9 - Making-Off Weapons and Projectile Physics

In this article I discuss the technical details of how I created the weapons of my game, and how I did the physics simulations for the projectiles using Unreal Script.

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... le-physics

[udkultimate]

Hello guys.

I know there are almost two weeks without any updates, but be sure I am working, and VERY HARD to finish and release the first episode untill the end of this month.

However, because I have published about my game on almost 100 sites, which I need to keep updated, I only publish whenever I have some significant updates.

But here on twitter (https://twitter.com/UdkUltimate) and also on IndieDB (https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... qsa-mosque) I always post at least a new screenshot of some feature I am developing/improving.

From since my last update about the Weapons, I have done basically two things.

I created a new custom AI Class especially for knife kills game mode. Now you can approach the enemy from behind without being spotted, however, if you touch the enemy, or stay a long time behind him, he will realize it and shoot at you. This was done mixing Kismet (the Blueprints of UE3) with UnrealScript. I even created a custom field of view to the enemy using a trigger volume.









Also, I am remaking the Knife Kills System, with updated character animations and a brand new camera animation, on the best Mortal Kombat X style. It even has the X-Ray effect!



Cheers and until next update!

[udkultimate]

I was thinking on releasing those test maps (with blue/white checkboard) from since last week, for people test the game, however, I think that these don't reflect the final game quality and may even harm this project.

As I said before, I will ask a very small value (something like U$ 2.00) for each episode, because I am in strong need to earn some profit (my financial conditions are very bad at the moment). So it's for that reason that I prefeer release each episode on it's complete state, with fully textured maps, animations, mission objectives, and so on, for making this game worth the price. I know that even for a small price like this, people want a complete product, a fully working game, not just a "developer" bugged version of the game.

I hope you all understand the reason why I delayed a while the release of this game.

Thanks guys for all this support and interest on my game.

Cheers and until next update!

[udkultimate]

#FursanAlaqsaGame - Updated Knife Kills System - WIP (Work in Progress)

Now it's more Bloody, Gory, Cruel.

It's more @MortalKombat #Fatality #NoMercy #FinishHim

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al ... n-progress