Adventures in Game Development

Starting on Development with C++! Here's a longer video this week, but I go a bit more in-depth on the code we started implementing. Feel free to skip around in the video, the first part is how I'm planning out the game development path, basically like a design doc but in a Miro board!  This week was an exhilarating dive into a new angle of game development and exploration of industry trends. Here’s what I’ve been up to: In-depth Research on Mobile Games:   I spent a considerable amount of time playing a variety of mobile simulation and tycoon games. The goal was to understand the range of mechanics they employ and identify what sets them apart from each other—and from my own game vision. This research is crucial as it helps refine my ideas and align them more closely with current trends while ensuring uniqueness. I know it just sounds like playing, and I'll admit it was pretty fun, but I took a lot of notes on different games to see how I might do something similar but dif

 Focus Study: 2D Art This week I mainly focused on 2D art and practiced various styles. I wanted to take a bit of a mental break from programming and focus on some art and planning so here's some of the stuff I worked on! Pixel Art:  Here's some pixel art I started making for the mobile game I'm in the beginning phases of.   These are some icons to represent resources in the mobile game I'm starting. This is some pixel art I made for random use around the scenes.  These are some ideas I had for the character design, though I think I'd like to refine it.  Digital Watercolor:  These were some pieces for a project I'm working on with some friends. They are each meant to represent some element of self-love and wellness. These will eventually make up a self-care-based deck of tarot-like cards.  "Unconditional Love" "Light" "New Perspectives" "Self-Care" "Joy" "Support" This is an image that will be on the ba

 This Week's Accomplishments:  As always, here's a short video of what last week compared to this week looked like: This week was full of groundbreaking developments in our game design. Here’s a rundown of the main achievements: Introduced a New Boss Enemy: I've crafted a new Boss Enemy blueprint that will serve as the foundation for future bosses. This Boss is smarter and boasts unique mechanics, choosing its attacks based on its proximity to the player. When further away, it uses an environmental query system to move strategically. Enhanced Boss Mechanics: The new Boss features three types of attacks: a standard melee attack, a devastating fireball for ranged assault, and an energy-charged rush attack. Designing these was about making the boss not only challenging but also giving it a sense of intelligence in its tactics. Mage’s Tower Level Redesign: I've completely reimagined one of our levels to resemble the interior of a Mage’s tower, enriching the atmosphere and t

Weekly Development Update: Elevating Gameplay and Visuals Here's a short video to compare the game from last week to now! Here are the main things I accomplished in the last two weeks: Revamped User Interface: I've overhauled the User Interface to enhance player communication through visuals rather than text. By creating custom graphics and animations, including iconography for in-game indicators, the gameplay feels more intuitive with the added UI features. I also designed custom materials for health and mana potion bottles that function efficiently without relying on the tick node, streamlining the performance. New Defense Mechanic – Magic Tome Force Field:   A significant addition this week was the implementation of a force field around the central "Magic Tome." Enemies now need to break through this barrier to capture the tome. Coding the force field involved complex scripting to ensure the visual effects align perfectly with enemy interactions, enhancing both th

In the last few weeks overall, we have been continuing to improve the game's feel and mechanics and working on the player experience before continuing to add functionality.  Here's a video overview of the changes I've made to my game: Here are the main things I accomplished this week:  Enhanced Map Aesthetics: I've given the map a major facelift this week. Better lighting, updated textures, and adjusted scales really brought the scene to life. It feels more immersive now and easier on the eyes. User Interface Overhaul:: The User Interface got a sleek, simplified redesign. It's cleaner and more intuitive, making it easier for players to navigate through the game options and controls. I still think I'd like to improve the look of my UI, in general, to create a more cohesive theme throughout the game.  Dynamic Player Feedback:  Added new text indicators that pop up to inform the player about key game events. Now, when you take damage, heal up, or replenish mana, co

 Improving Performance and Continuing to Add Functionality and Clean-Up Here's a short video of my progress this week: Here are the main things I accomplished this week:  Object Pooling for Potions: Changed Potions to use Object Pooling. I have some bugs in this system still I think, but it seems to be functioning properly to avoid creating and destroying the potions when dropped, instead it creates objects as needed and keeps them in a pool to pull from, only creating new actors as the pool needs more.  Added AOE and Damage Over Time Attack: This is not an implemented functionality yet for the player, however I did begin creating a parent class for an AOE attack that will cause Damage over Time to the enemies. It uses a sphere trace on a timer to replicate the tick to prevent using the tick, however it traces for a certain amount of time, if an enemy is hit, it will trigger Damage over Time in a function within the enemy blueprint.  Improved Main Menu:  I improved the look of the