Week 5 Devlog: Improvements (1.4)

For this weeks devlog, we were tasked with improving our levels based on feedback. Since I never got much feedback in terms of what I could improve on, I just worked on what I thought would be best. On top of that, I spent a good majority of my time working on the menus and widgets, learning more in-depth on how they work and messing around with them a little. The following is what I changed / added for this devlog:

- Deformed platforms and walls to make them feel more organic and less blocky. It does mess with the mesh / textures a little bit, but it doesn't seem too noticeable (other than the clear separation of hallways/rooms). If anything, it may be replaced in the future by other assets.

- Added a pause menu, with the options to resume the game, reset the level, and go back to the main menu.

- Added level names that can be viewed through the pause menu. I updated the Next Level blueprint to include an instance editable "level name" string.

- Added a current objective that can be viewed through the pause menu. I updated the Checkpoint blueprint to include an instance editable "current objective" string. My level was already pretty linear but this should easily solve any problems of players not knowing what to do / where to go next.

- Fixed some lava sticking into other rooms / being visibly detached from the ground.

- Added some vents to the ceilings so that the lava didn't look like it was just clipping through the ceiling.

- Went through most blueprints and organized/commented everything.

- Deleted almost the entire Starter Map, as nothing in it or from it was being used. Deleted a few other maps / assets as well.

- Added a portal texture to the gate that takes you to the next level.

- Edited the Main Menu: Split "Start Game" into "Continue" and "New Game":

• Clicking continue will load the last played level instead of the first each time.
• Clicking new game will load a new widget that asks the player to confirm that they would like to reset their progress and start back at level 1.

[Edit after class]: This week's playtesting went well, and I got some good feedback. Nothing too big, but I noticed some jumps were a lot harder for others than it was for me, which makes sense considering I've play-tested it countless time and have gotten used to it. I definitely want to try and edit some of the starting platforms to make it a little easier. The staircase after room 2 is also a little too dark, so I'll add some lighting there. Again, I had issues with the falling platform, but this time I figured out what it was! Apparently, when the platform enables gravity and falls, it will occasionally clip through the ground it falls on, causing it to not let you jump when standing on it. I'll try to find a way to fix this.