ethancfmp2025

[ethancfmp2025]

Final Reflection

This will hopefully be the last post I write on this project, and it will go over the projects outcome compared to my goals when I started, what went right and what went wrong etc.

I will mostly be comparing 2 sections in my proposal to my final outcome. The first of which will be my project concept:

I'm happy to say that it seems that I've managed to include everything I said I should have. I created a movement shooter with 1 playable level, 1 weapon with a unique mechanic (the cards) and incorporation of my chosen theme (the cards).

I only managed to complete one of the features that I would've liked to add however, that being some player animations. Though this really isn't that notable and isn't really what I'd envisioned. But that's fine I think, as it was only something I was thinking of adding once I had everything I needed.

I believe I did do extensive research for each major feature and explored their avenues of implementation, so to speak. It massively helped in informing my decision making and definitely contributed to the final outcome, blog and game-wise. I also looked into various specialist practitioners, like Hakita and Toby Fox which helped me figure out how I wanted to go about implementing my specialism in this project.

Simply put I did everything I wrote here, though I didn't end up creating a set of slides as that ended up not being needed (our tutors told us not to make them). I also feel I may have been a bit inconsistent with these aspects, though I think the blog work and reflection on this project is a big step up from my previous projects.

Overall I enjoyed this project, though the last few weeks I definitely wanted it to be over. I believe I have improved my skillset in my chosen specialism but also game development in general. I am very thankful to the college for the opportunity to complete this course and I believe it has helped me massively towards my professional goals.

[ethancfmp2025]

Recording a gameplay video

To finish up this project I need to record a full playthrough video using OBS that goes through the entire level, showcasing the outcome I've reached throughout this project.

I used premiere pro to edit it together, as in to not show any engine/behind the scenes aspects, nor to show me being terrible at my own game!

Here is the outcome video:

[ethancfmp2025]

Deciding on a name for the game

I wanted to wait until the end of the project to come up with a name for the game, mostly because I wanted it to reflect the outcome as opposed to what I wanted it to be.

Upon doing a little bit of googling into gambling associated words, I found the word Ludomania, which means compulsive gambling.

I think this is what I want my game to be called, it's short and recognizable but also has a meaning beyond just a name.

I have gone back and added this name to my proposal (as well as put in my "Quartz ID", no idea what that is but ok).

[ethancfmp2025]

Creating a quick Main Menu for presenting

For the last bits of this project I need to focus on finishing things up and making everything presentable. A major part of this will be adding a main menu for the game so that the player learns the games name and has and area to choose to play or quit the game.

I would've done a small amount of research into main menus, but as I have little time and only need to make something functional, I will probably omit it this time.

To create this menu I first made a new game mode blueprint and a new map. I did this so I could control when the menu appears and how the player interacts with it.

The menu map, features a card and a camera that the player will view from.

I then created the widget that the menu will be. It's incredibly simple, having 2 buttons for play and quit, as well as the games name above it.

Here is the code inside the HUD:

It's quite simple, just making the cursor visible and setting the input mode etc. The play button opens the level and the quit button does what it says on the tin.

Finally all that's left is to create and display the widget in the level blueprint so that it opens every time the menu level is opened.

On top of this I add a small section of code to the player so that the menu opens when they press escape.

Here is what the final menu looks like (omitting the game name):

[ethancfmp2025]

Goals for the "Final" Week of the project

I say "final" in quotes because I believe I get some extra time beyond this week to finish off the project because I have an EHCP. I will still try to finish everything by the end of this week, but the time is there if I need it I suppose.

The main points I need to cover this week are:

Add menu screen for presenting.

Add Ambience for presentation.

Record gameplay video.

Check blogs for tags, missing content etc.

Fill out evaluation.

Complete any other outstanding work.

[ethancfmp2025]

Have I completed my goals for the week?

Finishing the second half of the level

As I went over in the below posts, I did indeed finish the levels layout. Though I probably need to get a peer or two to playtest it to make sure that certain aspects flow properly.

Polishing the first half of the level

I added a few actors to the first half of the level to make sure that I'm introducing mechanics to the player in a natural way. These include an actor for the player to stomp through and a door to make sure the player doesn't inadvertently skip parts of the tutorial.

Add SFX to the player and cards

Using Pixabay and jsfxr - 8 bit sound maker and online sfx generator, I managed to create functional sounds for the player and cards to reinforce when the player is performing an action or if they are interacting with something.

Potentially add a main menu (if I have time)

I didn't end up creating a main menu and will have to do that on my final week now. I'm a little annoyed with myself that I didn't end up doing this but the best I can do is reschedule when I do it and get it done later.

Finish the tutorial videos

Though I didn't make a specific post talking about when I finished creating these videos, the initial post I created about these videos goes over the process of creating these.

Since that first post I can now say I have finished all of the required tutorial videos and they are now properly implemented in game.

[ethancfmp2025]

Void TP instead of death system

Since I don't have time to implement a death or health system, I'm going to add a small system to teleport the player to specific locations to act as a "death" system when the player hits the void.

To start with I need an actor with a box collision and a random invisible shape (this will be used to determine the location the player teleports to).

I then simply get the location that I want the player to teleport to and set the players location to that once it collides with the box collision.

I will set the teleport location in the level editor, as it's then done by instance and I can reuse the actor.

Here is an example of how it's placed in my level, if the player hits the box collision at the bottom they're teleported to the right on that platform.

[ethancfmp2025]

Finalizing the levels layout

For the final parts of the level I really wanted to test the players platforming skills, while also utilizing the movement based cards.

First I made this long section which tasks the player with using the club to cross a large void with a spade at the end, which they need to grapple to. The spade is a little hard to see and instead of redoing the layout, my friend Tom suggested that I should add an indicator to show that there's a spade there, which is why there is a spade with and arrow next to it in the below screenshot.

The next room is where I really want to test how well the player can incorporate b-hopping, stomping and dashing into their gameplay. Because of this I wanted to make it big and spacious, allowing for flexibility in the way that the player approached the platforming.

The platforms used to be the same height, however after a short playtest with Tom he concluded that the platforms weren't that forgiving, so I lowered some of the platforms to make the jumps a little easier and inquired with Tom to see if it was an improvement. He said yes it was.

At the end of this platforming I've placed a Club that the player is supposed to use to reach the area marked with green lighting. The player needs speed stored from b-hopping to have enough momentum to reach this however and it's made obvious through the large gap that the player has to close.

Finally at the end of the level I have a makeshift finish flag to signify that the player has completed the level. I would've added more ceremony to the levels completion but I simply don't have the time.

While I don't have the time now to run a final playtesting session, I did get valuable feedback from Tom during the development of the final areas and that has informed the structure of this final room. As a result I think it's a good final test of the players skills and achieves it's goals.

[ethancfmp2025]

Adding SFX to the player and cards

I don't really have to time add many SFX to create an in-depth soundscape, but I do have time to create serviceable SFX that make sure the game isn't completely dead sonically.

I want to go for an 8-bit style for my sounds mostly for simplicity's sake, not because it would directly fit my theme or serve a purpose beyond acting as sound effects.

To create the sounds I'm going to use jsfxr - 8 bit sound maker and online sfx generator which is a free 8 bit sound generator.

For example, the club sound effect uses the explosion preset, with vibrato turned up and a longer sustain time.

[ethancfmp2025]

Fixing bugs within The level

Diamond Card Memory Leak

There was a bug where the diamond card would constantly error if there was more than 3 things it would ricochet into. I believe this was a symptom of the way I destroyed the actors after the card hit them.

Because of the way For Each loops work, if an actor is destroyed within a loop, the next actor along the array replaces it's index, meaning that the loop will eventually try to destroy actors in indexes with nothing in them. There are 2 ways I know how to solve this:

1: Use a reverse for each loop. This option isn't ideal here as I'm using a custom For Each Loop with Delay macro which I would have to remake in order to implement this.

2: Add an Is Valid? node to simply check if the index has a valid value. This is the solution I've gone with as it's the simplest and cleanest option.

Laser Wall Memory Leak

If you shot the buttons of the laser wall after it had been cleared, the buttons would try to interact with the laser actor wall that didn't exist anymore.

Once again the solution to this was simply the Is Valid? node, using it to check if the actor existed, if not it would simply not do anything.

[ethancfmp2025]

Continuing Level Development (Laser Walls and B Hop Chamber)

Finally on to the second half of the level, and the first thing I want to showcase is how I want to implement the diamond card if there are no combat encounters.

Even if there aren't any enemies I want to show the player that diamond cards can interact with stage elements like buttons too.

To showcase this I created a laser wall actor that has buttons to disable it, however these buttons turn off a second after shooting them, making it near impossible for a normal player to unlock the wall by shooting the buttons. What they need to do instead is use the diamond card which ricochets all of the buttons incredibly quickly, disabling the laser wall.

After this segment I have a long hallway designed to test the player when it comes to their b-hopping skills. But I wanted to add something to force the player to learn the mechanic, I did this by adding a spike wall that the player has to outrun down the hallway which they can only do by b-hopping and gaining consistent speed.

The spike wall that the player has to outrun.

This code essentially handles the walls movement as well as sending the player back if they touch the spikes.

Then after a brief basic platforming section I've made a room to showcase how the diamond card ricochets other diamond cards, in other words this room contains a massive chain reaction. I've reused the laser wall concept from the other room, except the player needs to activate the buttons using the diamond chain reaction.

I've tasked the player with a short platforming segment and at the end they're met with the laser wall, which they can disable by shooting through a gap in the glass ceiling at a diamond card, this then chains into other diamond cards hitting the buttons required to turn off the wall.

This will then segue the player into the final segment of the level which I'll make a separate post about.

[ethancfmp2025]

Polishing First Half (Stomp Actor)

The first half of the level is basically finished outside of this one aspect. I need something for the player to stomp on when they're learning how to stomp.

I'm going to do this by having a "slab" thing that the player needs to slam on, which will break it sending the player into the next area of the level.

To do this I started by creating a rudimentary texture using GIMP (it's literally just squiggly lines) and importing it into Unreal. Then I added a box collision to detect whether the player is colliding with the actor.

The below code basically just plays some particles and destroys the actor if the player colliding with it is stomping.

Here is the stomp actor in the level.

[ethancfmp2025]

Goals for the week 28/04/25

This post is a little late but the goals for this week are as follows:

Finishing the second half of the level

I need to complete the second half of the level by incorporating the gameplay mechanics I've introduced to the player throughout the first half of the level.

I have a few ideas on how I'm going to do this, which I will elaborate on in a separate post.

Polishing the first half of the level

I also need to add a few minor aspects to the first half of the level to make sure that the player properly learns all of the mechanics I'm introducing. For example I need to add a door at the end of the first b-hop corridor to make sure the player doesn't fly past the next room.

Add SFX to the player and cards

This ones pretty self explanatory, I need to add more SFX to the player and cards to make sure they feel responsive and distinct.

Potentially add a main menu (if I have time)

Also pretty self explanatory, I intend on adding a menu at some point, however I may have to push this back to when I fully focus on project presentation as my priority is with finishing the level and gameplay first.

Finish the tutorial videos

I've been doing these tutorial videos and implementing them quite inconsistently, because of this I intend to get them all complete this week.

[ethancfmp2025]

Discussing playtesting results 2

The responses to the first 2 prompts were a very good sign for me, especially since the level isn't textured at all, it's quite a relief to hear that people think the game still looks good in it's obviously unfinished state.

Ill start with the two bottom responses here; mostly because they're the easiest to solve, by just adding some extra lights to the platforming section (which I have probably done by the time I've posted this).

The top one is kind of annoying to me though, as the shader isn't supposed to conflict with the look of the cards because it's supposed to be smooth like the cards. This is a technical limitation however because to fix this I would have to disable lumen which would then mean I would have to bake all of the lighting, which is time consuming and I don't have much time left.

As a result I can't realistically fix this issue within the given timeframe and will simply have to go on like it is now. It probably also doesn't help how the level is all untextured and as a result there simply isn't a certain level of cohesion.

I think this is a good result too (better than last time I suppose) however there is one response that does levy some criticism.

I agree with the first part of the first response, I think giving the player more speed upon a slam should happen and that it would make the game flow better.

I also think that the last response here also brings a good point, I think I need to increase the window of opportunity that the player has to slam jump.

I will do both of these in a follow up blog post.

I 100% agree with the first answer here, I've had that thought for a little bit and couldn't quite articulate it, I will probably increase the momentum kept from the cards in some way (perhaps by increasing the player's walk speed when interacted with).

I agree with the first response and I was already planning to do this for the second half of my level, mostly to test the players knowledge of the mechanics I've introduced.

Also for the last response, I simply don't have time to worry about the heart as I probably won't find a proper use for it as mentioned in the blog post about it.

Firstly, I'm happy that the tutorial videos are entertaining and useful, not much else to add.

Secondly, while I don't plan on adding any combat encounters (mostly due to time constraints) I definitely plan on adding ways to employ the cards in an intuitive manner that the player can digest in a way that also tests them.

I'm happy that the parts that matter most to my specialism are the most successful and the criticism levied against the game mechanics is also incredibly useful and I will take the feedback and make the adjustment that I can within the given timeframe.

[ethancfmp2025]

Did I complete my weekly goals?

I did indeed complete my goal of fully implementing the weapon, and I didn't really have to shift my goals at all, I managed to implement the cards and have the weapon interact with them with unique outcomes.

I have also set up a playtesting session and gained feedback from my peers, I will talk about the responses this week at some point.

While I managed to implement the cards I did not expand the level at all and haven't started creating the "second half" of the level so to speak.

While I haven't had to adjust any plans yet, I will review again soon to see if there's anything I need to adjust.

[ethancfmp2025]

Setting up another playtesting session

I want this playtesting session to mostly cover the new card mechanics and clean up any issues with the visuals or movement that may be still around. I also want to cover the tutorial videos and gain some insight to whether they're actually useful to the player.

Here are the questions I asked:

This section discusses the visuals and what the responder suggests to improve them.

This section discusses the movement system and what the responder suggests to improve it.

This is probably the most important part of this playtest form for me, as I don't really know how the players will react to the card mechanics nor how they'll interact with them.

Finally these last few questions cover the tutorial videos and any general suggestions that the responder may have.

[ethancfmp2025]

Card Implementation, or lack thereof (Heart)

My idea when it came to the heart card was to have it do something related to the players health (heal the player or something) however due to time constraints it seems that not only will I simply not have time to implement a health system, but I also won't have time to implement any situations where the players health would be affected (combat situations etc.)

I had however implemented the card using the template, it simply lacks any functionality, so I will still keep it in the game as proof of visual design incorporation.

This post is more me cutting features that I was going to try and implement such as enemies, the health system and as a result the functionality of the heart card. While I probably could implement these aspects in the given timeframe, I probably wouldn't then have time to playtest it or finish other aspects of the level, which is my priority.

Here is what I managed to implement: