fmprojectwsc

[fmprojectwsc]

Progress - Technical breakdown video

Here is a technical breakdown of my game :

[fmprojectwsc]

Problem / Turning back - Showing notes not working

When developing a system to show the notes that are being played on screen to the player, I came across a lot of issues that caused this to be much more difficult than what I imagined it to be. I would make this within blueprint, however this will not be possible as the main bits of code are within C++.

For starters, I have changed this code numerous times, which includes moving it to 3 different actors to try and get a better result. For example, I started finding the letter within the bullet BP, however no "time" would be received to it. Then I moved it to the NPC character and it worked a little bit, however for some reason not at the start of the project. Then I moved it to the buildings and not much happened.

Overall, I believe I spent too much time on this. Yes it does allow me to showcase my code with audio visualizers, however with only a day left to be used its not worth the time spent.

I will be recoding a video tomorrow with a technical breakdown of all the code and how it works/translates it to be shown via the bullets.

[fmprojectwsc]

Problem / Resolution - Issue with saving variables in structs on runtime

When creating the saving mechanic for the displayable notes, I came across a issue where the notes did not save. I thought back to the time that my USoundWave variable wasn't saving, however had no idea why this was happening.

I started off checking all the boxes on the variables to make sure they are allowed to be used for saving, however this did not change anything.

I tried multiple methods of splitting up the map into 2 separate arrays, or adding the map directly into the save game instead of inside the struct. All methods DID NOT WORK!

I later thought... Well, why don't I make another save game. Brilliant idea, wish I came up with it sooner! I created a new save game and there, it starts to work.

My idea on this must of been that there was a max amount of data that can be stored in each game save slot, so creating another slot should do the trick!

This could fix the issue with the sound wave files not saving, however I do not have enough time to test that so I will have to place that on hold till later.

[fmprojectwsc]

Progression / Issue - Showing the note on top of the bullet

To better show what I have accomplished to others, I thought of the idea to show the note on top of the bullets. This should make the bullets easier to see and will allow more visualization on the notes that are coming after the player. My original idea was to make the text the only thing visible, however I couldn't make the text emissive which caused them to be hard to read. I could make 3D models of each letter, however that is time consuming so I decided to not do that.

When thinking of how I would do this, I remembered that each note on this keyboard corresponds to a number :

Because of that, I went though each note and tried to find a pattern. I found that between each note (C for example) there was a 0.12 difference. Only 1 note was different, however the rest followed this rule. I first started off thinking of ideas on how I would translate this number into the note whilst also avoiding a "Harry Method" :

I came to the thought to create 7 variables A-G that are strings that include all the numbers for each letter on the keyboard as shown below :

Then I used a contains node and a branch to see if the number currently provided by the midi input is present in one of these variables.

I later came into the problem where a note would be 0.40, however was being displayed as 0.4. For that reason, all numbers that started with 0.4 (normally A) was being picked over the right letter. To fix this, I tested to see if the number was less than 4 and if it was, then I added a 0 to the end using a "append" node as shown below :

This fixed the issue.

Next...

I could have made this simpler, however decided to do the "Harry way"... All this does is set the text to whatever node is being played using the branches and the contain nodes.

This code is later referenced to be added to the array :

This is how the "saving" of the code works.

[fmprojectwsc]

Progression - TPair's and how they may be the "key" I need to visualize notes.

When research online for a resolution for my current problem, I came across a variable called "TPair". A TPair variable is like a map, however only stores one of each variable instead of a array of each variable. Its normally used in relationship with a Map, which is what I am trying to use at the moment.

Here is what the code would look like if you were to make your own TPair variable :

TPair<FString, int32> MyPair(TEXT("Score"), 100);

Here, the TPair variable has a FString as its key and a int32 as its value. You can access the key and value using "MyPair.Key" and "MyPair.Value".

TPair is a important variable to know, allowing grouping of two values together, making it easier to transfer to different .cpp and .h files.

[fmprojectwsc]

Not sure - Looking into the past

When looking through my blogs on my old project, I came across this post talking about issues that came from my graphics card in my old laptop. After this project, this issue never appeared as much. Once during this project I had this happen, but thankfully no work was lost!

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Overall - Problems with the unreal editor

When creating this project, I came across a large range of issues based off the editor. Due to blueprint being inside of the editor and including debugging tools, it is much easier to test compared to C++.

When using C++, issues will arise that you will simply have no idea where from. Blueprint will tell you exactly where the problem is, however C++ won't! This caused a fair bit of problems when making my game, but was also helped by the fact I made by first prototype inside of Blueprint.

[fmprojectwsc]

Progress - Chosen specialism

For the target audience of my game, I am mainly planning on this being a testing project for myself and not a actual release of a game focused towards people in particular. This was just to test my skills that I have learned over the year's. If I was to pick a target audience for my game however I would pick between the ages of 8-17 due to the difficulty of the game. It is also a bit confusing to play, however for the main release I will be including more visual aid inside of the game for the player.

[fmprojectwsc]

Progress - London Digital Institute

Today I was introduced to my future life at university. Like discussed before, I have previously visited this university for a normal open day. Today was a offer holders day where people who are planning to join the course talk with other interested people and staff. Today was a great experience to talk to new people and make a start on my next life at university.

During this open day, I met two of the lecturers that discussed some key points about the game industry that I found interesting. They talked about 3D models and the ability to import them into your game. These may not be exactly for me, however helping other people out with what they are teaching was great!

During this day, I met a few year 3 and year 2 students that discussed about their current life in university. I discussed with them different thoughts that I had, such as the write up and the conditions at the university and received great information back!

Whist at the university, the enthusiasm from all the staff was great to see. The enthusiasm seemed reassuring about this university, making it seem great to its pupils.

Finally, the university offers smaller groups per course which in return allows more 1 to 1 work with tutors to assist.

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Overall / Thoughts - The information I received when discussing my project idea

When discussing my project idea to my peers, they first was unsure about the rhythm part of my game. To make it even worse, I said I would allow the player to import their own music. This caused a lot of disagreement saying that I will not be able to do it in time and the fact its a difficult type of game to create. I have encountered a large range of problems and issues when creating this project, yet these problems were fixed to create a final project that I am impressed about.

With the 2 years at this college, the knowledge that I have gained in both blueprint and C++ is phenomenal! The help that I have received from peers and tutors has been great in developing my skills as a game programmer. Getting a industry perspective from my peers helps set myself up better for my future working life!

[fmprojectwsc]

01/05/2024 - The final day

This project has had its problems, however I believe that I have learned a lot of things from that. The problems that came to be on this project can help me avoid those same problems on my future projects. I hope that with the knowledge present to me at this moment is good enough for my university life. Today I will be refining my blog work and receiving playtesting data that can improve my game whenever I head back to this project.

[fmprojectwsc]

Reflection - Feedback on playtesting

I have showcased my game off to my class and received feedback from a couple to get their ideas on my game. These ideas range from things to change to things that they like. Here are the results below :

On this question, I asked the player how difficult the game is. From these results, I can gather that the game is quite difficult to play. This might affect the playability of the game for people with disabilities and might limit my accessibility of my game, so I should try and make the game easier to play.

From these results above, the majority of the play testers liked the game idea. 1/4 of the results disagreed however and said that the concept is good, however the development wasn't. For that reason, I will be adjusting and bug fixing to make my game better for a release.

For this question, I asked the players if the "add your own song" feature was cool. Nearly all thought that it was a cool idea, however one of them was unsure. I believe that if I showcased the importing of the songs then this may have changed their mind.

For this question, there are a lot of mixed results based on the game. most people say the music is in-sync enough to play, however some people disagree. For that reason, if I ever come back to this project I will make the music more in-sync.

Same results as the last question. Play Testers are unsure about if this game will be suitable and accessible for all ages. For that reason, I will be incorporating the ideas that I have discussed before on this post.

I then asked the play testers their opinion on the style of the game, most agreed that it looked good, however some had some improvements. One person said to add more "sparkles" and colors. For that reason, I will be adding particle effects to the game when the player does different things.

These two questions are nearly the same. I asked the players what they would add/change to the game. One person said to add more selection of buildings and another said to make it multiplayer. Due to the style of my game, I do not think that multiplayer will work well within my game. Next, indicators of where the bullets are going to come from is a feature discussed at the start of this project, however I have never had enough time to add it. Some easy fixes that were discussed was to make the crosshair smaller and make the bullets larger.

[fmprojectwsc]

Progress - Itch.io Page

To share my project and my development over time to people around the world, I have uploaded my project to itch.io. Itch is a great website for indie developers to get their name out in the world and showcase what they have made! As a aspiring game designer, using this website is key for a successful career in game design.

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Thoughts - No litter on the streets

Within my game, there is no rubbish on the streets. This helps with the environmental impact as there will be less animals harming themselves due to the pollutants inside of the rubbish. This makes my game environmentally conscious about the animals and the condition of the world.

[fmprojectwsc]

Thoughts - Using DLSS for environmental considerations

When thinking about things to write on my blog, I came to the thought that DLSS reduces the total power draw of machines. For that reason, my game is more environmentally considerate compared to others that do not use DLSS. This helps with the environment as less power is taken from coal power plants and therefore less pollution in the sky.

When exploring online, I found this reddit post about someone's wattage getting limited due to DLSS :

Which proves my point in which DLSS improves the environmental impact of computers.

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Progress - What I could improve on the moving building mechanic

When thinking of ideas for my game that I may be able to create in the short timeframe left for this project, I came up with a few ideas that would have been nice to include.

One features that I have came up with is to move a arrow to the furthest point away from the player on the sections. At the moment, the code teleports the sections forwards by the amount of sections * by 1650. This isn't a great way to do this, so making it with teleport points will make the code much more simple and less prone to breaking.

Next, I wish I could make the NPC's use a linear interp to move themselves out of between the buildings, instead of being based on a counting system and a "addlocaloffset". It would make the music more accurate and less prone to issues.

Another thing I wish I could introduce to my game in time is more points to shoot from. This will allow the speed of the map to slow down and therefore be easier to play. The game will also have better framerate as the amount of sections can go down due to the speed being less.

Finally, I wish I could add some feature to slow down bullets before they hit the player so they are easier to hit. At the moment, its a difficult game to play due to the speed of the bullets. If this feature was added, this would significantly help with the playability of the game.

[fmprojectwsc]

Project Evaluation

I'm citing my project in a specialist context to enhance my skills before university. It allows me to focus on gaining experience in one area, particularly in learning programming languages like C++, C#, and Python. For this project, I'm using Blueprint and C++ to familiarise myself with these languages. I've removed blood from the game to maintain a PEGI rating of 12, making it more accessible. Additionally, I've considered the various religious colours in my game's design, such as red bullets for death. To improve the environment, I'll include trees and bushes, and players will have the option to add their own songs, contributing to the game's sustainability.

I chose a vr game at the start of my project, however this has changed due to time limitations. I wanted the game to be interactive and immersive, so adding the player on a motorbike racing down the road should do that. Throughout this project, I have learned the basics of Audio Synesthesia in C++ and blueprint, as well as learning how to make an endless scrolling world with customisable length and interesting fade in/out mechanics. My Target outcome would be to complete a game fully made inside of C++.

I started my project in blueprint to get a good idea of what to code in C++. I also researched some games that have similar mechanics to what I am making and took ideas from them. To increase the framerate, I received some help from my peers to make the sections teleport forwards rather than delete and respawn. These ideas and methods have supported me greatly with getting a great idea on the coding side of unreal engine. They have allowed me to create code that I would not have been able to make before.

I have found delays are not appropriate inside of C++. When I use blueprint, delays where my go-to node, so I had to adapt and change to “OnTriggered” and other events to get my code to work. I would love to learn most coding languages, especially the most famous C++ and C#. Coding games and software has the hidden feeling of accomplishment once you are finished with the project, and that's what I strive to feel. This year, I have gained a lot of experience in coding and therefore developed on my skills and techniques to a point that I can make near-full games inside of C++ (with some resources from forms).

Due to the difficulty of C++, I came across a number of issues and problems that caused a significant decrease in my development. Some of these issues might come from un-named errors or simple grammar mistakes. When a problem arose that was unforeseen, I searched on forms for a solution or found another way of doing what I needed to do. Due to specific coding practices in C++, it helps me better solve issues that might arise. This is also supported by compiling times, which take significantly longer than blueprint. If you can get all your code correct before you compile, it will save you time.

In the development of my game, I've included basic coding functions that not only add to the visuals, but also significantly help the game's mechanics. This includes adding buildings to hide NPC's till the last second, which adds a layer of suspense, and making sure that the bullets are visible against the buildings inside of the game. To further "refine" the gameplay and features, I've received feedback from peers using Google Forms, gathering thoughts and suggestions. The game is made for players who enjoy rhythm games that feature different levels of difficulty depending on the piece of music.

I have placed my game on itch to showcase my games to other players. Normally, small indie developers share their games on itch to get acknowledgement for their game and to get it out into the world. Nearly all developers create a project proposal to share their idea with other developers and studios, which is one thing that I created at the start of my project. My ideas have been shared across my blog with in-depth descriptions of each idea and blogs on how it was introduced to the game.

At the start of this project, my targets were to create a game using mostly C++, but also Blueprint, with VR compatibility, Superhot speed mechanics, and gameplay that reacts to the song that is being played. I was not able to incorporate the VR gameplay and Superhot speed mechanics, due to time restraints and the project deadline. I have however finished the main features of the game to the point that the game is fully playable. The game now responds to audio that the player imports and features C++ and Blueprint code.