BUILD 1
As of 28 January 2021
Hello there! In this section I will be talking about what transpired as I was making my 1st build. The 1st build was rather too plain but had some of the features to begin with. The player was moving perfectly well and had the basic movements working well (left, right and jumping). The health bar was also working but only worked when the player walked close to the enemy. The enemy on the other hand did not have any animations whatsoever and was just standing there with arms wide open welcoming the player to kill them. The environment did not make sense now that I look back to it I am just like what was I thinking. It is a learning process and I am learning for sure. I made sure I added in the Glenmarie Games logo as it is mandatory at our University to do so.
BUILD 2
As of 4 February 2021
Welcome back again, here is an update for my 2nd build. In this build I added in some more features. The player could now punch the enemies and the enemies could now die. The issue here was that the health from this build was clashing with the health created in the 1st build and I tried to fix it but I failed to. I also added in the background sound for the game to just get the player in the mood since the mechanics were not that much. In addition to that I also added in the instructions of the controls to let the player know which button does what. In terms of the environment I just changed it a bit by adding cubes and grass but I then looked back at it and saw that some of the blocks' positions did not make sense. I was planning to add in kicking for the player but I cancelled it as punching is good enough.
I also did some playtests with 3 different people and they gave me some positive and negative feedback. I will just explain it in brief. The players loved the smoke effect I added in at the beginning of the game when the player walks through. They also thought the animations were cool. Adding in the instructions of the controls also helped the players know which buttons to use when navigating through the map and fighting. The feedback given helped a lot. Saw some parts I had not seen being pointed out as issues like the white screen , death of player and how it is connected to the health bar.
BUILD 3
As of 18 February 2021
Hello again! Here is an update on my 3rd build. I added in the enemy being punched sound effects and the enemy death sound effects. I also added in an AI that follows the player. The issue i faced with this was that the AI had minimal range and only followed the player when they were in front of them and not on the entire map. The health issue faced from the 2nd build was still there and I had to disable it as I was wasting time trying to fix it. I also added in the main menu for the game showing credits, play and exiting the game.
I also playtested this build and I will give the feedback in brief. The testers mentioned that the animations were smooth and the sound was good well. They read the controls and understood them. The negative part was the environment was a bit too plain the the boxes there seemed to have no use. The player and the enemies looked the same and it was hard to tell who is who. The issue of the health bar not being there physically was an issue.
BUILD 4
As of 24 February 2021
Hello there! This will be my last update for my build. I must say the build did not come out as expected but I am proud for the progress in terms of technical side as I have learnt a lot and added to my knowledge. The features that are in the game are :
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Player punching, basic movements, health and respawning when health reaches 0
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Enemy death and being punched animations
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Enemy following the player
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Background sound and SFX when punching and when the enemy dies
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The main menu
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Different skin for the player to differentiate them from the enemies
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The mandatory Glenmarie Games logo
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A better environment than the previous builds
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Control instructions on the right side of the screen
This is what I managed to do for the beat em' up. I ended up cancelling other features due to time but nonetheless I feel okay with what I have so far.
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NEW GENRE - PLATFORMER
As of 3 March
2021
Hello there! In this section, we have introduced a new genre to the build which is "Platformer". I managed to add the basics for a platformer(idle platforms, moving platforms, the enemies, destination location). These are all working well. The one I had issues with was the moving platforms. As soon I added in their blueprints, Unreal started to glitch and I had to restart it several times just to get the mechanic working. I checked the map to see if there were any errors but there were not. I ended up having to work with a glitching screen when I was adding the other features and succeeded.
I also did a playtest and the players feedback helped a lot. What they liked about this build was the environment being more open and different from the 1st one, giving the player the opportunity to experience different environments.
BUILD 5
As of 10 March 2021
Welcome back again, here is an update for the 6th build. In this build I did not manage to do much due to being occupied by other assignments. Nevertheless, I did manage to fix a few features in the game. I fixed the winnie as it was it visible enough. I tried to fix the health bar of the enemy and the speed of the moving platforms , but to no avail. The moving platforms seem to be moving too fast after packaging the project but without packaging it, it works fine. Each time I put the health bar on top of the player, it does not seem to show the health decreasing. So i just did not end up including it.
I managed to do another playtest session with just one player and they just asked to fix a few glitches in the game and bugs. Some of them are mentioned above like the health which were hard to fix, but I managed to fix the other ones.
BUILD 6
As of 17 March 2021
Hello again! Here is an update on my 7th build. I added in a new level with new features. The game now has a new environment featuring new obstacles and just a different look from the other levels. I made this level like a maze. It was some work so i had to draw it first on paper then implemented it. This was way easier as I wanted to just create one from the spot. The obstacles include a rotating fork and spinner. The level also includes the other features in the other builds like the enemies and the like.
I then compiled my build the 1st until this 7th build to form one game. The game now has:
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Player punching, basic movements, health and respawning when health reaches 0
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Enemy death and being punched animations
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Enemy following the player
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Background sound and SFX when punching and when the enemy dies
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The main menu
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Different skin for the player to differentiate them from the enemies
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The mandatory Glenmarie Games logo
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A better environment than the previous builds
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Control instructions on the right side of the screen
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Obstacles
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New environments
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Moving and stagnant platforms placed either on the ground or higher
So far so good, cannot wait to include the last genre and have the final final build.
BUILD 7
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NEW GENRE - SURVIVOR
As of 31 March
2021
Hello there! In this section, we have introduced a new genre to the build which is "Survivor". I had planned to put stealth but the game ended up towards survivor and I did that. I managed to add the basics for a survivor. The player is present and can run away from the enemies. The player also has a new animation, crouching. This will be used in tunnels and very low spaces for the player to go through. For the platforms, there are also safe spots for the player to breathe a bit after being chased by the enemies.
Not much was done in this build as some other assignments needed my attention.
BUILD 8
As of 7 April 2021
Welcome back again, here is an update for the 9th build. In this build, I did not manage to do much due to being occupied by other assignments. We are reaching towards the end of the semester and things are getting a bit rough. Nevertheless, I did manage to add a few features to the game environment. I added sliding doors for the player to walk through when running and when the doors shut, the enemies left on the other side are left there and cannot pass through.
There are now moving platforms to help the player move from one point to another. Since this is a mixed genre game, I still have to pay attention to the other two genres. The moving platform however was not working after packaging the game, but during development, it was working fine. I ended up having to put basic platforms to replace the moving one. I also just extended the level a bit and added a few obstacles. Instructional text for how to crouch was also added as it did not exist and the player did not know which key to use.
BUILD 9
As of 14 April 2021
Hello again! Here is an update on my 10th build and the last build. It's been quite a journey but all things eventually end. This week I was buried in other assignments and therefore not much was done as well. I just ended up fixing what needed to be fixed like the environment, resizing some platforms and placing them properly, placing enemies well, and just other fixes. After all these weeks of development, I have managed to make a game that I never thought I would be able to do. I am not that confident in my "tech" as I experience problems with it, but with this game, I did a lot of research on how to implement certain stuff and I managed to do it. I am proud as I overcame the fear of trying something very complicated for my level and having to research and make it work.
After compiling all my builds I now have a complete okayish game.
BUILD 10
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