Week 2 - 6: Program & Art Build

Art Build Major Update - The Quantum Enigma

After the initial prototype of the game with simple enemies and the movement working, the next step for my Program/Art build of the game was to get the shooting to work and play fun. I have also incorporated a simple main menu, simple sound effects, and simple health/damage system. I have also created a fully functional Environmental Trap blueprint, while not present in the level, will cause damage to the player if walking in the collision box of the trap. The combination of all these new assets and components I have added has created a simple yet functional art build of the game. I will take the opportunity here to cite the external assets that were not mine which I used in the level: The weapon sound effect and the Polar Facility asset pack from the Unreal Engine marketplace are the main assets I used from external sources apart from my own. Things I plan to add for the beta and alpha build is a proper win state, more levels that will follow Hollman's model of Challenge Iteration, a working main menu, more sound/music, as well as incorporate the narrative via sequences in Unreal Engine. 

The walkthrough of this simple level goes as follows:

1. Enter the main menu scene with the MainMenu_widgetBlueprint added to the viewport(Still a WIP due to character still showing up in level" and click the begin game button
2. Use WASD to traverse the mini level as well as space bar to jump.
3. Avoid contact with the enemy or else a floating animation  will play that will notify the game of the character's death and respawn the character at the beginning of the level.
4. Traverse through the mini lab level by going up the stairs and jumping onto the roof. 

Although very simple, there is much I plan to have added to make the game feel more complete through the feedback given from classmates about my prototype build. I was given feedback about how the enemies could have been more fun to destroy, as well as some helpful feedback about how buggy the movement was throughout the game. After fixing these, I realize how much more tight the core loop of the game was thanks to their feedback. Now, the movement works more smoother, the gun shoots and reinforces player feedback, and the enemies are more of a challenge to avoid.