Pause Game Menu

 Overview: I have been focusing on enhancing key mechanics in my game, with an emphasis on user interface elements such as the Pause Menu and Main Menu as suggested by our unit coordinator. These improvements ensure a more fluid and polished player experience.

Pause Menu Implementation: The Pause Menu, triggered by the ESC key, offers options for Resume and Quit. To manage this, I implemented a PauseManager, which not only handles activation of the PauseMenuPanel but also ensures the menu remains persistent across scenes.

Challenges & Solutions: One challenge was that the menu initially required two key inputs to activate. Introducing the PauseManager solved this by allowing the menu to activate and deactivate with a single input while ensuring that the game pauses correctly. Additionally, the PauseManager was essential in keeping the PauseMenuPanel persistent, allowing it to carry over between scenes without needing to be recreated.

Main Menu Controller: The Main Menu controls character selection and confirmation, offering a streamlined experience. I optimised the input logic to ensure that character selection and confirmation happen instantly upon the first key press.

Features:

• Character selection with dedicated keys (e.g., E for Elf and V for Valkyrie).
• A confirmation dialogue to finalise character selection.
• Smooth transitions to the game once a character is confirmed.

What’s Next: I’m planning to:

• Continue with adding more animations for Valkyrie's game interactions.
• Continue adding more UI elements for the main menu.
• Expand and refine the first level layout.
• Start drafting the second level and animate the second enemy character.