Final Week Blog for My Game Development Project

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Final Week Blog for My Game Development Project

As the final week of my project approaches, I have been focusing heavily on refining and solving the remaining issues to ensure the game is polished and ready for submission. This week has been both challenging and rewarding as I tackled various aspects of the game—from finalizing animations to enhancing gameplay elements and improving the overall experience.

Progress Overview

1. Completing the Final Level
The final level, featuring the boss fight, was the primary focus for the first few days. I had to complete the boss animations and implement the attack system. The boss is designed to spawn a unique enemy, the "enemy_grenade," from its body during its attack phase. This adds an extra layer of challenge to the gameplay. Additionally, I introduced a second enemy type with animations to make the boss level more engaging and dynamic.

2. Visual and Audio Enhancements
To make the game environment more immersive, I added various visual elements and sound effects. This included:

  • New background music (BGM) for different levels.

  • Sound effects for player actions and enemy interactions.

  • Camera triggers to create zoom-in and zoom-out effects, adding cinematic flair to key moments.

  • Different-colored collectibles to add variety and visual appeal to the game.

3. Environment Redesign
After reviewing the initial environment design, I decided it wasn’t visually striking enough. I redesigned the environment to make it more engaging and appealing to players. This change significantly improved the overall aesthetic and made the game feel more polished.

4. UI Improvements
I created:

  • A main menu page with intuitive navigation.

  • An ending page that appears after defeating the boss, featuring a short dialogue between the player and an NPC to provide a satisfying conclusion to the story.

  • Smooth level transitions using a black image fade-in and fade-out effect by adjusting the alpha value.

  • A "Start Over" page that appears when the player dies, allowing them to restart the game seamlessly.

Challenges Faced and Solutions

1. Boss Animation and Enemy Spawning
I wanted the boss to spawn the "enemy_grenade" during its attack phase. However, the looping animation and spawning mechanism didn’t function as intended, causing the enemies not to spawn correctly. To resolve this, I experimented with different approaches, tweaking both the code and the animator’s transition methods. After persistent effort and trial-and-error, I finally achieved the desired result.

2. Enemy Animation Bug
Initially, when an enemy was killed during its idle state, it would disappear without playing the death animation. The death animation only worked when the enemy was killed in its attack state. I spent significant time adjusting the animator transitions and refining the code. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, I couldn’t fully resolve this issue before the deadline.

3. Audio Issue with Heart Collectible
While trying to assign an audio clip to play when the heart collectible is collected, I encountered a problem where the sound didn’t play consistently. Oddly, this issue only occurred with the heart collectible, while other elements worked fine with the same process. After spending considerable time debugging, I decided to postpone solving this issue as it was consuming too much time.

What I Learned

Throughout this project, I gained valuable insights and skills:

  1. Problem-Solving and Debugging:

    • Tackling complex issues like animation transitions and enemy spawning taught me to approach problems systematically and patiently. This reinforced the importance of experimentation and persistence in game development.

  2. Game Design and Polish:

    • Adding visual and audio enhancements showed me how small details can significantly elevate the player’s experience. It also taught me the value of iteration in design.

  3. Time Management:

    • Balancing multiple tasks and prioritizing critical fixes helped me improve my time management skills. Knowing when to let go of minor issues to focus on the bigger picture was a key takeaway.

  4. Collaboration with Tools and Systems:

    • Working with Unity’s Animator, AudioSource, and other tools deepened my understanding of how these systems interact within a game.

  5. Player Experience:

    • Designing the main menu, ending dialogue, and level transitions emphasized the importance of creating a cohesive and engaging journey for players.

Final Thoughts

This final week has been a rollercoaster of challenges and accomplishments. Despite some unresolved issues, I am proud of the progress I’ve made and the skills I’ve developed throughout this project. Reflecting on the journey, I am grateful for the support and guidance I received along the way. The experience has solidified my passion for game development and motivated me to continue improving my craft.

Thank you for following along with my project. I hope this game brings joy and excitement to those who play it!

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