Accomplished quite a bit today. Started of as intended watching a few videos on how to optimize the game. Learned a few new things such as commands to see how certain parts of the game are running. It also mentioned again that I shouldn’t use Tick events if I didn’t have to. I couldn’t figure out for awhile how to convert my tick logic to run another way. After some tweaking I got to get it working off a timeline that periodically updates through a gate node. Basically I toggle an event that will run every 0.2 seconds which is better than using the Tick because that runs every frame all the time. I fixed more logic as well with the character mechanics. Making it feel more reactive to controls and different states.
I updated the UI a bit, firstly making certain texts simple such as the check point reminders, and in preparation for the future I prepared a block for the Interact-able text. Essentially the image or text will change depending on the input in the settings. It won’t always be “F” for interact, and I’ll figure out how to update that later on. For the disappearing wall I tried to figure out a way that could connect the separate pieces so they would react to each other. I couldn’t find the easiest and simplest way so I went back to that problem at the end of the day. Instead I went to the boss room and had the lights change when the boss was at half health. It makes the fight more visually exciting and dynamic. The player character now has extra flair as I added a new flip to when they grapple.
A lot of these changes were spurned on by the idea I want to release a new video tomorrow. I want everything to look a lot sharper and refined than before. I went back over the level and added a few more pieces to make it look less empty. Some random benches and banners that can barely be seen. In the boss room I added empty shelves and remembered I could use the foliage tool to place stuff at random. So I used it to scatter paper around. It’s easy to forget that the foliage tool is for more than just plants. I then added a few new attacks for the boss because some moves were repetitive and similar. This change may have made it a bit harder but that’s something I can easily tune later.
The newest thing I learned was using the Niagara system in Unreal. It’s another particle system that the engine has, that is very powerful and visually pleasing. It has tons of uses that I can still explore. But I will stick to the surface level for now as I have other priorities. I learned enough of it that I can use it for cool auras that surround characters. It’s better looking than the particles systems I had been using and more user friendly. Lastly for the wall I had to make a unique blueprint for it. I’m sure I can find a way to create a dynamic blueprint that can be used in different situations. But I am not sure if I’ll use it enough to justify making an efficient piece. As my catchphrase seems to go, “it works fine for now.”
GoldenGratus Games 