Began by improving the logic of the text that appears when near an interact-able object so that it is one event to set the text and make it appear, it was previously two separate functions which made it inefficient. I worked on improving this because I wanted the tutorial messages to pop right out the first time but when going near them again you at least have the option on whether or not to read it. That way it doesn’t becoming annoying if you run into the object while exploring the level. The tutorial object is more dynamic and can be used in many different scenarios.
To make it slightly more interesting I gave it the appearance of slowly bobbing up and down by altering it’s Z position in relative space using a timeline that shifts up and down. Adding on a random play rate when they are spawned so that each one moves at different speeds. It looked better when they weren’t moving in unison. I imported the screenshots I took for each of the tutorial and I figured out what wording was best for each of them. What really ate majority of my time was figuring out the best object to place the text thing so it wouldn’t clip or go passed the screen if it was a lengthy message. That was a common issue I kept running into and there are many options to choose from in the Unreal Motion Graphics. I tried the different horizontal and vertical boxes. Which sort objects and fit them into their borders.
After a lot of experimenting I found that it was the Scale Box that I needed. Anything within its designated space is scaled up or down and won’t clip passed. It worked as intended and everything I wrote down was clear enough to read as far as I could tell. Some tutorial messages were lengthier than others because some things needed more than a brief explanation. I arranged the messages to where I thought they would best be positioned for the player to slowly learn the mechanics of the game. There are no fights in the beginning so the learning curve may be a bit steep since the real battle is only the boss.
The next logical step is to get someone else to play it. Not sure how to go about that besides getting someone I personally know to try it out. I’ll continue to play through the first level to feel it out and see if there is anything I want to improve or fix. Once I’ve felt I have finally done enough then it will be time to work on another level which is both exciting and frightening.
GoldenGratus Games 