Final Product & Evaluation

This is the finished walking simulator game that I have created which was based around a dungeon and exploring.

Gameplay Footage:

Gameplay reviews:

I like the gameplay loop, good audio cues, as well as fun mechanics, however I would prefer if there weren't 3 chest right next to each other.

The gameplay was fun, nice to look around and explore, good mechanics wish it was a tad more difficult with the exit being more difficult to find

Response to feedback:
The feedback I received was very helpful in me wishing to improve upon my game further if I were to ever remake my game I would definitely use this feedback to help create a better experience for my players

Evaluation

To begin off, I have learnt several new skills and improved upon many other skills while developing this project; The main of which would be my blueprinting in Unreal Engine 4. This was a very crucial part of my project, as due to selecting the more technical path I decided to experiment and try new things in Unreal Engine 4, which expanded my knowledge greatly.

For starters, my ability to use and understand widgets has increased dramatically due to working with them constantly throughout this project. With all of my menus running through widgets as well as having my objective display be built using widgets. This is important information to have because in future I will no longer be so reliant on outside sources of material in order to guide me and I will be able to figure it out by myself, improving my ability is very important as I'll be able to do tasks faster and more efficiently.

Though within my learning of widgets I encountered many issues that being, widgets not functioning correctly, widget references not being referenced correctly, and being unable to find the correct nodes in order to get the widget fully working. Each of these issues were solved in the end, as I was able to locate these nodes with lots of perseverance. In regards to widget functionality, I had to work around the fact that some of the things I wanted to do originally had to be done a different way so in order to fix that I just changed the entire method of how I setup the widget.

I would like to improve how many of these widgets I'm able to do within a certain timeframe. Due to it being one of the few times I've used widgets I was pretty slow when it came to starting and finishing each of them off which limited how much I could accomplish within the timeframe given to me.

The next time I do this I will be quicker to produce the amount of widgets and get all the functionality in that I originally wanted within the game this being much more achievable now my knowledge about widgets is far greater than when I started this project.

The next thing I improved upon and learnt more about is general blueprinting within Unreal Engine 4, I am now able to do several blueprints without the assistance of the internet or others, this is due to me having a greater understanding of how the nodes and overall formatting work in UE4. I'm able to do things more fluidly and instantly able to link the certain nodes to others just by looking at them which lets me work at a much faster pace than before.

This is rather important as now I will be able to manage a larger workload and be able to cope with it simply just due the fact that I understand it all a lot better than I did.

I did encounter a couple issues that being, when I didn't fully grasp what a node was doing it threw me off course and I got stuck for longer trying to fix the node confusing myself in the process.

I would like to improve my proficiency with that aspect of the development cycle as it would help me greatly when trying to get a job in the field as I would understand a lot more about software that is actually used within game companies.

Next time I will not overcomplicate simple node fixes and start to get all of the interiors of the blueprints organised so it's easier for me to correct the mistakes without taking up time on them.

This next thing that I improved upon was within 3DS Max when I was initially creating and designing the modular assets for my game. I very much improved in my unwrapping as well as texturing as before I was very atrocious at texturing it being one of the things I struggled with when learning the software. But I learnt how to do the texturing more efficiently as well as correctly.

This is pretty important due to me originally not really being able to do texturing well in the slightest. So this improvement within the project will allow me to further my skills within 3DS Max which means that I now have a wider range in ability when it comes to developing games better.

I came up with 3 total ideas, but decided to go with the dungeon idea as I thought I could do that one the best. The other two ideas were a desert shrine and a winter fort building, I didn't have just one inspiration, I watch a lot of shows and subconsciously take in the environments and I consider doing an area that was similar in environment but I also play a lot of games and very much enjoy exploring within them. Dungeons are quite an interesting concept as you can do so much with them. Because dungeons don't have to be the classic dark dungeon, they can have foliage in, they could be anything you want. In the end I went down the typical dungeon route with the approach with the addition of some foliage. And so an exploration of one of those dungeons became my goal for the project.

I believe I managed to create a product similar to my original intentions, this is due to me creating a dark, eerie environment covered in foliage to give the impression it's been around for several years this working well as my exact idea was something very similar to this.

I also now have a much better understanding of the project I originally wanted to create now that I'm finished with it. The main realisation that I came across is the fact that I wish I added more intense foliage such as vines or highly detailed cracks in the walls which would have beams of sunlight blasting down.

The way I decided to research was to gain a basis of understanding of dungeons, such as where they were mainly located, what they were used for and so on. As ideas entered my head related to the project I would look up to see if they were used in dungeons and if they were I would research into these things deeper, for example the idea, of where the location was. I was contemplating making it widely different with the dungeon being a tower dungeon as I learnt that dungeons weren't only just underground. So I looked into the tower dungeons more and came to the conclusion that the average dungeon would be better suited to what I set out to create.

I believe my research was thorough and definitely had enough substance in order to complete my game and give me enough material for me to be able to take creative liberty with it. The secondary research definitely influenced my choices a lot more than the primary since it was easier to find the secondary research than it was to gather the primary research. With the secondary research from the films being a good influence mainly the Aladdin prison scene because that had a very good design to it. Due to it having an already built dungeon environment I was able to take inspiration from and mix it in with my primary research in order to get to a design I liked for my project. This granting me the ability to get to a place where I was able to create something new by using the information and inspiration I gathered.

In regards to planning I had set up a schedule for when I would do what. Right next to my project proposal there was a schedule for when I would be doing things. For example, on the weeks commencing the 21st and 28th of March, my goal was to complete another few models within the weeks, as well as to get at least one function done in Unreal Engine 4. Once completed a production log would be added.

This would be the most useful planning tool. I began using Trello but I decided that in the end the schedule would be the easiest to keep track of for me which allowed me to keep on top of all of my work ensuring all of what was wanted was completed according to plan.

I believe my planning was definitely thorough enough as it worked well and made sure I had a clear set of ideas for what I wanted to accomplish that week so I could keep working on the project and know where to pick up where I left off clearly.

The production went smoothly the majority of the time. With the planning being a key factor in that. The few times where production didn't go as smoothly was when I wasn't fully competent with the software which slowed the process down but the issues did not stem from planning and if I got stuck too long I'd move onto the other items on the plan and return to the thing I got stuck on later, which was mainly 3DS Max as out of both Unreal Engine and 3DS Max, it's my weaker field so I would go onto the function creation then return to the asset modelling later that week

I would improve in future by making sure I can keep track of Trello as I would much prefer to display my work more clearly in blocks than the list that I ended up committing to and using. Despite that preference the list worked perfectly, but other than I would definitely work more efficiently with more experience in 3DS Max.

Major problems that I encountered was due to inefficiency and lack of knowledge around the software which lead to me getting more stressed about it and ergot led to me making more mistakes. Which made the process a lot more inefficient.

The most effective way that I had with dealing with these problems was knowing when to take a step back from it all and moving onto something different and coming back to the problem typically 3DS Max when modelling the more complex assets but occasionally Unreal Engine with some of my functions not working correctly.

One of the crucial problems I couldn't overcome was trying to fit the flame within the lantern which I very much desired to work but I couldn't manage to do it as it was one the final things I did straining myself towards the end for a decision which in the end could've been easily replaced by a torch but I couldn't manage to contain the fire and get it to track with the lantern shell.

I've become more adaptable as a result of these issues appearing due to me learning to work around the issues that pop up and for some of the ideas that I couldn't implement I was able to do an alternative way around such as with the lantern I turn the lantern flame area gold and had a spotlight aim out of it which made the lantern function work well as it's barely noticeable when the lantern is off

The way I decided to present my final product to my audience was through a video shown above demonstrating and displaying all areas. The look I was going for was this dark, dingy dungeon which I believe I accomplished successfully and from my perspective worked out ideally and suited the entire area I was going for. With regards to the feedback I received, I believe it was all justified and reasonable and I completely agree with it. I would've also liked to make it more difficult this feedback stemming from 'wish it was a tad more difficult with the exit being more difficult to find' but I was limited by my beginning knowledge as well as time which would've led to the other aspects of the game not being fully completed which is something I didn't want. And I would've changed the chest layout in hindsight this coming from the feedback that stated they would've preferred that '3 of the chests not being next to each other' but at the time I didn't know where I would put the others but I expected that complaint. For example, if I moved more chest the difficulty would've increased. Which would fix some of the complaints.

In conclusion the strengths of my final project were definitely the collectables system within the game which worked flawlessly and the crouching mechanics which made the game feel more fun to explore and play. The areas in which I could improve definitely are more visual based since my game is very much more focussed on the mechanics. Which led to me lacking in the visuals and not paying enough attention to it. I didn't make any changes that really changed the project other than the lantern swapping from a flame to a spotlight which might've made it worse but I believe it worked alright in the end. I believe my final product is suitable for my intended audience because it fits all the criteria I wanted it to and therefore it should fit the taste of my audience as the way I did. I believe the the audience response went the way I expected. Minor critiques but overall a rather positive experience in how they responded to my game which went is very good