Troglodyte in Underbelly

Author: Shemaiah Nelson Posted on: 1/22/24 In the development of "Troglodyte In Underbelly," a significant challenge arose while designing the Work Bench UI and implementing its functionality. The primary issue revolved around achieving the proper spacing for the player animation to be clearly visible while simultaneously displaying the available crafting items and their corresponding images. Balancing these visual elements to ensure they were well-spaced and aesthetically pleasing posed a considerable obstacle. The complexity increased further with the need to maintain clarity and usability, ensuring players could easily discern the available crafting options and interact with the UI seamlessly. Addressing this challenge became paramount as it directly impacted the player's ability to engage with the crafting system effectively, potentially leading to confusion and frustration if not resolved appropriately. First initial design Additionally, to prevent the UI elements fr...

 Author : Daniel Reder Over the past week the weather has been on the more extreme side. This part of the country (southern Tennessee) received an insane amount of snow, resulting in the power and internet having unpredictable behavior. Luckily, I have a surge protected laptop and access to a hotspot. However, with the internet being spotty, it seems that several commits/pushes did not find their way to the repo. Unfortunately, I do not know of a fix to this problem, as it is the first time I have had a push go somewhere other than the repo. However, the solution was to not push at peak internet usage times, as it seemed that my service provider was pushing the load of multiple servers onto other servers outside the area. I'm unsure of where my data went during that time, but it was not to the repo so it was definitely not something I wanted to happen again, and made sure to not let happen again.

    Dynamic Interaction Mastery Jordan Ireland This week in development, I grappled with establishing interaction systems featuring camera lerping and context-specific animations tied to the objects being interacted with. The challenge was to seamlessly integrate animations, such as a crafting table performing a crafting idle animation or a bed triggering a lying down idle animation, based on the player's interaction. The absence of this nuanced interaction would diminish the immersive quality of the gameplay for the end user. Without context-specific animations and camera lerping, the interaction would lack the polish needed to elevate the overall player experience, potentially resulting in a less engaging and captivating game. The root of the issue lay in the need for a dynamic system that could recognize the type of object being interacted with and trigger appropriate animations and camera movements. To address this, I devised a modular interaction framework that incorporat...

 Author: Shemaiah Nelson Posted on: 1/22/24 Y level display To tackle the navigational challenge in cave environments, I devised a solution that introduces a Y Level Indicator. This new feature dynamically displays the player's depth, providing a real-time reference for their position within the cave. The Y Level Indicator operates on a straightforward principle: as long as the player is above Y level 0, it will display "Ground Level," signifying that they are close to the surface. Implementing this Y Level Indicator not only addresses the deficiency in cave navigation but also significantly enhances the player's spatial awareness. Now, players can easily ascertain their depth, making it simpler to explore and navigate the intricate cave systems in the game. This solution not only improves the overall navigational experience but also adds an element of realism, enriching the immersive quality of the gameplay. Players are empowered with a clearer understanding of their...

   Realism Refinement Jordan Ireland This week in development, I faced a challenge related to creating a realistic feel for a game level and ensuring the scaling of elements within the environment felt right. The issue was that certain objects and structures in the level appeared out of proportion or lacked a sense of realism, disrupting the overall immersion for the player. If left unaddressed, this problem could lead to a jarring experience for the end user, breaking the suspension of disbelief and negatively impacting the game's overall quality. It was crucial to resolve this issue to maintain a cohesive and immersive gaming experience. The problem stemmed from inconsistencies in the scaling of assets and environmental elements, causing a lack of visual coherence. To address this, I implemented a meticulous review and adjustment process for each object in the level. This involved fine-tuning the scale of objects, textures, and structures to ensure they aligned with real-wor...

 Author - Daniel Reder Unity's start function acts as its name implies; it runs at the start. However, with multiple Gameobjects calling start when the project is run, some start functions have to run before others, and some after others. This can lead to inconsistent behaviors and can create unforeseen problems, as one moment everything runs fine, and the next time you run the program nothing works. An example of this would be if you were to call Getcomponent in the start function. Depending on the order of the objects being created, the component you are trying to reference may or may not exist at the time, and can lead to a nullreference even though the component may actually exist in the scene. Of the methods used to get around this problem, the version i choose was to use a coroutine and delay it. This works as the method can be delayed to the point where all objects have been initialized. Since all objects and their components have been initialized, this cannot cause a null r...

Author: Shemaiah Nelson Posted on: 1/18/24 Description: This week in our development cycle, a substantial challenge surfaced regarding the player HUD's functionality. The existing HUD was confined to a mere stamina gauge, resulting in a noticeable lack of depth for players to engage with during gameplay. This limited functionality not only hampered the overall user experience but also failed to captivate players visually. The player HUD's deficiency became more apparent as it hindered the immersive quality of the game, impacting the player's ability to comprehend critical information and make informed decisions. The lack of essential details left players frustrated and disconnected from the game world. Recognizing the urgency of this issue, I sought a solution to not only address the functional gaps but also to infuse creativity into the HUD design, enhancing its appeal and fostering a more engaging gaming experience. Before Change To address the challenge of the player HUD...

  Inventive Interactions Unleashed Jordan Ireland During this week of development, I encountered a significant issue with our inventory/item system in the game. The problem revolved around the system's inability to handle crafting and interaction seamlessly. Crafting involved combining various items, and the resulting crafted item needed to be interactable within the game world. This posed a challenge because if not addressed, it would lead to a frustrating experience for the end user. Imagine players collecting resources, crafting items, but being unable to use or interact with the crafted items in the game environment. This disconnect would undermine the core gameplay loop and diminish the overall satisfaction of the player. The issue stemmed from a lack of synchronization between the crafting and interaction components in the inventory system. I initiated a plan to implement a more robust and flexible event-driven system. This involved restructuring the code to ensure seamless c...

Author - Daniel Reder Game engines simply the creation of games, and lead a sped up production cycle. However, as like any program, they are not without their faults. A strange issue that occured this week was an editor package only partially downloading. This led to the package being in a usable but broken state. At first I wasnt sure at to what was happening, but figured that disabling and re-enabling the package would fix the issue. This unfortnuately did not fix the issue as there is a disable button for packages but not an enable button. After doing some research I concluded that the package had been either corrupted or had never been fully there in the first place. Deleting and reinstalling the package ended up being the fix to the issue. Because the editor was forced to fully delete the package, it was given another change to fully download the package and this time is successfully did.

Author: Shemaiah Nelson Posted on: 1/9/2024  During this week's development phase, a significant discrepancy was discovered between the visual representation of the audio settings in the user interface and the actual levels of audio output within the game. Despite the UI indicating a full audio volume, the corresponding audio levels would only reach around 40% of the expected intensity during gameplay. This mismatch between the UI's portrayal and the actual audio output presents a critical usability problem for the end user. Imagine a player adjusting the volume settings to maximize their in-game experience, only to find that despite the UI indicating maximum volume, the audio output remains significantly lower, resulting in a lack of immersion and potentially causing frustration. Addressing this discrepancy is of utmost importance as it directly impacts the player's perception and enjoyment of the game, affecting their overall experience and satisfaction. First Design Afte...