Progress Devlog 5 - UI / Polish

UI + Polish 

Stage 1: Creating a main menu
I made a mistake here and mentioned it in the previous devlog, but I'll go into a bit more detail for this week's devlog. 

Firstly I made a main menu system. This comprised of two parts: The main menu and then the options menu.
The UI setup is quite basic here, with a Canvas, Panel and Buttons. The buttons change colour when selected and on click. 
One of the more challenging aspects was making the menu functional for both Gamepad and Mouse. This required a script to detect when the mouse or gamepad was being used and then adjust the on screen behaviour accordingly.

As the game now has a tutorial section, as well as levels, it made sense to have an option for players to be able to skip the tutorial if desired, and go straight to level select. 

(Image: The Main Menu of the game)

Stage 2: Creating an options menu.
The next step was making some options for the game. Currently this is setup as a separate scene, but I plan to make it an overlay so that the transition is a bit smoother (especially when background music is playing).

In the options menu itself, I haven't yet implemented the actual features. I plan to put in sliders to control the music and sound levels, as well as an option for touch controls for mobile (I dabbled with mobile controls early on the game development, but didn't quite get it working, so I've left it out for now). 

(Image: The options menu on the home screen)

Stage 3: In game menu!
The final step for having a working menu system was implementing an in-game menu. In some ways this was a copy of the main menu structure, but added complexities were required:

1. Scene had to be frozen whilst in the menu, so that the player didn't keep moving if using a game-pad. I also needed to make sure enemies were frozen too, so a freeze all approach worked well.
2. Menu needed to be an overlay, to create the transparent effect which I think looks great. It also lets the player know exactly where they are before they return to the game.
3. I wanted a fade in fade out system so that the menu didn't just appear jarringly.
4. The most complicated feature was having a checkbox that changed a setting on an object within the game. This was the player spawning object, and it allows for a more challenging mode: if the player dies, the scene is completely reset and all enemies will re-spawn.


(Image: In-game Menu)

Stage 4: Feedback
The testing session was very useful and a lot of the polish has been applied following the feedback, so I'll address that in stage 5.

The main feedback I received was through communicating with gamers during the testing process, but I also received written responses from my feedback form. Some of the pros and cons of my game are listed below:

Pros:
- Visually looks great
- Love the depth in terms of movements and controls
- Liked the cute aspects of the game
- Despite the lack of levels, still fun to play around with
- Story was fun and engaging

Cons:
- Controls were difficult, not explained well, or didn't work (mouse and keyboard).
- The game was confusing in terms of direction and knowing what to do.
- No tutorial.
- Some features didn't work such as entering into forest cabins.
- Player sometimes got stuck not being able to jump, and this didn't get fixed until game was reset.
- A lack of a real game play level that was challenging (admittedly, this hadn't actually been implemented yet when testing). 

In summary, there were three major points that I wanted to address: Controls, Direction and Challenge. 

Stage 5: Polishing the game
Visually, I am reasonably content with the game considering the relatively short time frame, so I didn't want to add too much there. 
The only things I have added since feedback is a particle effect when hitting blocks with projectiles.
I also plan to implement an animation for enemies upon death.

Structurally, however, there was and still is a mountain of work to do!

I started by completely stripping back the first level, and replacing it with a tutorial; this straight away improved the game dramatically. It gave it a more linear feel and purpose, and directs the player smoothly. It also makes the controls feel less chaotic and understandable.


(Gif: Added tutorial level with step by step instructions on controls)

Secondly, I added a proper level (Level 01!), which the game was really lacking. Now the player can jump through a level and have a real objective (rescuing the kitten). This again made a big difference, and makes it feel more like a game instead of just a wandering around aimlessly. The last step will be putting together Level 02, which will showcase some of the firearm mechanics.


(Gif: Finally added a level with an objective... also falling spider traps and deadly spikes! Can just see the particle effect when the water hits the bricks too)


(Gif: Rescuing the baby kitten but falling into spikes!)

Stage 6: Audio
Adding audio really added another level of polish to the game and makes it feel a lot more responsive. Each weapon has a different sound when fired; there is also a sound when the player is hit or enemies are hit. Lastly, I added some music tracks to each scene.

Final stages (only one more day left though... time has run out!) 
The last things I still want to do are:
- Finish off Level 02
- Add a fire sprite that can be extinguished with the water cannon
- Create death animation for enemies
- Tidy up some menu options

And I think that's all I'll have time for.

The game has all been designed to have at least two players, but that will be something I'll have to implement at a later date!