Dev Log 9

This week I started by sketching out the layout of the main menu. I wanted something simple yet functional, with options for Start Game and Quit. I chose a minimalist aesthetic to match the overall theme of the game. I decided to sketch out different places I could put the buttons as when designing my levels sketching them out allowed me to get the best outcome and design.

Next, I implemented the UI using Unreal Engines widget system. I set up buttons, text, and background elements, ensuring they were properly anchored for different screen resolutions. I also added basic functionality to the buttons. I made sure to use vertical boxes which the buttons were inside of this allowed me to make sure that they were the same size and level which one another. My next step was to make sure that the buttons were working as intended with the start game button opening up level one and the quit button quitting the game. These functions were easy to add and when test running it they worked as intended. To be able to have the main menu be the first thing that opens when you load the game I created a new blank level and used the create widget blueprint and the add to viewport which allowed the player to use the main menu as intended.

I then had to work out a way to get from one level to the next. I created a new actor blueprint which I added a simple cylinder shape and changed the material to black. I then added in a box collision which I would use an on trigger event then open level by name node to go to the next level. I added this into the well at the end of the first level which I then tested to make sure that it would go to level 2 which worked. I then went into level 2 were I duplicated the level transition I had made and changed it to open level one and added it onto the sand castle door which also worked when I test ran it.

While playtesting, I realized the game needed a pause menu. Without it, players had no way to quit or exit to the main menu mid-game.

I designed a basic pause menu, with four options: resume, quit, load checkpoint and main menu. The trickiest part was handling game pausing properly. I used set game to paused to freeze gameplay and ensured UI input was handled exclusively while paused. I used a background blur so that when the game is paused you can still see where you are but it is frozen. I used the presses P keyboard node which will bring up the pause menu, I also added show mouse curser when you were on the pause menu. I then coded in the different functions that would correspond to the buttons then when I play tested the game all the buttons worked fine however the mouse would then stay on screen when playing the game again. All I needed to change this was to when the paused menu is closed set the mouse curser to off. 

I am happy with the look of all the menus and how the transitions between the levels look. This week I have made good progress towards the end goal and in the next week I will be looking at adding in item respawns. I have always been confident when making menus as this is something that I have done many times before therefore with the help of repetition I am now able to make menus without the help of tutorials.