...And the pigs are flying! Welcome back to Piggy Payback! This post is from November 17 to December 11. We have some exciting new updates to tell you about, so get ready!
Today we began work on the pinball Paddles. These are wooden paddles placed around the levels which when tapped, flap the pig into the air and get it bouncing again. This adds another element of control for the player. Because a game where the player has no control just isn't fun. To do this we created an actor Blueprint Class with a timeline and a node to set its rotation. This creates the flapping animation. For now, we have to press the Z and X keys to make them flap, but once we have the demo made for Android phones the paddles will flap when tapped. We will create a large touch zone for each paddle so you don't have to cover it up with your thumb to tap it. You can tap next to it. This allows us to put as many paddles in the level as we need to amp up the action. In addition, all paddles facing the same way work in unison. So when you flap one, you flap them all.
We also cleaned up some code and added some more placeholder SFX. The sound really brings the game to life. Soon, we plan on having a pig squeal SFX when the pig is launched, but a different one for each of the Piggy characters. Also, a different sound for each bird when it's squashed and an egg crush SFX for when the eggs are collected, as well as a splatter SFX when the eggs splatter on the screen.
Some other things we did are some quality of life and maintenance things like updating collision sizes, moving assets into proper folders and naming the remaining poorly named ones correctly. We updated a bunch of logic to make it run more smoothly as well.
In addition, we added some more placeholder sounds. Now, when the launch pig is launched he makes a cute squeal sound. As well as a SFX for the eggs when the player crashes them.
We added a 2D skyline background to the level. I've learned just how optimized everything has to be for mobile, as this is my first mobile game. This 2D background is just a placeholder until we get some optimized low poly static meshes to create the final background of the levels we're currently working on, but it does look nice the way it is.
Another thing we did is add velocity detection logic to the projectile pig Blueprint. This is needed to tell the pig to destroy itself once it comes close to a stop. As well as triggering the next pig to be ready for launch, as we also added logic to disable any pigs from being launched while another is still in play. I accidentally discovered this problem when I was testing. I then spammed the launch button and had the level filled with pigs! Although I wouldn't call that a bad thing.🐷
We added the official font of Piggy Payback! To the project and put it in place anywhere that had text in a widget. It's not the only font we plan on using, but it's the only one we have for now.
Another task we completed was adding the lives remaining and game over logic. We set the player to have 3 lives, and once they launch his 3 pigs, they get a game over. We still need to add in the minimum points required to pass the level and the win screen widget and logic. But for now this will do. However, we do have the game over logic in place. "Pig Mistake!...Game Over." Is what is currently says.
Next we added logic to detect how many eggs are on the map. Now, we can add as many eggs to the level as we need and the HUD widget automatically updates. So, from there we added the logic for the egg count to increase when the player collects one. In the HUD, it says "🥚2/5", for example, for each of the three egg types. White, special and golden. Then the next step was to add the logic to add score based on egg type collected. Each egg is worth a different amount of points. Golden eggs are worth the most, then special, and so on.
Some more widget work we did was adding an escape/pause menu widget. In this menu we added the buttons and logic for resume, return to menu, quit game. This feels like a big step, as simple a job as it was. The menus really make the game feel like an actual game. We spend a lot of time just building and testing. Having a menu is a good feeling.
After that we added a continuous rotation to the eggs in the level, as well as the eggs in the widget. We set them on a 25° angle on the Y axis. Now the eggs looks really nice as they spin around in the air.
Now the eggs themselves need some work. We had some simple materials made for each type as placeholders until we can get the finished ones, which have to look great. Finally, we added some logic to the egg which allows us to drag a single egg Blueprint into the level and then select its type in the Details Panel.
The last thing we did this week is we added a swinging pendulum style Sphere to the level - Soon I'm going to add a cable to it for visual effect, and add into the Blueprints some code that allows the swinging Sphere to do what the pigs do - squash/collect whatever it touches. The idea is that the player launches the pig into the hanging Sphere, causing it to begin swinging left and right, overlapping all the birds and eggs and squashing them.
Well, that's it! The new and improved Piggy Payback! Is patiently waiting for you to play it. Head over to our website at www.DangerousMindGames.com and get on our mailing list to stay updated on all things Piggy Payback!. We'll let you know when we have a release date. We hope you enjoyed this update and we hope you come back for more!
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