Developer Log

Woodland adventure allows a player to explore around the world created while finding keys and avoiding enemies. This lighthearted adventure game is based around the idea that not all games have to be an action game with keeping score and defeating enemies to be enjoyed. The idea was to create a game that was aesthetically pleasing and allowed the player to roam around and explore all the different aspects we were able to add. 

We wanted to create a game that had mini adventures within it. The player will venture through each level which is a different adventure collecting keys and dodging the enemies in order to move onto the next level and complete the game. 

The development of the game took many forms. Initially we started with level2 which was the player going through a maze-like course, in which it had to go through enemies which were attacking it and reach a house in order to go through to the next level. Over the course of the game development we decided to create more adventures for our player and add a scene in which it would go through water on a boat. The player must venture through the different barriers and collect the keys in order to go through to the next level. 

The idea for the final level was to have the player go inside the house and explore the interiors without getting hit by the enemies, in order to collect the necessary keys to complete the game. 

Playtesting the game was challenging at parts because it did not have a working prototype when users were trying to play the game. However we did receive a lot of feedback such as changing the angle of the camera, changing the design of the player and other things which we incorporated into our final product. 

Lessons learned: 

1. Using assets from the Unity Asset Store: some of the challenges that came with this was making sure that the asset packages were correctly downloaded to the project in addition to ensuring that each asset which was used had the right components which would make it work in our project. 
2. Using the Unity Asset Store to download packages and using the package manager to import them into the project. For the interior scene Probuilder, Progrids and a furniture pack was downloaded from the asset store. 
3. Using NavMesh and getting the player to move accordingly. The challenges that came with this was remembering all the specific requirements needed to implement the AI navigation system, because if one step is missed it wont work. 
4. Getting the camera to follow the player. We tried several different options like adding code and a virtual camera, but the best implementation for this was to place the camera as a child of the player and change the position to achieve the top-down effect.
5. Learned how to apply animations on the navmesh to increase the difficulty of the level. This was challenging at first but then we realized how to fix it and got out animations working. 
6. Learned how to integrate my teammates levels and onto mine in order to produce the final product. This caused issues at time because we imported some packages from the asset store so we always had to make sure that all the assets were properly stored so our teammates could access them too. 
7. Another thing we learned from this project was to implement key collection in order to access the next level, without it the player would not be able to move forward to the next level. We learned to remember to have all the requirement 
8. In addition, we learned how to implement BotCode where the enemy follows the player. We decided to implement this in level2 when the player is trying to collect the keys, as an added challenge. 

Successes (what went right)

When working on the start menu and the exit menu we were able to successfully create a cohesive background and a font to match the theme of the game. The addition of these two small parts of the game to sandwich the game play make the project feel completed and cohesive. 

Importing the fonts from the internet was done seamlessly with textmesh pro font asset creation.  

Some other things that worked was the idea of having the mini adventures within the game as this keeps the player on their toes because they do not know what adventure they will encounter next. 

Challenges (Setbacks, what went wrong)

Although the team faced some challenges in developing the game, we were able to resolve them. It was a challenge for all the members of our team to work on the same unity version. Not everyone could use the version on their computer. The buttons on the menu page did not work when positioned on certain parts of the screen. Scaling the start/gameover menu was another issue that we faced.

There were communication issues and a third level is missing. When discussing jobs we did not allocate that some responsibilities would have to be finished before others could even begin there work, therefore we were left with a third level (the indoor level) that was fully designed in the scene but had little functionality therefore it was taken off of the final game build. 

Another challenge was getting the player to pick up the key and proceed to the next level on the first level. We hope to figure this out soon.

Playtesting Feedback

First of all, the game is not very playable. It means that there are various bugs exist that prevent the users from moving freely. For example, when the player was stuck by a rock, the player has a chance of being bounced off by a large force and therefore, is out of player’s control. In addition, it seems very weird at the menu page that the instruction key is having a different size than other keys and the camera angles between the first scene and the second scene seem very inconsistent. Additionally, the player is unable to pick up the key at the second scene and sometimes the camera rotates so fast that makes it a little bit dizzy for players. Also, the level designs between the first scene as well as the second scene seem very inconsistent with the first scene using website modules but the second scene without modules. Overall, the game has an interesting theme and design but needs to be cleared of bugs before publishing. In addition, it might be better to have a more sophisticated character design.

Next steps (What would you change)

We would like to add more levels in order for the player to have a longer adventure. In addition, there were some errors with the player picking up the key in the first level as well as it not being damaged by the enemies upon collision. We would like to fix these errors in order for the player to have a more challenging experience. In addition, we would like to fix the animation speed on the whales in the first level.