Refactoring and Streamlining Gameplay
Small update May 10, 2022.
A lot of work has been happening, but it is largely under-the-hood type stuff.
When I began rebuilding this project on my own in Unreal, I knew nothing about game programming. I learned on the fly. I was able to get everything done pretty well and it worked, but the code I wrote was not set up well for the game to grow. Since I am now adding several complicated systems, I needed to refactor the code to make it so that I can maintain it going into the future.
It’s not really a setback even though it does suck to redo work - this is a great opportunity to make a lot of improvements.
The overarching goal with this new phase of development is to make the game as fun as possible. Fun, I think, is a balance between stress and reward. But it has to be the right type of stress.
Previously, LANDNAV had a pretty immersive way of using your navigation tools, but it involved many different buttons and was hard for people to figure out unless they referred to a manual.
That makes a bad first impression, so I am working to solve this problem now. When people start the game, they should lose no time figuring out controls. They should get right to what they want, which is the challenge of navigation.
So, my goal is to consolidate all controls to absolute minimum. WASD to move, SPACE to open a context menu, and from there WASD plus only a couple other keys to access everything you need.
Work-in-progress on the Quick Menu. You’ll press SPACEBAR to toggle it, so getting around to use your tools or change equipment or check timers, etc, should be fast and not require memorization of any controls.
You can use the mouse to click menu buttons or press keys. This way whatever you prefer is an option. But both ways it is very fast and doesn’t require any memory because you see all the options on the screen.
A couple other notables:
- Orienteering style events are now working. We have:
Follow a route - your map is marked with Control Point locations that you follow to the end. (Excellent starting point for beginners).
Score Attack - a handful of Control Points are marked on your map, further ones are worth more points. Get as many points as you can before time runs out. (The most high speed and interesting style, in my opinion).
Way Finder - Over a long distance, find the fastest way to another location (This is where survival skills come in to play).
Work-in-progress of new UI layouts for orienteering style events. The Map will be automatically marked making this a bit easier to get into for newcomers.