This portfolio page is still under development!
Feel free to look around, but keep in mind that some features may not work as expected.
Creating the mechanics for a first-person platformer game and designing a basic level.
Setting up the basic movement mechanics for the player character.
Instead of using the built in jumping mechanic provided in Unreal Engine, I used a custom blueprint so that I could more easily implement coyote time.
The jump mechanic also includes a buffer system, allowing the player to hit jump just before landing and have the jump still register. This makes the game feel more responsive.
To make movement feel more dynamic, forward jumps provide a slight speed boost, encouraging players to gain momentum during gameplay.
Adding more movement mechanics, allowing the player to sprint and crouch.
When sprinting, the player's max speed and acceleration are increased, and the field of view is widened to increase the percieved speed.
The player is also given an initial boost of speed when starting to sprint to make it feel more impactful. To prevent the player from abusing this, there is a short cooldown before the player can sprint again.
Currently, crouching only the player's height and increases their friction. In future updates I plan to add the ability to slide when crouching while sprinting.
Implementing a collectibles system.
Collectibles stem from a base class, allowing for easy creation of new collectibles with unique designs or effects.
Right now there is just coins, but this could be expanded to have several currencies.
They could also be used for items such as keys, or powerups.
Giving the player health, and objects that take it away.
The player has two health variables. Health, and MaxHealth. At the start of the game, health is set to max health.
When the player touches a killbrick, health is reduced by that specific actor's damage value.
Like collectibles, the killbricks are based on a base class, allowing for easy creation of new killbricks with unique designs or effects.
Each killbrick also has a cooldown. This is to stop them from dealing damage every frame, and to give the player a chance to escape.
Once the player's health reaches zero, their character is destroyed.
Adding a main GUI overlay
The GUI is added to the viewport when the player character is spawned, and updates whenever the player's health or coin count changes.
Helper functions are used to make altering the elements within the GUI easier.
Currently, the GUI only shows the player's health and coin count, but it could be expanded to show other information as needed.
Adding wall jumping mechanics.
Wall jumping is a mechanic that allows the player to jump off of walls to reach higher platforms.
If the player presses the jump key while in mid air, and are detected to be touching a wall, they will get launched up and away from the wall.
I have made sure the player retains most of their momentum when wall jumping, allowing for more dynamic movement.
Adding sliding mechanics.
Sliding is a mechanic that allows the player to slide under low obstacles.
If the player is sprinting and crouching while moving, they will start to slide. This allows the player to fit under obstacles that they would not be able to normally.
While sliding, the player's friction is drastically reduced, allowing them to retain their speed and momentum.
Sliding can be used to reach new areas, or to dodge incoming obstacles.