Having tried to experiment and test my app in both iOS and Android platforms with major issues. I discovered an app for iOS called Unreal Remote 2 which allowed streaming of an application from the unreal desktop client to a mobile device seamlessly. This fulfilled all the needs temporarily allowing testing during progression without the need for an Android device which supports test Google Play Store features, or a paid Apple Developer account. Once the app is functional, these issues can be fixed then.
I also had to do some tweaking with the gyroscope in order for the axis to match in landscape mode with the x and y axis being inverted. This makes the gyroscope feel smooth and accelerate as different tilt ratios. Now I need to implement actions when the player collides with enemies or endpoints in levels, as well as an introduction section with audio to explain the difference between each sound. Most likely the enemies wouldn’t be introduced until several levels into the experience to simplify understanding for the users, but some experimentation with easing of difficulty will be needed. As an experience which most people have no comparable relation to, it will be interesting to see how those who have played games, and those who have less so or not at all will comprehend the interactions differently. Also the understanding of participants who are blind or visually impaired and the potential advantages they may have in the game will be interesting.
Using this sequence of nodes on each level blueprint, the levels can be sequenced through without any level specific code. By creating a global variable which is set to 1 to begin with and then (adding 1 to it and creating a string with it on each level), we can select the next level each time. Hit events with the green endpoint square trigger this sequence, which overlap events from the player, with the red enemy squares reset the current level. This stops any other unwanted interactions with the walls, and also means this code can easily be adapted to include an introduction on the first level and a series of completion sounds on the final level.
Putting the sound first followed by a delay allowed for the sound to be fully heard every time rather than being almost never heard due to the new level loading which was an important fix. Also the level number for the enemies overlap had to be changed in order to not cause crashes after the first level which I didn’t test the first time around.
Here is the sound game working in its first prototype form, with the visuals entirely removed. The sound wave is placed so the user can tell that the game is functioning properly if they are worried, and also works as an overlay to the visuals which allow the game to function behind it. The introduction to the general game, as well as end sound an enemies are all included. This is broken up into two sections to make the user have less to deal with all at once. The enemies are introduced after the first three levels to make it easier for the user, and I may attempt to introduce more concepts as the game continues such as teleporters and switches potentially to increase the enjoyment and complexity of the game.
This images are the maps for the initial 15 levels which I have created. Playing through them, I have realised that the flow in the earlier levels is very consistent. But the difficulty curve after level 10 becomes very significant. I want to some tweaking on these more complex levels in order to make getting stuck on corners and convoluted sections a little less infuriating. Some of the walls aren’t aligned perfectly as the maps show which can lead to snagging. I am going to perfectly align their sound boxes, alongside their connections with one another in the level revamp to make the whole experience smoother.
Above is the new levels arranged in a graphic format, alongside a video playthrough of the levels themselves with fully functional introduction and level transitioning. There were some other glitches caused by the 3D nature of the game which I rectified by flattening out all the objects into a singular dimensional plane, and changing some of the code for the level blueprints.
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