Dev Log 1 - 8/25/25

The Minigame

For this project, we were instructed to build a minigame with one new mechanic added. I decided to build a maze with a type of wall that, when you run into it, it breaks open and reveals the path ahead. The maze itself was a maze design I found on Google with two different entrances to the goal. I chose a maze with that design as I thought that the breaking walls would make the gameplay a bit easier. But let's dive deeper into these breaking walls.

Breaking Wall

The player first interacts with a wall that can be broken as they run forward down what looks like a hallway. When they run into the wall, it then destroys itself, leading to a path that shows the player is actually in a maze. I wanted to start the gameplay like this to make sure the player wouldn't be confused by this mechanic going into the maze, as otherwise it would seem impossible. Here's the code for the breaking wall. It was actually pretty simple once I figured out how I wanted the character to interact with the wall to cause it to break.

Teleport to Next Level

Another thing I added was a way to win a level. I added an actor called BP_WinFloor that, once overlapped, takes you to the next level. The next level, for now, is the hub level that was built in Coding 1, but I hope to change that once more levels become available to the player. I'm not sure how to modify the code so that the floor doesn't open to the same level every time, regardless of the level it's used on, but that's something I'll have to research further.

Door Movement

One quality of life update I added was the interaction with the door. Before, the door would simply vanish, destroying itself when overlapping with the player who has a key. I changed it to transform -90 degrees so it would open for the player and feel a bit more polished. I had it open -90 degrees as not to risk any clipping with the player character when the door tries to swing open. Having it open outward instead gets rid of that risk and just leads to a slightly cleaner game flow.

Game Over Screen

Another quality of life update I made was with the game-over screen. Before the player was able to move during the fade to black and fade back in. This led to the player appearing to spawn in locations they shouldn't have. I disabled player inputs during the game over screen and then re-enabled it when the screen was over so the player could spawn in a consistent spot.

What's Next?

If I were to continue to work on this level, I would work on a few specific things. For one, I would like to make a texture for the breaking wall so the player can actually tell it's destructible. Another thing would be to figure out how to give the game win teleport a fade to black, as I had to disable it when it would flicker black, then show the teleport. And finally, maybe add a health system so the player would take damage running into walls, add cans of beans throughout the maze for health, and make it a puzzle on how to have enough health to reach the exit and win the game. 

But I will put those ideas to the side for now as I want to look ahead to what I might work on next in class. Until then, goodbye!