Final Update

This will be the final written update I will be making. This update may be a bit longer than all my previous entries as I will talk about what I've done over the whole year as well as what the recent things I've added to my games are. I also forgot to publish all my devlogs so they aren't pinned to the time in which they were done. I did take a screenshot of all of them and I will add them as the final images so you can reference the gaps between the updates.

To start off with I will give you an update on the final additions and changes I have made. To develop option 1 (an area where the player can teleport and pick up various objects) I thought it would be best if I added some jeopardy or reward to it. So what I did was write some original code using my current coding knowledge to make a box, and if you collect all three objects it instructs and place them in the box, it adds 1000 to the score. I also looked at possibly adding a smoke particle effect to the teleportation, however, I couldn't find any effects that I actually like and for the coding part would've been a bit out of my depth. The other things I've added are blocks of text all around the world to give the player guidance when they play the game. I added this text for my new section where the player picks up objects, I also added the key to the door and on the shooting range. 

For an overview of my VR game, I have completed option 1 (virtual space where the user can teleport and pick up various objects), option 2 (3D UI main menu where the user can manually adjust their camera height and select 'play' and 'exit'), option 3 (a natural opening and closing mechanism) and option 4 (shooting gallery including a scoring system and timer). For option 1, although I used the base teleport and grab interface, I did make a new select number of grabbable objects that get placed into a box. This ties in with option 4, as the player gets a score for completing this task. As for option 2, I created a new separate level where I added the VR Pawn and then created a User Widget. This User Widget contained three buttons with text inside them to make them say something and be able to be selected. These three options are "Play", "Adjust Camera Height" and "Quit Game". When "Play" is selected, the game switches from the menu level to the game level and when "Quit Game" is selected, you exit the game. Moving onto option 3, I made a grabbable door that opens once a key is put in place. My key in this case is a cube and the keyhole is a place where the cube is put. When the door is unlocked, it moves 90-degrees in each direction, and when at a 10-degree angle or less, it snaps close. Lastly, for option 4 I created a shooting range where the player can pick up two guns and shoot any of three targets which are given a different select amount of points depending on which one the player shoots. There is also a timer that counts down and when it reaches zero the player is sent back to the main menu. The targets also move from left to right continuously.

For all of options, I completed everything apart from the "Adjust Camera Height" settings option within option 2. I couldn't find any tutorial that genuinely helped me achieve making it and all ideas that I tried didn't work. With my shooting range, I wanted to add more to the feature, so I did attempt to make a high score system from scratch. Although I made progress and I believe it was close to working, in the end, it just didn't. The last part which could be considered a flaw with my VR game is the fact that the player can teleport through the door. This is something I am on the verge of fixing, however, with limited time remaining and the help I need to finish it, I just wouldn't be able to finish it in time.

Throughout this process, I have gained so much knowledge in coding. I've learnt the differences between coding your average console or pc game compared to making VR games. When I started this project I had little to no experience coding, but now I feel confident I could make many features using my own knowledge. Along with my coding abilities, I feel as though I have improved my time management skills significantly, making sure I completed all the tasks at a steady pace over the academic year rather than cramming all the work in within the last few weeks.

I will do a video very soon showcasing every feature within my game, and that will be the final update to my VR game.