JerkyTreatsGot this working, sounds pretty cool!
Finished off the remaining work items and merged the PR:
MergedStorytime
Ok so I have this interesting idea now that I’ve more or less completed the work on Floating Number Particle System.
I thought of it playing around with the static mesh of the ActorTest actor- ie. I mucked around with the shape of the box that was triggering the floating numbers.
Originally the thought was to have it fly around… Like a Tie Fighter… But as soon as I pressed play the thing collapsed in a ironic exclamation of vicious mockery:
However, when I stepped on the flat box, the Floating Number appeared just as it should.
This gives me an idea!
What If?
What if the floating number box was a platform you jumped on?
What if instead of showing you a number, it showed you a musical note?
What if it triggered the correct sound file in audio?
- I’m thinking some chill vaporwave synth to start
What if there were 8 platforms representing each note of a scale?
- Dm maybe?
Expectations
- Good introduction to working with audio
- Leverages my music production hobby
- Reinforces the floating number asset creation workflow. Easy to make, low quantity, good practice.
- Creates possibilities for an actually interesting game idea
- Endless runner type game, but you’re making a beat
- Music theory teaching tool
Tasks
Lessons
- Introduction to Unreal audio
- Importance of task selection
- Basic video editing with DaVinci Resolve
Takeaways
A lot of good learnings from this task.
I have a tendency to perfection, and I didn’t want to stop working on the Floating Number Particle System until it was perfect.
This led to two problems:
- My refactor to simplify the blueprint ended up making things more complicated
- Morale took a hit trying to solve a complex problem with limited ROI.
That complex problem wasn’t on the critical path, it was essentially polish.
Funny thing was getting the critical tasks done was dead easy.
When you only have an hour a day to work on something, effort vs. return on investment is everything.
I was concerned that I was spending too much time doing documentation and “support” work instead of actually in Unreal making things happen.
With how easy this task ended up actually being, those concerns have been put to rest.
Because I put in the work upfront, I was able to have a very well-scoped task. When I veered off-scope, I got frustrated.
The “actual work” is only half the work. The other half makes it possible.
My Oct 25 update ended up being my first crack at using a video editor. I’ve had DaVinci Resolve downloaded for a while but never had the gusto to really get into it. After my initial update ended up rambling for 15 minutes, I managed to cut it down to about 5 minutes.
Was fun, looking forward to doing some more. Thinking of doing a longer retrospective for month of October, perhaps even releasing to YouTube.