Problem solving
Problem #1: I cannot use any previous player scripts for what I want to include, as I am not very good with coding, and don't want it to take up too much of my time!
I overcame the issue of not being able to rely on any previous player scripts by going and finding tutorials on YouTube to follow that were all based around one player controller, allowing for me to implement everything that I wanted to just by following tutorials, as opposed to having to learn how to implement segments of code into my own code, which could cause a few problems that I would struggle to solve, as again, I am very bad with coding. The tutorials I found were by "Dave / GameDevelopment" on YouTube. You can find the tutorials of his I followed on my research page in part 2 under practical research.
Problem #2: My Tutor Rejected most of my initial Idea!
When asking my Tutor (Connor Cooper) about my initial idea, which was to create a sequel to my Year 1 FMP with some new folklore and redesigns of all of the old characters, he turned it down, as reusing old ideas would cost me marks due to unoriginality, among other issues, such as lack of things to research when doing my project. To overcome this issue, I simply scrapped the idea of redesigning most of the old characters aside from one due to story reasons, and instead have the game feature completely new folklore with entirely new areas, allowing me to research into new kinds of folklore.
Problem #3: I suffered from extreme burnout from the start of this project to around midway through!
Unfortunate as it was, due to personal reasons as well as having worked decently hard (maybe harder than I should've for Unit 12, considering only my essay really counted for it) for the past few projects, I began to feel extremely burnt out for a good portion of this project, and had absolutely zero motivation or passion to put any work into this project, so next to no work got done until just over halfway through this project. However, I overcame this slowly by taking small steps to get back into the swing of things, as well as worrying about not being able to pass this project. Whilst it's not the best way things could've turned out, I am working hard at the time of writing this, and at least I should be able to pass if I keep up the pace I am working at as of current.
Problem #4: I am not very good at modelling, and modelling takes up a lot of time during development!
To overcome this issue, I decided against making a fully 3D game, and rather opt for a 3D/2.5D style of game, where the game plays out like a normal 3D game, but most, if not all of the assets are hand drawn, whilst the rest of the world is made up of the basic shapes in unity. I feel like this would give a unique charm to my game as well, as you don't see too many 2.5D first person shooters, which could perhaps lead to it being a USP. This is an effective method of overcoming this issue, as it saves time when making the game, allowing me to focus on other things, especially considering how little time I have left at the time of writing this!
Problem #5: I accidentally made a character parody far too similar to the original!
As the game is a satirical horror, I figured it would be slightly humorous to try and make a parody design of Grim from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Maxwell Atoms, 2001) from memory, as I had been watching the series recently, and had been enjoying it. However, the final design came out far too similar to the original, and I did not expect it to win the poll that I sent out. I was not comfortable using the same design, so I chose a combination of the other two designs, as they were both a close second to the parody design, so I figured the audience wouldn't mind too much.
Problem #6: I don't have time to script enemies and everything else remaining! (22/05/22)
As I am in the final week of my project at the time of writing this, I don't really have time to try and add fully functional enemies to my game. However, to pass the auditory aspect of the game part of the project from the Auditory, Interactive and Visual criteria, I will be adding sounds to the enemies, as well as composing an incredibly basic song for the level that will loop. As for the enemies, I will be using rigid bodies on sprites to have 2.5D enemy implementation where you can knock down enemies rather than defeating them. Unfortunately, this also means that they will not attack you or move around, but it allows for some interaction outside of beating the level.
Problem #7: I have no idea how to work with sound, nor do I have any sound recording/editing software!
I did not have any sound recording or editing software, nor did I have a decent microphone really. However, I downloaded Audacity, a free audio recording and editing software, and recorded some monster noises to put in the game. Now I just have to figure out how to implement them in Unity.
Problem #8: I need to fix the gun changing in size with the player! (25/05/22)
Due to the limited amount of time before my project deadline, I do not have time to program the gun any differently, so instead I will simply increase the crouch scale so it doesn't appear to squash the ball any more than necessary, when in reality it does.