Big Visual Changes! - Devlog
Hello everyone!
Grab a snack and find yourself a cosy place, because there is quite a lot to cover today!
Let's see what today's update is all about:
Since the day I created the Unreal Engine project file for Mall Craze, the game has been running on one graphical setting only, and that was the setting that I set in the engine itself. If I want other people to play the game, I should have a graphical settings in the game at that point. And that's exactly what I've done here. This was a fairly straightforward process, as UE offers the possibility to change the settings in the engine itself. What took the most amount of time was creating the necessary User Interface.
This also gives me the ability to increase the graphics even more for the Epic option for people with more powerful hardware.
You see, up until now, every shop that I ever build in Mall Craze looked almost the same. Sure, I could make the shop different shape, size, place the entrance and windows slightly different, and place the products differently as well. But that was basically it. There wasn't anything in the game that would really distinguish one shop from another.
From the very beginning of the development, I knew that this was not supposed to be the final look of the game. Here's the list of what I wanted to have customizable in the shops:
In terms of Logo, I wanted to give players the ability to design them pretty extensively, as it is one of the main distinguishing factors of the shop.
I'm happy to tell you that I was able to achieve what I wanted, and here are the results:
User interface for Shop Customization and Logo
For the purpose of Product Customization, I've decided to create a new dedicated UI window for the Products. In this window, you'll be able to access every information and stats about a specific product. You can also change the color of the product - that was the main reason why I had to make the UI now.
After I implemented shop customization, I continued with a similar topic - one that is also closely related to the game's looks - water fountains!
In the past, when I showed you what I build in the game, there weren't that many decoration pieces to choose from. I only had a simple tree, bush, some flowers, bench, fence, and that was basically it. You can still create some interesting decoration with it, but it can't get you really that far.
As you can see, it was not that bad for a start, but I knew the game could do better! The final push to add fountains to the game came from the community, so let's see how it ended up!
As you can see, with the addition of fountains, I had an amazing opportunity to add additional decoration pieces as well - a palm tree, 2 new grass patches, a pillar, and a new bench.
The cool part of all this, is that the original fountain designs are very simple, and that gives the player the abbitily to create their own advanced design.
Are you still here? :)
Right now, it is time for me to jump back into the development, and make the game even better. I'm not sure when I will release another update, but I'm pretty sure, that it will be as soon as I have something worth a while to share.
As always, thank you for everything! And I will see you soon. Take care :)
- Milan, Developer
Grab a snack and find yourself a cosy place, because there is quite a lot to cover today!
Let's see what today's update is all about:
- Graphical Settings
- Shop Customization
- Fountains!
Graphical Settings
Since the day I created the Unreal Engine project file for Mall Craze, the game has been running on one graphical setting only, and that was the setting that I set in the engine itself. If I want other people to play the game, I should have a graphical settings in the game at that point. And that's exactly what I've done here. This was a fairly straightforward process, as UE offers the possibility to change the settings in the engine itself. What took the most amount of time was creating the necessary User Interface.
This also gives me the ability to increase the graphics even more for the Epic option for people with more powerful hardware.
Shop Customization
This is where the fun part begins! Being able to change the graphical settings is a cool thing (and fairly standard these days), but you know what is even better? Making the game actually look way better! How do we do that? Well, one thing would be to actually change the color and design of our shops. Sounds good? Let's do this then!You see, up until now, every shop that I ever build in Mall Craze looked almost the same. Sure, I could make the shop different shape, size, place the entrance and windows slightly different, and place the products differently as well. But that was basically it. There wasn't anything in the game that would really distinguish one shop from another.
From the very beginning of the development, I knew that this was not supposed to be the final look of the game. Here's the list of what I wanted to have customizable in the shops:
- Shop Entrance
- Cashier Table
- Walls & Floor
- Shop Windows
- Products
- Logo
In terms of Logo, I wanted to give players the ability to design them pretty extensively, as it is one of the main distinguishing factors of the shop.
I'm happy to tell you that I was able to achieve what I wanted, and here are the results:
User interface for Shop Customization and Logo
For the purpose of Product Customization, I've decided to create a new dedicated UI window for the Products. In this window, you'll be able to access every information and stats about a specific product. You can also change the color of the product - that was the main reason why I had to make the UI now.
Fountains!
After I implemented shop customization, I continued with a similar topic - one that is also closely related to the game's looks - water fountains!
In the past, when I showed you what I build in the game, there weren't that many decoration pieces to choose from. I only had a simple tree, bush, some flowers, bench, fence, and that was basically it. You can still create some interesting decoration with it, but it can't get you really that far.
As you can see, it was not that bad for a start, but I knew the game could do better! The final push to add fountains to the game came from the community, so let's see how it ended up!
As you can see, with the addition of fountains, I had an amazing opportunity to add additional decoration pieces as well - a palm tree, 2 new grass patches, a pillar, and a new bench.
The cool part of all this, is that the original fountain designs are very simple, and that gives the player the abbitily to create their own advanced design.
Afterword
Are you still here? :)
Right now, it is time for me to jump back into the development, and make the game even better. I'm not sure when I will release another update, but I'm pretty sure, that it will be as soon as I have something worth a while to share.
As always, thank you for everything! And I will see you soon. Take care :)
- Milan, Developer