🚀Software Engineering Post-Mortem: Marble Escape 🎮🌀

🎯 Project Overview

Marble Escape is a 3D puzzle game created with Unreal Engine 5.5 for the One Button Game Jam. The game challenges players to navigate a marble through a series of puzzles using just one input button—the Spacebar. 🕹️

Here’s the twist: every 5 seconds, the puzzle’s direction changes! Players must strategically time their moves to escape the level. Think fast, or the marble won’t make it out! 🪄

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🛠️ Initial Project Goals

The main objective was to:

• Develop a one-button mechanic game. 🎯
• Complete and submit the game for the One Button Game Jam. ⏳

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✅ How We Met Our Goals

Using Agile methodology, I:

• Broke features into actionable User Stories. 📝
• Tracked progress with a Kanban Board in GitHub Projects. 📋

🎉 Result: I successfully implemented the one-button mechanic and completed the game in time for the jam!

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✨ What Went Well

• Level Design: Crafted three unique and engaging 3D puzzles using geometry brushes in Unreal Engine. 🎨
• Jam Requirements: Fulfilled the one-button input mechanic requirement for the game jam. ✅

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⚠️ What Went Wrong

1. Art Style Consistency:
   • Lacked a polished and cohesive art style. 🎨❌
2. Player Feedback:
   • No clear indicator of the current direction, which could confuse players. 🤷‍♂️❓

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🛠️ How Challenges Were Addressed

1. Art Style: Used starter content textures like grass and cobblestone to create a basic, visually cohesive look. 🪴🧱
2. Player Feedback: Created a HUD widget to display the current direction, dynamically binding it to the game state. 🧭

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💡 Lessons Learned

• Level Design: Gained hands-on experience creating 3D puzzles using Unreal Engine’s geometry brushes. 🛠️🎮
• Player Feedback: Learned the importance of clear visual communication in enhancing the user experience. 👀

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🔮 Future Recommendations

1. Art Style:
   • Import high-quality assets to create a more polished and immersive visual style. 🖼️✨
2. Level Complexity:
   • Design more intricate puzzles to increase the game’s challenge and replayability. 🧩

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🏆 Conclusion

Marble Escape was a fun and educational project for the One Button Game Jam. 🎉 It helped me sharpen my skills in level design and UI integration while adhering to strict jam constraints. I’m excited to apply these lessons to future projects and create even better games! 🚀

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