🚀 Software Engineering Postmortem: Zombie Shootout 🧟‍♂️🎮

🎯 Project Overview

Zombie Shootout is a 2D top-down shooter built with Unreal Engine 5.5. Players step into the boots of Tim, a truck stop worker armed with an AK-47, battling relentless zombie hordes to protect a critical bridge. Tim’s goal? Hold the line until reinforcements arrive. This project was created for the 2D Game Jam #2, with the challenge of crafting a complete game in a short timeframe. 🕹️🧱

🛠️ Initial Project Goals

Our goal was simple yet ambitious:

• Build a 2D top-down shooter using Unreal Engine.
• Complete the game in time for the 2D Game Jam #2. ⏳

✅ How We Met Our Goals

We utilized Agile development with:

• User Stories for clear, actionable features. 📝
• A Kanban Board in GitHub Projects for task tracking. 📋
• Collaborative iterations to complete all the features.

🎉 Result: We delivered a polished, playable game within the deadline!

✨ What Went Well

• Visual Cohesion: Seeing all the 2D assets, animations, and UI come together was incredibly rewarding. 🎨✨
• Mechanics: All the game mechanics and core features worked flawlessly. No game-breaking bugs! 🛡️🕹️

⚠️ What Went Wrong

• Level Design Challenge:
  • We skipped using a tilemap or tileset for level creation in Unreal Engine. 🚧
  • This added unnecessary complexity to the level design process.

🛠️ How We Addressed the Challenges

Instead of tilesets or tilemaps, we manually:

• Placed individual sprites to construct the level directly in the Unreal Editor. 🧩
• While this workaround worked, it wasn’t the most efficient method.

💡 Lessons Learned

• Level Design Experience: I gained valuable hands-on experience with designing levels using 2D assets. 🎓
• Planning Tools: Tilemaps/tilesets could have streamlined the process significantly and are worth the upfront investment. 🗺️

🔮 Future Recommendations

• Spend more time on level design and planning, especially with:
  • Exploring 2D asset workflows. 🛠️
  • Investing in learning tilesets and tilemaps. 🎨

🏆 Conclusion

Zombie Shootout was a thrilling project and a successful submission to the 2D Game Jam #2. 🎉 This journey taught me a lot about game development, and I’m excited to apply these lessons to future projects. 🚀