Going gold. Version1.0 is here!

Version 1.0 is finally here!

2 months after uploading the initial game with 10 levels for the Matt Aspland Summer Jam, GameJamHERO is now feature complete!

What started as a 2 week game jam entry with 10 levels and little in the way of proper effects or even a way to restart the game after losing, has turned into a very rewarding learning experience with a final product that I can take pride in.

Changes in Version 1.0

- All 20 levels and from the original Atari 2600 game are done and as accurate as I can get them. Whew!

- Added 2 great additional music tracks by Eric Skiff http://EricSkiff.com/music

- Final polish on a few lose ends (mostly cleanup of directories and some further reduction of the final packaged size)

- Fixed a small ambient sound bug in Level 16

I opted out of creating a music volume slider and left the option to toggle music (In menu and by pressing M in game)

Final thoughts:

This marks my first complete game since I started learning game development in mid-2020. It was a great challenge, particularly the 2 week crunch to get the initial release running for the jam. After the jam was complete I knew I wanted to complete all 20 levels and add a bit more pizazz in the form of particle effects and some light post processing. I think it turned out great!

All of the 3D assets were created by myself in Blender. This includes all character/AI meshes, rigs and animations (no Mixamo here) and all level geometry and things like lanterns and the TNT.

The player character movement is altered from default in order to get the right feel for the heii-pack. It's not identical to the Atari feel but close enough to convey the idea.

One area I found quite rewarding and a bit tough was learning a bit more of the Niagara Particle System in Unreal. Very powerful and SO very flexible!

I may revisit the game at a later date to improve a few areas and of course to fix any bugs that may creep up but as for now I am calling it a wrap on this project.

Now on to my next challenge!

Vance Hone aka Fletchlock