Experience
I will easily say that this is my favourite project that I have made so far since I got to try much more stuff than usual like creating different types of guns and creating a fun and enjoyable AI for the boss. I worked on many different aspects of the game. I made guns which were later deriving off the same script making it much easier to create more and more guns without much effort. Since all guns derive from the same script they were able to be highlighted and added to the inventory system created by my colleague Evert. Thanks to that I had much more space and freedom to work.
I worked on the reload functions as well as the ammo boxes and combining that with the UI was a little challenging since I only had 2 days to make it work. We had decided on infinite ammos but last minute changes made me change up quite a big part of the weapons. Since I thought that it might be faster to simply use blueprints in order to make the ammo boxes fill different types of ammos. So an Assault rifle has 30 Max Ammo and the shotgun has 2 logically they shouldn't be getting the same amount of ammo.
Features
Assault rifle
In my code for the ShootRifle function, I manage the firing mechanics of my assault rifle. Here’s how it works:
I start by ensuring the weapon isn’t delayed from previous shots. Then, I check if enough time has passed since the last shot based on the firing rate. If the ammo is depleted, I play an empty clip sound every second and exit the function to prevent firing.
When there’s ammo, I decrease the ammo count, spawn a bullet actor at the muzzle, and play the firing sound and muzzle flash effect. I also calculate the shooting direction to ensure the bullet travels accurately towards the target. Additionally, I include debugging messages to track the firing process. Finally, I reset the timers to manage the firing intervals, ensuring the weapon fires at the correct rate.
(As previously mentioned reload functions are triggered from the player controller as well as the weapon base)
Boss Battle
Since we already had a bunch of AIs in the game like the Ranged AI and the Mele AI. I decided that it will be fun to try and combined both in a way that still works. I wanted the boss to chase the player while still being able to shoot him from longer ranges. Features that were added to the boss; chase while still keeping some distance, shoot while always facing the player, a grenade and enemy spanner that spawns random types of enemies.