Health and Enemy Particles_Wk10

Health:

This week I have added a UI to display Willie's health. I have used a classic heart system seen in many games. However, rather than hearts, I'm using Willie heads to represent health.  I hand drew these, scanned the drawings, and then did some tiny touch ups in Gimp.  Originally, I designed the 'Empty Heart' with crosses over Willie's eyes (see Empty Heart Trial). I found that this did not create enough variation for a player to notice lives were being lost. So, I went with a red cross within the whole face (see Final Empty Heart) to stand out more, but not obscure the gameplay (see In Game).  For the scripts, I followed a tutorial by Blackthornprod on Youtube, which smoothly integrated with my other game components. 

Full Heart:

Empty Heart Trial:

Final Empty Heart:

In Game:

Enemy Particles:

As I have already created my enemy sprite, this week it was time to focus on their impact to Willie. I made slight modifications to the ‘HurtOnCollision’ script we were given earlier this semester. My main focus was on the particle effects triggered by collisions. I made sure this script only interacts with the Flies (the enemy), since I want the red particles to clearly indicate injury to Willie (see Particles). Using the same effect for the Balls would have made things too confusing. As I made my own Health system, I could ignore the overall 'TakeDamage' features from this script.

Particles: 

Feedback:

Interestingly, this week some players went to collect the flies, rather than the balls. This does make sense with my current sprite designs (the balls aren't complete!). Hopefully, when I finish my ball designs it will become clear what to collect. To further clarify, I plan to add a Ball icon next to the score display in the top-right corner of the screen, so players can easily connect the collectible with the score. As an extra precaution, I’m considering adding a line to the main menu that reads: "Avoid the Flies! Catch the Balls!".

Some players also suggested that I add a brief period of invulnerability after Willie is hit by a Fly. They pointed out that it's possible to get stuck and take multiple hits in quick succession, which could lead to an abrupt game over—especially with only three hearts. I think this is a very important suggestion. Next week, I plan to spend some time testing different scripts that implement this mechanic. I believe it will improve the gameplay and help prevent unnecessary frustration.

Overall, the response to the game was positive. Lots of players liked Willie's cute design and little animation. This makes me feel really good about the game's current direction!

References:

Blackthornprod. “HOW TO MAKE HEART/HEALTH SYSTEM - UNITY TUTORIAL,” March 2, 2018. 

I acknowledge that I have used ChatGPT to help edit some of my notes and descriptions.  https://chatgpt.com/c/68208cbc-8f48-8007-bf28-d29930ba0a1c

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