About
Love Is In The Space has been one of the more complex games that I have developed and published. Even though Unreal Engine 4 has one of the most extensive toolsets for game development, Paper2D (the built in 2D plugin) has not received the same attention as the other plugins or components. The learning curve is therefore very steep and has resulted in the necessity of custom solutions and workarounds.
The project configuration for 2D game development in Unreal Engine 4 was more complicated than I had expected. I had to adjust many default settings and tweak the culling in order to properly display lights. I also had to rework the default 2D shader, and finally adjust most of the post process settings in order to get the desired graphical atmosphere.
In order to immerse the player even more, I put a lot of effort into creating a seamless transition system. This system would allow me to smoothly transition the player from the main menu to cutscenes and through all of the levels. I am especially proud that the audio transition system does not disrupt audio during a level change.
Love Is In The Space is a very difficult game and during a playtest, I realized that I had to implement some sort of checkpoint system. As I was developing the system, it struck me that so many components had to be implemented in order to create a decent system. You have to first of all notify the player that they triggered a checkpoint through interface, graphics and sound. The position must then be stored and allow the player to respawn at the checkpoint. Finally, whenever the player exits the level, the stored position has to be removed.
For more information about Love Is In The Space, check out the Steam page, and the user interface page.