What I’ve Been Working On:
This week was all about adding crucial layers of immersion and functionality through audio design and core menu systems. I implemented a full suite of sounds to bring the world to life, including footstep audio for walking and running, jumping sounds, and a layer of creepy ambient music to build tension. The system is also dynamic, with the music changing when the player enters specific locations within the dungeon.
On the systems side, I’ve added a much-needed pause feature, complete with a functional pause menu, as well as the main menu for when the game first starts. Finally, I spent some time fine-tuning the dungeon generation algorithm. Adding the textured assets last week revealed some minor room connection and overlap issues that weren’t visible with the simple blockout shapes, so I’ve been working to resolve those.
Current Status:
The game now has a solid audio foundation that dramatically improves the atmosphere. A complete menu flow, from the main menu to a pausable in-game state, is now functional. The dungeon generator is also more robust after addressing the bugs that arose from using more complex art assets.
Next Steps:
With the menu framework in place, my next logical step is to build it out further by adding an options menu. This will allow players to control settings like audio volume, which is especially important now that the sound system is implemented. After that, I’ll look into expanding the soundscape with more interaction-based sound effects (like item pickups etc.).
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