Hey everyone!
We're peeling back the curtain a bit to give you a peek behind the scenes of our game development journey. We chose Unreal Engine to power our game, and it's been a wild ride over three years of development. Buckle up as we dive into one of the coolest and most complex parts of our game – the dough preparation mechanics.
Tackling Tough Challenges
Getting the dough mechanics just right was no cakewalk. We had to blend animations and physics to nail the rolling, cutting, and shaping processes. Unreal Engine's physics can be a bit unpredictable, so we had to get creative with workarounds to keep things smooth.
Wrestling with Physics and Animation
Animations were a labor of love, especially getting the pizza base just right when it hits the table. Dealing with Unreal Engine's physics quirks was a rollercoaster ride – from dough chunks misbehaving after cutting to objects going haywire when attached together. We had to constantly tweak and update to avoid those flying pizza box disasters.
Getting Real with Physical Simulations
To nail realism, we crunched numbers on volumes, densities, and accelerations. We fine-tuned Unreal Engine's physics for better dough cutting and optimized it for tons of little objects that really put our systems to the test.
Tech Behind the Scenes
Rolling the dough? Skeletal animations all the way, crafted by our awesome 3D artists. Cutting the dough? We used timeline animations and procedural mesh slicing because the standard Unreal Engine just wasn't cutting it (pun intended).
Interacting with Objects
The dough's dance with the rolling pin was animated with Geometry Cache animations – over 300 moves for that perfect roll. And cutting? It's not just for show – it's real mesh slicing that reacts to everything from fridge chill to oven heat.
Tossing Dough Like a Pro
Tossing dough? It's like flipping pancakes but way cooler. We've got different animations depending on how epic your pizza-making skills are feeling that day.
Epic Bugs and Funny Glitches
We've seen some real doozies. Ever accidentally walked through walls while rolling dough? Yeah, that happened. Also, we found out pizzas couldn't bake if your FPS was too high – blame it on some wonky calculations in Unreal Engine and C++ 👀
During testing, one of our testers had a good laugh when a pizza box decided it was a UFO and started zipping around the room. Sometimes bugs make for the best stories 😂
What's Next?
We're not stopping here. Dough prep is our baby, but we're also adding hints and tutorials to make sure everyone can jump in and start slinging dough like a pro.
Thanks for tuning in! Got questions or thoughts? Drop 'em in the comments – we're all ears and pumped to chat. Let's make this game epic together!