Hey everyone!
Welcome back to another update on the development of Wave Defense: Trappist! This week has been a busy one, with a focus on improving the game’s performance, doing some "autumn cleaning" of old assets, and polishing up the shooting animations. Let’s dive into what’s been going on!
Tackling Garbage Collection and Loading Times
As Wave Defense: Trappist has grown, I’ve noticed that the loading times have been getting longer, especially when starting up the game. This was becoming a bit of a concern, so I decided it was time to dig into what was causing the delays.
After investigating, I found that some objects were causing memory leaks, which were contributing to the extended loading times. This was a new area for me, so I spent a good amount of time reading up and watching tutorials on how to use tools like the Memory Profiler to better understand what was happening under the hood.
With the insights gained, I started implementing changes aimed at optimizing how memory is used, ensuring that unnecessary objects are properly cleaned up—essentially working on better garbage collection. While I haven't solved everything yet, I’m happy to report that the loading times have been cut in half compared to before. This feels like a solid achievement for this iteration, and I’ll continue refining it to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.
Autumn Cleaning: Tidying Up the Scenes
While working on the loading times, I took the opportunity to do some autumn cleaning across all of my game scenes. Over time, I’ve tested countless game objects, 3D models, and snippets of code, many of which ended up not being used in the final version of the game. Even though these objects were turned off, they were still lingering in the scenes, adding unnecessary complexity.
So, I rolled up my sleeves and went through every scene to delete and clean up anything that wasn’t needed anymore. This kind of maintenance work might not sound glamorous, but it’s incredibly important. Removing unused assets reduces clutter and makes the game more efficient, while also making future updates and iterations much easier to manage. It feels good to have everything cleaned up, and I’m already noticing how much smoother it is to work on the project now.
Shooting Animations: Adding That Extra Polish
Another highlight of this week has been working on shooting and reloading animations for most of the weapons in the game. This has actually been one of the more fun tasks I’ve taken on recently. Animations can make such a big difference in terms of how the game feels, and I wanted to ensure that the shooting mechanics in Wave Defense: Trappist are as satisfying as possible.
With some trial and error, and the help of a few animation tools, I’ve managed to create and adjust the shooting animations for different weapons. The goal was to make the weapons feel impactful—every shot should come with a sense of recoil, moving your mech slightly, and giving each weapon a unique "kick." I think these subtle touches really add to the overall polish of the game, making combat more immersive and visually engaging.
I’m definitely no expert when it comes to animation, but I was surprised by how accessible the process could be once I got the hang of it. By experimenting and learning along the way, I’ve been able to add a layer of refinement that I hope players will notice and appreciate.
Wrapping Up the Week
This week has been all about optimization, cleaning, and polish—cutting down loading times, clearing out old clutter, and adding some final touches to animations that bring the mechs and their weapons to life. It’s been a challenging but satisfying process, and I’m excited to keep building on this progress.
Thanks for reading, and see you next Week!