This week in Bubble Bubble Bubble Bubble Pop!, my main focus was improving the player experience through menu and UI updates, implementing life tracking, and adding new functionality like a larger projectile and a "God Mode" for debugging. Unfortunately, I also faced a setback from last week where I lost a good amount of code due to some mismanagement with Perforce, so a lot of time went to restoring and restructuring files. Here’s a breakdown of what I worked on:

Key Additions

• Menus and UI Enhancements:
  • Built out the Main Menu and set up game mode functions for transitions between menus and gameplay. Now players can start, return to the main menu, or play again after a win/loss.
  • Added a Result Widget that displays win or lose states at the end of a game session, letting players seamlessly decide their next steps.
• Life UI Tracking:
  • Set up a Life Counter on the player HUD that visually tracks the player’s remaining lives, which are hard-coded to three per level for now.
  • Updated the HUD to include the basic control layout, making gameplay more intuitive by showing key commands like shooting and movement.

New Gameplay Mechanics

• Bigger Projectile:
  • Created a larger projectile option for players, making it easier to pop bubbles and adding variety to the gameplay. This will eventually be tied to power-ups for added tactical options.
  • The bigger projectile has increased collision size and damage potential, which helps in more intense levels.
• God Mode:
  • For debugging, I implemented a “God Mode” mapped to the H key, giving the player invincibility to test out new mechanics and levels without taking damage. This should speed up debugging by allowing me to explore areas of the map and test enemy behaviors without interruption.

Lessons Learned with Perforce

Last week’s code loss highlighted how critical version control can be. I spent a large portion of time this week reorganizing my Perforce workflow to avoid similar issues. Here are a few changes I made:

• Created backup checkpoints to prevent data loss and improve efficiency.
• Learned the importance of regular updates and checks, so files are consistently tracked.

The project is back on track, and I’m excited to see how the new UI and debugging tools make gameplay smoother for both development and the player experience!