Jamming Jetpack

This week, I introduced two exciting new features: a dynamic music playlist for background gameplay and a functional jetpack for enhanced player movement.

Immersive Background Music

Integrating the playlist into the existing pause menu required careful adjustments to maintain the established design aesthetic. I strategically utilized spacers and horizontal boxes to precisely position the playlist widget. A notable challenge arose when implementing the pause and resume functionality. Initially, I attempted to toggle playback by checking if the audio component was active and then setting it to pause accordingly. However, this approach made it impossible to resume playback after pausing, as the pause state was not properly tracked. To resolve this, I introduced a dedicated pause state variable within the audio component, enabling accurate toggling between pause and resume states.

The playlist is centrally managed by a dedicated "Music Manager" actor placed within the game scene. This actor handles all audio playback during runtime and interfaces directly with the UI buttons to control music selection and playback. It maintains an array of "Sound Cues" representing each track, seamlessly playing the appropriate selection as required.

Jetpack Implementation

Adding the jetpack feature was particularly enjoyable and involved thoughtful planning for scalability. Recognizing the need to support multiple types of equipment seamlessly, I created a foundational parent class named "BaseEquipment." This parent class simplifies equipment management by holding virtual functions, allowing specific equipment items to easily override functionality.

The jetpack itself monitors two key variables: maximum fuel capacity and current available fuel, which are visually communicated to the player through a simple text display component attached to the jetpack model. When fuel is depleted, the jetpack automatically despawns, removing itself from the player's current equipment. Movement functionality is executed using an "Add Impulse" function that propels the player upward along the Z-axis, providing intuitive and responsive control during gameplay.