Composting Game

----===ABOUT THE GAME===----

Composting Game is a short educational game intended to showcase the creation of what goes into creating Compost to help rebuild your ruined farm. Travel to the Composter to use Brown and Green Materials to create perfect compost and sell to help rebuild your farm. Unlock an additional level featuring a maze to earn more coins.

Interested to know more about the game? Check this video out: https://youtu.be/1hI9uyOpCBI?si=n4mK-VFbiIxumdb6

See below for additional information relating to the available versions of Composting Game. 

----===DISCLAIMERS===---

This project was originally created in 2024 for a Social Action Project in College. This was also the second game project I developed inside of Unreal Engine, so performance, functionality and bugs should be expected.

----===VERSION 1===----

Although not the complete original version, this project has received minor improvements for this release. See changes below:

- Fixed an issue where retrying the Composting Level wouldn't resume the game.

- Improved the Workbench UI to only show the upgrades in the selected tab.

- Added a Mini-Map to help make the Maze more enjoyable.

- Prevented the player from being able to fall outside the map when heading towards the Composter.

- Changed the materials in the Maze and Composter from Default UE Materials.

- Changed the different collectables to have a glowing outline.

----===VERSION 2===----

Having made some minor tweaks to the original project and preserving the original form, I wanted to also overhaul the project with updated textures I made a couple months after finishing the original project and remove the assets I or the original team had made. See changes below:

- All previously mentioned updates to Version 1.

- Updated all the original assets to newly improved textures.

- Modified the lighting to be more atmospheric.

- Removed the original trees, grass and landscape material and replaced it with my own assets.

- Enhanced the landscape to be a little more hilly and realistic.

- Improved all of the UI text to have a slight outline.

- Improved the Main Menu to actually call the game "Composting Game".

- Made the Main Menu background fully visible rather than being blurred.

- Added a Quit Button on the Main Menu.

- Changed the Controls Menu to be more fit for purpose.

- Modified the Workbench UI to have all the upgrades in the centre and made it fit more appropriately.

- Changed all the upgrades to no longer cast every tick as well as completely cut the upgrades from ticking.

- Removed all spotlights after improvements to lighting to help with performance.

- Pausing the game can also be done with the Escape key too.

- Updated the Workbench UI to show the improved model designs.

- Lined up the players coin count more accurately.

- Fixed an oversight where if you died in the maze, if you retried the level, you would instead be taken to the Composter and not the Maze. 

- Added an interact pop-up when the player approaches the Workbench.

- Added a series of new sounds to enhance the games ambience and feeling.

- Modified the UI to have a wooden appearance to fit with the game.

- Added a dedicated font instead  of using the default Unreal Engine text.

- Changed the Controls Menu to the Settings Menu, this now holds the controls, credits for both the original game and current version, and a few buttons for some settings options.

- Added the ability to change the textures from the new ones to the old ones if the player prefers it.

- Added the ability to show the player's FPS.

- Added a dedicated Icon to the game.

Sound Credits:

Error Sound - SoundShelfStudio from Pixabay
Construction Sound - freesound_community from Pixabay
Purchased Sound - DRAGON-STUDIO from Pixabay
Button Select Sound - CreatorsHome from Pixabay
Wind Sound - Jennifer Wilson from Pixabay
Birds Sound - Jurij from Pixabay
Footsteps Sound - JOEN TNT from Pixabay
Wooden Footsteps Sound - freesound_community from Pixabay
Concrete Footsteps Sound - freesound_community from Pixabay
Item Pickup Sound - Xmer™ from Pixabay
Damage Sound - freesound_community from Pixabay
Cow Moo 1 - Sound Effect by Universfield from Pixabay
Cow Moo 2 - Sound Effect by DRAGON-STUDIO from Pixabay
Cow Moo 4 - u_jd81cxyq22 from Pixabay
Cow Moo 5 - DRAGON-STUDIO from Pixabay
Cow Moo 6 - Scottish Guy from Pixabay
Cow Moo 7 - freesound_community from Pixabay

----===EXPERIMENTAL VERSION===----

This version was developed shortly after I had finished the original version and started my second year of College. This version was where the updated textures were originally intended for, as well as a few experimental ideas to further my knowledge and try something different in College. As mentioned, this version is EXPERIMENTAL, not all features work as intended, there are almost certainly bugs, and I can't guarantee smooth performance. You have been warned. See changes below:

- Changed original textures to newer improved textures.

- Removed original trees, grass and landscape material and substituted new ones.

- Increased the cost of some items in the workbench.

- Removed being able to purchase the farmland and changed it to unlock the market.

- Added the Market to buy seeds and sell crops.

- Changed the Farmland for the player to grow crops and sell for additional coins.

- Changed the items at the Composter to glow significantly more.

Known Bugs:

- If the player dies at the Composter, the game soft locks and you can't resume the game no matter what.

- In the Market, the player can jump over a hill and out the market and jump into the infinite void.

- When planting seeds at the farmland, the player can also select other seeds, this provides no benefit apart from depleting current seed amounts or dropping the amount to a negative number.

- If the player has a crop planted, the player can walk back over to the farmland and plant a different seed in its place. In combination with the above bug, the player can exploit buying the cheapest seed and convert it to the most expensive crop to profit.

- After several uses of the above exploit, the farmland eventually stopped interacting with the player.