Post-Game Jam Updates

Since the completion of the game jam, we’ve been hard at work polishing Sweet Dreams to make it even more delightful and performant. Here’s a breakdown of the updates and fixes we’ve implemented:

Performance Improvements

• Switched all static meshes to Nanite for better performance.
• Removed costly god beams from the level to optimize rendering.
• Adjusted landscape in level to hide unwanted grass in chocolate-heavy areas.
• Organized folders and removed unused assets.
• Added functionality to the food master material to allow tinting of food items, reducing the total amount of shaders.
  • Ensured all ORM textures were properly masked and plugged in.
    

Level Design & Visual Updates

• [redacted] Area
  • Fixed lighting issues.
  • Adjusted platforms to be straight, resolving camera issues.
  • Updated landscape for better visual flow.
• Embrace the Dream Area:
  • Changed water to chocolate to match the theme.
  • Waffle cone “rocks” were added at the bottom of the chocolate waterfall for added charm.
• Follow the Dream Area:
  • Slowed down the cake movement speed
  • Lowered the peppermints so they're easier to jump over.
• Control the Dream Area:
  • Added a smore near the pit to prevent players from walking around it.
  • Removed a donut that was blocking the exit

Gameplay & Mechanics

• Swapped inverse camera mechanics in [redacted] Dream to be controlled by the player for a smoother experience.
• Doubled the size of the mimic and adjusted its path for better gameplay flow.
• Hid collision overlap on bouncy objects to prevent visual clutter.

UI/UX Improvements

• Adjusted buttons on widgets to remove extra borders.
• Updated the camera in the menu to remove aspect ratio constraints, eliminating the weird black borders on the sides of the screen.
• Added skip functionality to the splash menu:
  • Players can now left-click to skip logos.
  • Reordered logos so players see our studio logo first.
  • Rearranged code to ensure proper triggering and skipping functionality.
• Delayed music playback until all splash screens are completed.