🚀 Software Engineering Post-Mortem: Paragon Protectors 🏰🎯

🎯 Project Overview

Paragon Protectors is a strategy-based tower defense game built for the One Game A Month #42 game jam using Unreal Engine 5.5. In this game, players must defend against 7 waves of relentless minions while protecting their 40 lives.

Key gameplay features include:

• 
  Elemental Upgrades: Towers gain experience and unlock powerful elemental damage as they level up. 🔥❄️⚡
  


• 
  Victory Conditions: Survive all waves to triumph—or lose if all lives are depleted. 🏆

Paragon Protectors delivers a blend of strategy, resource management, and skillful defense planning. 🛡️

🛠️ Initial Project Goals

The primary objectives were:

• Remake the Protectors tower defense game series in Unreal Engine. 🏗️
  


• Complete and submit the game for the One Game A Month #42 jam. 🕹️🎮
  

✅ How We Met Our Goals

Using Agile methodology, I:

• Created actionable User Stories for the game’s features. 📝
  


• Tracked progress with a Kanban Board in GitHub Projects. 📋
  

🎉 Result: The game was completed on time, with functioning towers, tracks, and wave systems.

✨ What Went Well

1. 
   Level Design:
   
   
   
   
   • Designed a visually clear and functional track for enemies and towers. 🗺️
     
   
   
   
   


2. 
   Programming:
   
   
   
   
   • Engineered tower mechanics, including targeting, attacking, and upgrading. 💻
     
   
   
   
   

⚠️ What Went Wrong

• 
  Track Visuals:
  
  
  
  
  • Lacked distinct assets to differentiate the track from surrounding tiles. 🎨
    
  
  
  
  
  
  

🛠️ How Challenges Were Addressed

• 
  Track Assets:
  
  
  
  
  • Used geometry brushes and starter content materials to create clear and distinguishable track visuals. 🛠️
    
  
  
  
  
  
  

💡 Lessons Learned

1. 
   Level Design:
   
   
   
   
   • Learned how to design effective tracks for a tower defense game. 🛤️
     
   
   
   
   


2. 
   Programming:
   
   
   
   
   • Gained experience in programming towers with mechanics like targeting and leveling up. 💡
     
   
   
   
   

🔮 Future Recommendations

1. 
   Expand Tower Variety:
   
   
   
   
   • Add more towers with unique abilities and effects, such as slowing, poisoning, or stunning enemies. ⚔️🧪
     
   
   
   
   


2. 
   Enhanced Visuals:
   
   
   
   
   • Invest in better assets or custom artwork to improve visual clarity and polish. 🎨✨
     
   
   
   
   

🏆 Conclusion

Paragon Protectors was a rewarding project for the One Game A Month #42 game jam. 🎉 It helped sharpen my skills in level design and tower defense programming. I’m looking forward to expanding on these mechanics and creating even more engaging experiences in future games! 🚀