Turkey Day has come and gone

(New build up here)

Not a lot to add this week, since I didn't have a lot of time to spend on the game, what with there being turkey to eat, planes to catch, old friends to visit. It was a good week.

Game-wise, the only things I've changed is I've tightened trail renderers a bit. Now when objects with trail renderers wrap, their renderer will refresh itself as it moves, so you don't get sharp lines being drawn where things are being repositioned. I did the same thing for a lot of objects in an old game on this blog, Particle Rain.

As always, charge-up noise is courtesy of Jaview Zumer under this license.

Fiddling with player control refinements, a new final level, and a to-do list

(New build up here!)

The jury is still out on whether I like these timed walls over the walls which appear when you charge... But I'm far more happy with the new level 10 that's in this build. But what I focused on more for this week was player controls.

For the most part, the game functions as I want it to (The actual control scheme will be changed at least one or two more times before I'm happy, but that's another issue) but there are several small issues around charging that ruin the flow of the game. The biggest issue is when the player seems to wrap around at an inconsistent speed when interacting with wrap walls. I didn't succeed in solving that, but I did uncover some hidden issues that could have been contributing to the problem. I also narrowed down that the root cause of this may be. I think it has something to do with the length of the charge.

Some things I want to do in future weeks (in no particular order):

• Change mouse controls so you can also charge with mouse-click and you will only face the mouse when holding down mouse 0
• Change gamepad controls so that right trigger is the charge button
• Add a trail renderer to enemy projectiles
• Add a color change and particle effect for when goals revert back to zero after you fail to clear them. This would especially make the linked goals easier to understand upon first encountering them, since all linked goals would fail at once.
• Implement moving walls, enemies, and goals for future levels.

Eventually, this is going to start looking like an actual game. Then I'll have to get a sound guy (or gal) to do some sound! Ditto for art.

Speaking of sound, charging-up noise is courtesy of Javier Zumer under this license.

Trail renderers, timed walls, updated instructions, and a level select

(Looking for the latest build? Check it out here)

This post is going to be very short! I've just come back after a weekend away from home and I'm barely awake right now. That said, I did get just enough work done during the week that I can post a new build and feel pretty good about it. Let's talk about what's in it!

Trail render on the player is a minor cosmetic upgrade. I love trail renderers because they make movement just a little more clear to read, and they make screenshots a LOT clearer to read. I still need to treat them so that they don't draw while being repositioned, but that's for next week.

Updated instructions were necessary, now that controller support is here. Ditto a level select option since I'm pushing ten levels. Both felt pretty scrunched in, so I had to revise until I still had enough content but sized and positioned in a nice way.

Timed walls feel good! Maybe not as good as I wanted them to feel? I'm actually happier with level 9 than 10. I'll try to make better timed-wall levels next week and see if I like them better than the walls which are only walls while you're charging. And the week after that I'll likely combine them to see if levels feel too busy with both elements.

Charge noise is courtesy of Javier Zumer under this license.

SUNDAY is the deadline!

Wow! So I knew this past weekend I wouldn't have the time to work on the game, and thus, wouldn't be able to make a post about my progress. What I DIDN'T know was that I would also space out and not make a post of any kind whatsoever. Apologies! These next few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are going to be a bit hectic. I hope to make an update every weekend regardless, but that may not always be the case (this next weekend especially, so we'll see how good I am at keeping promises in a few days).

Thanks for your patience.

Scheme control

(The build is up right here! Use the mouse or the right analog stick to change your rotation.)

So I didn't end up taking out the appearing/disappearing walls as I said I would... I decided to give it another week and see how I liked it. The verdict? They're a bit more interesting than I originally thought, but they still need help. I redid the last two levels, and one (level 9) actually came out well, I think.

What I spent most of my time on this week was considering alternate control schemes for the game. You can now play the game with an attached controller, which is something I've really been meaning to do. I also experimented with the player being able to manipulate their facing independent of their movement. My first sketch is over here, but I wasn't really impressed with it. You use your mouse or analog stick to move around a game object which starts out fast and then slows down as you charge. This game object is only created when you begin building your charge, so you can only change your facing while holding the space bar down.

The control scheme I settled on for now allows you to always change your facing using the analog stick/mouse. It's a bit clumsy in the case of the mouse since I prioritize mouse facing only when you are moving the mouse. It results in a feeling that WASD input is fighting the mouse input.

As far as the analog goes, well, analog is so accurate and feels so good in general that the right stick is hardly necessary... So, I may just reverse all my changes in the end.

Charging up noise is by Javier Zumer under this license

Disappearing walls: Not so exciting

(This week's build can be found here!)

I was somewhat busy this week, so I didn't work as much as I ought to have on the game. I did implement the disappearing walls, and I did make two levels out of them, but that was maybe 45 minutes of work, tops.

The consensus? Walls that don't do anything but block the player just feel... like normal walls. Even if they're sometimes not there. They're not that interesting, and I can hope that when combined with other elements they become more engaging, but I think I'll probably end up scrapping the appears-only-when-charging walls. Walls that appear and disappear on a timer might make more sense...

Charge-up noise by Javier Zumer under this license.

Just some small improvements

(The new build is up here!)

This week I added a particle and sound for when you collide with a bounce-wall, ditto for when a goal or linked goal resets its numbers back to zero. I also added an 8th level (Which is getting really very easy to do - level 8 is novel enough that it seems worthwhile, but only took about 5 minutes to create).

In thinking about the three features I brainstormed last week (Walls you can push, Walls that teleport you specific places, and either walls which only exist while you are charging or walls which only exist while NOT charging) I think walls existing only while charging make the most sense to develop. First, I already have the code I need to make them work. Second, I like walls existing only while charging over the opposite due to the fact that a) Charging is very strong, and I predict restricting it will lead to more creative puzzle solving and b) It's much easier, visually, to illustrate that something is going to appear than it is to illustrate that something is going to disappear.

Ideally, I would have had a level with that working in it today, but if I'm honest, I got a little lazy this weekend. Let's hear it for lazy weekends!

The charge-up noise is, again, courtesy of Javier Zumer, and is being used under this license.