Game Alpha 24-12-006

The new update is playable for all tiers. Go to the dropbox folder 711. I changed the previous area to this for testing purposes. I added some props here and there to make it a bit more interesting but it's all still in development.

Changes/Updates

I won't go into all details, there's a lot that happened behind the scenes in order to create/fix and edit everything. The main items that I think are most important for players are listed below:

Smooth turning

The player now rotates smooth towards the direction they are going. Previously the player just snapped into place and it looked a bit odd. This smoother turning looks a lot more polished.

Jumping!

This feature was suggested ever since I published the first alpha. I've created animations, set up the code logic and opened pandora's box in terms of bugs/fixing stuff. In the end I'm happy how it turned out. The jumping feels a bit floaty (on purpose) so people can steer the character in the air towards their goal. I could make this harder by lowering player input but for now I'm curious what people think of it. (I am aware that one of the animations is slightly off.)

E to pick items up / E to drop items

You can now pick certain items up by walking close to them and pressing the E (interact) key. The item will lift up and float next to Lyana as if she's carrying it. At first I planned to do all kinds of animations and stuff but that would take TONS of time to create/set up and program per item. I therefore came up with this system and I think it's actually improving the gameplay. The item that Lyana is carrying is not 'stuck' in place. It can be pushed away/roll over and what not. This means that some items will need to be handled with care as you bring them from place A to B. In the future I want to add the ability for players to throw a carried object. (like bombs or something)

Some additional notes regarding the programming of this feature:

- The system always picks the closest item to the character

- Objects ignore players when carried (to prevent unfair events from happening)

- Objects can be hit by other objects in the map (enemies? traps?)

- Objects always turn back upright and face front (useful for lamps or when the object has some kind of effect to it)

- Objects can be kicked/knocked over when not carried by a player (so be careful after placing the object...)

A B-Bucket?...

The bucket! Can be carried, can be knocked over, can carry water to increase its weight. Shows particles to players when it gets filled or loses its content.

Pressure pads

You can now stand on Pressure pads that lower when the right weight is standing on top of it. Lyana counts as 1 weight. Other items might or might not be enough weight when using them. It's up to you to figure it out! (In the future, pressure pads might require more weight or specific objects in order for them to function). The pressure pads make a sound when pressed or released.

Slopes and Stairs

Previously the character struggled to get up a slope. I finally found the fix for this and implemented it while I was working on the jump mechanic. The player doesn't suffer from gravity anymore when walking up or down.

Rubber shaders

I've tried to create a rubber shader for monsters or blobs in the world. The end result is not finished. The shader seems to cut certain parts of an object and this just causes weird glitches/doesn't look as nice. I will work on this in the future.

New props/structures

I'm still working on new objects and structures for the game. In the current test map you can find some of them like the new modular stairs/castle objects. One thing I noticed when implementing them: The railings are kind of too high... Lyana can barely look over them so I plan to lower them a bit in the future.

Known issues:

- There is no reset button once you finish the map. The only way to replay is by reloading the map by going to the main menu and restarting.

- The bucket (despite testing and implementing counter measures) can sometimes glitch inside other objects. When this happens you're softlocked since there is no reset button yet. Restarting the map is the only way.

Some info regarding performance

I was testing the amount of triangles the engine can take since this always seems to be a hot topic. The towers I built amount to roughly 1.5 milion triangles and on my end I don't see much of a performance difference. I guess this is due to Godot's built in LOD system. Anything further away is made easier to render and it shows I guess. Performance stays good despite the many vertices/triangles the engine renders. I would love to hear your experience however and if the game is running well.

That's it for this update. I can keep going on but these are the most interesting changes. Let me know what you think of them and what could be better. I would love to hear it!

Have a nice day everyone!