Project Vault Game Dev Log 11

Welp Bod is stuck ;o;! I kid haha, been working on creating some code for the squeeze traversal mechanics in game and just overall been having way too much fun coding it all up XD. I mean, how often do you get to animate a character with Bod's hips squeezing through a little hole in the wall!

Overall it was a seriously productive month! Outside of getting a prototype squeeze traversal mechanic working, I also got a lot of work in on a ladder system! Currently Bod can now climb up and down the ladder pretty easily, although a lot of the animations are still placeholders at the moment. Likewise spent a bit of time figuring out how to make more modular level components thanks to the ladder. the things I learned are going to seriously help so much going forward when it comes to building interactable components!

Alrighty so time for the breakdowns

• Squeeze Mechanics: One of the major traversal mechanics that I wanted in this game was a squeeze mechanic for Bod to get into places. Usually these are used in games for transition zones or loading areas, but I had wanted to do a bit of a twist on this idea. So instead Bod uses these to get into hard to reach areas or to help avoid sentry patrols in stealth areas. At the moment I've added in code and animations for a straight through version, and a teleport version that places Bod in a new area. Future development of this code will introduce taller versions, standing versions, and even versions that put Bod into a crawlspace. Likewise in the polish phase down the road, I'm planning on making some unique "wide hip" versions of the animations to show off the difficulties that come with the suit X3!

• Ladder Mechanics: Likewise adding in the ladder system was a huge step this month. Although Bod has a lot of traversal mechanics in his toolbelt, I was going to need ladders for some of the tighter environments and areas in the game. Being able to have a modular system that can adapt to any environment and scenario was a big driver for this month. Outside of getting the movement code down on it, I was able to create a ladder tool that can scale to different heights accurately while also changing out the top exits as needed for any given scenario. There is still a lot of polish I want to do with it down the road such as a slide down option, hatch exit, and step off's for ledges and mid entrances. But for now having a working system has been really nice to play around with!

• Block Pushing Tweaks: One of the biggest area's I've had feedback on with the block pushing level was the controls for pushing the blocks. Specifically it has been set to fixed inputs (Up pushed forward, down pushed backwards). This didn't feel the greatest depending on the camera angles. With a good chunk of help from a dev friend, I was able to update the code so that Bow now pushes blocks in the direction he is facing with the corresponding input. Overall this has made it feel so much better control wise for the blocks!

• Fabricated Chambers Concept art: As I continue working on these testing levels, I've wanted to figure out a bit more of a cohesive vision that the testing levels can look like. I've been heavily inspired for years now the simplicity and vibe of the VR missions from MGS1 and 2. They are amazing at teaching the player controls and tricks for the game while also giving them more challenging closed environments to learn the game. As a result I've wanted to really capture that sort of play test zone vibe that those had. Painting up a bit of concept art for my take on it has helped a ton on figuring out the look I'd like to go with for my version which are known as the "Fabricated Chambers"! Now to start working on some assets for them to get this vibe :3!!!

That about wraps up the major dev tasks from March! Going on into April, I'll be revisiting the prone/crawling mechanics a bit for some cleanup. They have needed some new animations and overall a bit of movement cleanup for a bit now! In addition to that I'll be working on a modular crawlspace tool to go in tandem with the updated prone mechanics! Since I'll be needing to utilize the crawlspaces and first person with them, some updates to the camera system to finally get the first person camera switches working fine will be a huge task alongside this! Overall it's going to be a really packed month of dev time that will hopefully cleanup some of the major to-do's that have been sitting around for too long now X3!!