The game’s core mechanics received a lot of attention this week to improve player feel and fun factor. The game now has two more environmental mechanics; falling platforms and flipping platforms. This is another device to add to our toolkit which will enable us to efficiently build interesting levels. Additionally, the jump pad has been improved. The jump pad now shows a spring pushing Klepto into the air! The use of Klepto’s grapple arm has also been expanded to allow him to hit buttons from far away. This opens up more interesting platforming possibilities. For example, Klepto can leap from one platform, hit a button on a wall in mid-air and land on the platform that has been activated by this button. This also brought out an interesting aspect of gameplay which we had not considered before. This comes from the fact that Klepto’s abilities all come from his arm. Klepto can be gliding across a chasm but if he needs to use his arm to activate a button, he will fall. Of course, his arm cannot be a grapple and a propeller at this same time. This generates a layer of challenge and depth and will encourage players to think more about how they control Klepto. Klepto’s magnetic hand was further developed this week. A level was designed to make use of this magnetism mechanic and a rough build was created to get a feel for this mechanic. It’s getting closer to being useful and it is easy to see the platforming possibilities but currently, it needs more attention to become stable.
We also organized a playtest with students to get feedback for our movement mechanics. This goal was to get an idea of how much friction should be present on the platforms to prevent players from sliding off and feeling as if they are not in control. Last week, we had reduced the jump height of the player. This was because, in the vertical slice, Klepto was able to use his double jump to almost fly through the level. However, we soon realized this was getting in the way of fun. With some more testing of values, we found a happy medium; higher jumps with less air speed to prevent players from flying. Next week we will hold another playtest to assess what players think about this change. Finally, Klepto now has a circular shadow beneath him while he is in the air. This shows players what point on the ground they are directly above and makes platforming a little easier.
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September 2017
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