SSS Weekly Log (Week 3)

By on November 12, 2012 9:53 am

After alpha testing, we’re planning on making some changes to our game, specifically in mechanics. We slowed down the swirling and jumping to allow players to have more control, but this detracted from the quick, twitchy feel we wanted to achieve. Also, we are changing the climbing mechanic so that the character is running by default, then swirling as a “dash” move on command. This way, we don’t have to worry about the character being oriented correctly to jump and thus incorporating a latency, interrupting the flow of the movement. If the default action is straight-up running, the character will be able to consciously choose to use the swirl mechanic or jump at any time. This will speed up the game and improve the feel, as well as the player’s sense of control.

Also, we are considering incorporating an item collecting feature, since we probably won’t be able to implement the second stage of the game under time constraints. The character could collect the bombs that have scattered up and down the trees instead of collecting them all at once at the tops of the trees (the end of the game level). This will also give players the incentive to jump between trees and use swirl dashing to collect the items. A reward system adds some positive incentives to our game, which was designed to be defensive and driven by negative reinforcement.

In addition, the game controls will be changed to better convey the game’s feel and replicate the controls of a mobile touch-screen phone.

John will be reworking the mechanics to implement running, then jumping and swirling as secondary actions. All character actions will be sped up and made more twitchy. He will also be changing the input controls to better match our new mechanics.

Miles will be working more on building the game level and developing the collision/obstacle system. These will then be combined with the mechanics and art assets.

Amy will be creating the sprites for the character’s animations: running, jumping, swirling, and dying/colliding with obstacles.

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