Project Resurgence: Blog 4

Progress from 10/22-11/7

Since the last blog post, Daniel and I have been very busy at improving Level 2: The Cathedral of the Dark Arts. After the last playtest we were tasked with identifying five issues with our level again and fixing them. 

The five things that we chose to fix were:

• Better Implementation of Wall Jumps into the Level
• An attempt to try and further fix the collision issues
• We adjusted other routes to try and have a more drastic speed difference
• Adjusting lower paths to where the player has more to do if they fall
• Better usage of obstacles within the environment

We initially ran into the issues of players jumping over or going around wall jumps, so we decided to try and implement them in better ways within our level to be more of an aid to players rather than a nuisance. 

Here is an example of an area where we used wall jumps more to it's full potential:

We added wall jumps mostly to sections where the player needs to gain verticality. We also added them to sections where they incorporated into the mechanics better. 

Another issue that we attempted to fix was the colliders within the level. We did this by fixing the gaps within the invisible colliders but there wasn't much we could do to stop players from going through them. Inevitably if the player is going too fast they can go through most of the colliders within the game.

Although we were not able to really fix the issues of wall collision. We were able to fix some of the issues with the stairs by making their colliders overlap more. This fixed many of the issues with the player going through the stairs.

We also adjusted the alternate routes to have a more notable speed difference by taking out many platforming aspects within the higher routes. The alternate routes are almost entirely level mechanics now to really allow the player to get through the area more quickly. The lower pathways have more platforming now to slow the player down. 

Along with the changes that we made to the lower routes, we have also added more to do if the player falls so in many sections the player can now either get back up and right into the level mechanics again or they can stay on the lower path and do some slower and more basic platforming.

To fix the last issue we added more environmentally themed obstacles. We took out areas where platforming didn't fit as well to help the flow of the level feel better. We also added stairs to help with jagged jumping patterns and improve areas of platforming.

We have also made some more recent changes to the level. We replaced all of the placeholder objects with new models that we got.

First off we got in new models for floors and roofs in the cathedrals so we implemented those.

We also had to go through and redo the walls within the level because the new texture for our walls didn't tile as well as the old one did. So we talked to our lead and decided that it was best to scale the new wall up more so the seams weren't as noticeable within the level.

We also replaced the higher platforming sections with balconies now since the models are in.

We went ahead and made some changes to the overall design of the level. For some of the alternating paths, we were recommended to hide them with some of the stained glass windows. So we have level mechanics that send you into these secret faster paths now. 

Lastly, adjusted many of lower paths and higher paths to account for the scoring system within the game. So there are fewer higher scoring mechanics on the lower paths and more higher scoring mechanics on the higher paths. 

Daniel and I spent a good amount of time replacing all of our placeholder assets within the scene as well as making overall level tweaks and changes over the past couple weeks. 

I've completed all the tasks that our lead has assigned me so far. Next, we will be working on fixing some of the issues that we saw in the playtest today but the overall level is pretty much set in stone now. Our lead told us that from now on it's going to be a lot of polishing and tweaking what we currently have. 

We will also have to start running through our levels to find out what times fit the six different rankings for our levels. As well as adjusting the different paths for the scoring system that is now within the game. 

We are in the home stretch of completing our level and I'm looking forward to how it turns out.