Week 3 Progress Update

Week 3 was quite fun and fruitful, as some key mechanics have been implemented and annoying issues solved. Here's the recap:

Our team had tested Plastic SCM some more, and now understand how to use it more effectively, which meant that we could work through our sections and pass updates to each other more quickly.

On the coded side of things, some small features have been introduced. Firstly, the player can now press the spacebar to pull the platform downward, which when released, will spring back into place and launch the ball (and eventually other objects) upward as if it was thrown. Secondly, the framework for translating the camera has been started, so the current build allows the player to use left click to focus on the ball instead of the platform. Finally, the in-game UI has been implemented, and the first pieces of functionality are present, such as the ability to increase score by collecting coins.

A few major bugs and unintended mechanics of various natures were resolved this week. Two simple changes included the creation of a velocity capping function, to prevent the ball from going too fast, and a resolution to the platform/ball phasing issue, which was due to an incorrect collision detection option in a Rigidbody dropdown (whoops!). The third solved problem was an odd bug that arose on certain scaled child objects, which became skewed/sheared upon being rotated. This was circumvented through using empty child objects which teleport the desired object into position, preserving it's assigned scale (though the root problem arising from a bad imported model scale is yet to be fixed). Below is an example of the goal plate skewed from the described issue, which while humorous, will likely be absent from Twist & Turn in the future.

Outside of the programming, certain custom 2D graphics have been made in preparation for use in UI, and the existing level outlines have been modelled in Blender, which both are planned to be imported and adjusted in Unity early next week.

To close this week's devlog, here is a short GIF which showcases the implemented features (a yellow circle next the cursor shows when the screen is clicked). The demonstrated build has also been uploaded to the main game page.

Looking forward to Week 4, the next items of focus include the following: respawning the ball back at level start, multiple level scenes, the finish screen, and the pause screen. (All goals sweeped! Read the full Week 4 devlog here)