7th week of Big Game (Week 21)

GGC is getting close! After some more testing I felt I needed to do an overhaul of my map. I needed to point out paths more clearly and have landmarks so players know where to go. This has been the biggest problem for a long time and it's really hard to fix with the limited amount of time we have left. In hindsight I should have made the map a lot more flat so the skybox you be visible all the time, and have landmark objects that are very high. But it is as it is. So I am trying to do the best with the situation and remake my map a bit.

Firstly I have made all paths more clear, and the aliens have put up signs on the roads they traverse (a very nice coincident with players not finding the way). I did this by directing all paths forward, or at least not sideways or back. Before, some paths led to the extreme left or right. So players would get lost and start going towards the beginning of the map instead of the end. I use arrow signs a lot and large blocking objects to guide the player onwards.

Also I have added grass on my map! We got feedback that we didn't have much foreground detail so the grass helps with that alot. I also use the grass to creat paths, or rather, I don't use grass to create paths. (the paths have no grass, thats how you see they are paths)

I add paths that are harder to see, and you can still go pretty much wherever you want, but I'm trying to make the map so you actively have to schoose if you want to go off path, rathar than just being lost. Also reward players that go off path, so player might explore on their own.

Next week the map will probably be completely finished, lets hope people can find their way to the end on the beta!

6th Week of Big Game (Week 20)

This week I have been working on the map (surprise!). We have added physics on objects, so you can destroy/move/push objects by going through them. This works great because we can decorate maps a bit more, and have physics on objects. For example I have added physics on cave carts and some fences so you can rush through them. I will add them on all small objects that are decoration. So you keep the flow even if you run into some small objects lying around.

I also worked a bit on the GUI. Because some of us felt that it differed too much from our grahpical style. The old GUI felt like something from an iPhone or something similar. I did some tests with more hard edges and simpler shapes/colors. So it would fit the graphical style of the game. I'm not sure we have decided yet on how exactly the buttons should look, but I did some concepts.

The top one is the old button, the second one is more like our style, but too crowded for a button. They need to have a more clean background. The third button is the one closest to what we want. Something stylized and not so "manufactured".

I also worked on the score popup screen. I made the main graphic like rust from the characters texture. So it would fit the graphic style. But it felt a bit empty when it poped up, so I added some splattered circles behind for the extra effect. I chose circles because it would increase the contrast between the background and the main graphic. I chose dark colors because the text is white. In the beggining it was very few color variations and it was a bit dull. So I increased the strenght of colors and added some texture, to get more details in. I also changed the circle colors to complete black, so they wouldn't take too much attention away from the main graphic.

Soon GGC is here. Work Work! See you next time.

5th Week of Big Game (Week 19)

This week we had Alpha test, so I placed out boosts and sparks, so people could play the map and get score. I also kept working on the map. I changed the ramp in the cave, because the erlier version had many funky hit box issues. Also it didn't look good, people would crash into the ramp, so now I changed it to a quarter pipe along the wall.

I have also kept adding things on the map, I added a ramp and some pipes to fill out the area. Its the area between big pipes and caves, so I'll keep the area pretty simple to slow down the pace a bit before the big cave. It feels a bit empty right now so I'll try to think of more stuff to add to make it a bit more interesting. I'll try to make the area a bit more interesting graphical wise, so people who are playing have the low pace of gameplay combined with a bit more interesting graphics.

When we tested this map I notice that players don't ever go to the left in the beginning, so I need to make those paths a lot more clear, it is possible to go to the left. Perhaps I need to remove the larg hill to the left and add some others clearly visible paths.

Beta testing in two weeks! Work work work.