Weekly Update

This week, Tom and myself have been working on the game together as most of the tasks we have undertaken have been based on level design.

For my part of this project over the last week I have worked alongside Tom in creating the easy route for the first level of the game. The route has been designed after finishing off the layout of the base level.

One of the main parts of the week for me was applying the Navigation Mesh to the level after Tom had finished modeling it so that the enemy could navigate all of the obstacles. After completing this work for the base level, I found it quite straightforward to apply the same techniques to this level. It did, however, need some tweaking in order for the enemy to roll along the floor at the perfect height. This issue was quickly resolved though. I also found that special consideration had to be given to some of the corners as enough space had to be left for the enemy to comfortably navigate his way through.

The level itself went through some alterations with numerous playtests revealing a few errors. One of the big changes we made mid-way through creating the level was the start point for the main character. It was decided early on that it was important that the player could see the entire level upon starting the game so they had a rough idea of where they needed to travel. With the starting area positioned where it was, it made it difficult for the player to see the necessary objects they needed to collect. After some altering of the start base position, it was decided the start the player from a position where they could see all the collectable and the enemy.

The enemy starting position and speed was also changed. It was felt that the enemy was initially too fast and that it was difficult for the player, especially on an easy route. This was a change that I applied quickly and slowed the enemy down. The starting position for the enemy was altered too, with it being decided to start the enemy where the player could see him. We felt that having the enemy start moving towards the player straight away added a sense of urgency to the game making it more exciting. Because of this, we made the enemy start the opposite side of the level so the player could always watch the enemy moving towards him.

Next week, I plan on rectifying the issue of having the player unable to see the enemy when travelling towards the screen. I will try and implement a detector arrow, which will show the position of the enemy relative to the player.

Written by Phil