Sunday, September 16, 2012

Progress

I think everybody in the group agreed that the parallel universe idea was interesting, but didn't really fit with the overall feel we were going for. I'd love to go back and revisit this concept sometime - I think it has possibilities, just not in this context.
I've started integrating the code between myself and Christian/Ramnage (the other programmer). I liked the feel of the jump he built - it basically makes the player jump upward at a fixed speed, then gravity abruptly kicks back in at the peak. There was another concept for a more jetpack-like jump, but I think his first concept felt better. He's working on the grappling hook system now - I can't wait to see what he comes up with there!
I got level loading from XML tossed together. It works reasonably well, and would enable us to build out a level editor without TOO much effort. I need to look into how we might consolidate the sprite and physics logic in these - right now, each block of the level redefines the graphic to display, the physics model (in its entirety) and everything else. It would be much more convenient to build and edit levels if template blocks could be defined, then referenced repeatedly. This complicates saving/loading but improves flexibility. I can also see that we'll need to be able to rotate blocks at some point. This might be able to wait until after our prototype.
Still having a bit of trouble trying to find puzzle scenarios that require either the old or young robot specifically. Maybe the old robot has the grappling hook and can swing from it, but when detaching he doesn't get an extra boost - his momentum is just conserved. Then again, maybe it would be cool if we did a portal-style trial mode where the player has to complete each level using ONLY the old or young version? Would be REALLY cool if we could implement achievements...

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