Summary:
In which a logo is revealed; certain collisions are less "physical"; an NPC is worked on; a viewing-angle is changed; a level gains a minor change; and a company is registered.
Greetings and salutations!
This week's screenshot is prompted by advice given to me in the week just past, advice that it might actually be better to have my logo out sooner rather than later.
So then, let me at last present the game's main menu in full--the title-logo at last unredacted!
The week just past was somewhat of a miscellany-week: a week of technical tweaking, of gameplay work, of level-editing, and more:
On the gameplay side, I made a change to the manner in which collisions between the player and NPCs are handled:
Previously, the game-engine was instructed to treat such collisions as between solid objects--in short, to prevent their intersection, pushing the player "out of" the NPC.
However, while effective, this incurred some problems: For one, a mob of enemies surrounding the player could produce juddering--presumably as the collision system shunted the player rapidly back and forth. And for another--and more worrisome--enemies could potentially push the player up against a wall--and cause them to "pop out" to the other side of said wall!
So, I reworked things a little: now the only effect of a collision between the player and an NPC is to arrest the player's velocity in the direction of said NPC.
The result is that NPCs can still present "physical" obstacles to the player, and a mob surrounding the player is still quite a hazard--but NPCs can no longer "push" the player, thus removing both the juddering and the wall-popping. Further, the player can, it seems, now force their way through such mobs--which actually feels pretty appropriate.
In short, the player's collisions with NPCs now both feel better and are more stable!
On the level-building side, in the week just past I set about to work in earnest on the NPC who is encountered in the tutorial level. Indeed, I've now finished (I think) their modelling and texturing; the animation of said model; and the scripting of their in-game logic. Further, work has been done on the portrait for their encounter--although that last is not yet done.
You may notice in the gif above that the character is presented at a higher angle than other humaniform NPCs have previously been presented at. This is because in the week just past I decided to change that angle: where previously NPCs were by default shown at an angle of sixty-five degrees, now they're by default shown at an angle of forty-five degrees.
While this does obscure their features more than was previously the case, I nevertheless think that it works better overall.
As the the tutorial level itself, it saw only minor changes in the week just past--perhaps most notably, a small extension to one particular--and out-of-the-way--section.
On the "business" side of things, in the week just past I sought out some advice--the same advice that led to the revelation of the game's logo, above. And, on that advice, I have now, officially, started a company for my works! Things are still somewhat nascent in this matter--but I hope to soon announce it properly! ^_^
And as per usual, there were tweaks, changes, and fixes enacted in the week just past that don't seem worth detailing here!
That, then, is all for this week--stay well, and thank you for reading! ^_^
