In this dev video we'll talk about what we've been doing since the last update and what will happen. Such as the new controller and the new tutorial level. New updates soon to follow, and as always, tell us what you think and if you have any suggestions.
Mr Utility dev video 2/05/2013
In this dev video we'll talk about what we've been doing since the last update and what will happen. Such as the new controller and the new tutorial level.
Posted by team_utility on
I'm glad you changed the camera :D Though if the camera had some sort of movement, for example: falling makes the camera shake a bit, that would be sweet!
I'm quite liking the design of the terrain as well! And the signs are a good idea.
Overall, keep up the good work :) And please turn down the game music and/or turn up the talking, I found it a bit hard to hear you at times...
We will definitely look into the sound problem. All the camera effects and alike will be added in a later phase. I do agree with you that the new design is looking good. The sign idea was implemented so that if the player does not want to listen to the tutorial, they do not have to.
Thanks for the feedback.
A camera stuck to the player's back is absolutely viable, but if you can manage it, a camera AI would be much preferred (getting it right could be difficult, I guess - generations of 3D platformers were needed before the industry arrived at a standard).
Soyro 1 and 2 are examples of early implementations of such a camera:
The camera swerves, always aiming to end up behind the player, but slowly. This gives the player a better overview of the situation in most cases (especially in such cases as your cliff-jumping section of the tutorial level, where you wouldn't have to turn your character slowly around to see where to jump to next). It also has downsides; For example, in some instances the player wouldn't be able to see where the next platform is, and to get the camera in the right position he'd have to wait - which at times proved very frustrating and tedious.
Then came a new feature (as seen in Spyro 3, although it certainly wasn't the first): The snap-to-center camera control button. It allowed the player to center the view behind the character (in the way you have it locked now) with the push of a dedicated key, removing altogether the pointless waiting that plagued the previous camera generation.
Your current camera scheme is useful if your focus is on combat, rather than platforming, and especially if it involves aiming projectiles, but if you plan on adding special jump-moves and have platforming a core component of the game (in more of a Super Mario 64 kind of way), I recommend you try and redo the camera once more.
Sorry for the lengthy post; I just think this game shows good potential and I'd like for it to play as good as I hope.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the detailed comment, we appreciate this type of feedback a lot. We do already have this exact function that you are describing. It's turned off at the moment because we found it easier to navigate the platforms using this controller. It is possible that we will add the option for the players to choose for themselves what type of controller that they want to use in the options menu. This will be done throughout the testing phase and we will decide in the end what is the best approach.
Sounds nice :)
Getting the turning speed, wait-time before auto-adjustment, and the pitch of the camera right can be daunting; Even small increments can make a huge difference gameplay-wise.
Looking forward to see what you come up with.