This is probably the last devlog that I post before the unit submits their games for the assignment. This is a relatively minor update, adding another level.

The new levels

I made two levels this week, one of them finished. For level 4, I wanted to change things up a bit. In previous levels, the road was only in the centre of the map, and stayed there the entire way. In my new level, the road goes left and right, and even splits in the centre, creating two mirrored paths.

The fifth, and probably last map, is currently incomplete, but the basic layout has been realised. The obstacles just need to be included, which brings me to:

A new obstacle

As you may have noticed in the image above, I was finally able to add a fence to the game. It was intended to serve the same role the pothole did in earlier builds, blocking the player's path. As such, most of its placement in the levels replace where potholes were in earlier builds.

The pothole now serves a new purpose, that the player is killed when they touch it. I hope this will add more variety to the level design, and add a bit of challenge. But don't worry now, because there is a new feature of the game: respawning. This was implemented with the help of Ian this Monday. He also helped me fix a major movement bug with the game, that the player would keep going in the direction that the enemy pushed them. I wasn't able to completely fix this bug (without severely decreasing the player's acceleration, anyway), but now it should be less noticeable.

The bug-testing session

Last Thursday, the unit held a tutorial-long session for students to test each others' games, and fill out their feedback forms. My own feedback form consisted of linear scale grids for the difficulty of my games, multiple choice questions for the quality of certain aspects of my game (graphics, controls, etc.), and checkboxes for what could be improved. 

As of this post, there are three responses. two found the first level average difficulty, while one found it too easy. Two found the second level a bit difficult, while one found it average. Only one managed to reach the third level; they found it easy enough. As for the graphics, two found them great, while one found them decent. All three found different thoughts about the movement: very good, decent, and bad. All three encountered bugs in the game. Two noticed the flickering of the screen when moving between different sides of the road, one also noticed the lines going down on the screen, and one had its velocity stuck when hitting the side of a pothole.

Two wanted the level design to be improved, and one wanted the graphics to be improved. Two also made their own suggestions, both regarding the camera; one specified that it should be zoomed out more. Concerning the graphics being improved, they said that a glitch (either the lines or the flickering) was the problem, and that they liked the graphics very much. Another wanted the amount of enemies to be decreased in level 2, and the third person wanted more variety in the enemies and obstacles in the game. Finally, as for what they wanted to be added to the game, sound effects and more obstacles were the most requested, at two votes each, with more enemies at one vote. Another, specific vote wanted more variation in general.

Concerning the lines, this was the best fix Ian came up with, and even he said that it won't fix it entirely. I don't think there is a way to fix it without revamping the tilemap, and I don't think I have time for that. I think the flickering can be fixed by bringing the camera boundaries a bit closer to the camera itself. As for the varieties in obstacles, I already mentioned the fence above, but I may not have time to implement another enemy in the game. I may add sound effects to the game, but I have no idea how to do that. It wasn't covered in the tutorials, so I may have to look it up.

Conclusion

Right now, I am finishing the final level of the game, and hopefully adding both a title and end screen to the game. I may also add sound effects, as since they were requested, they are somewhat high in my priority. I am also thinking about adding smoke particles to the bikes in the game, both the player and the enemies'.

But right now, this will probably be the last devlog I'll be making for my game. I have nothing else to say, except that I hope you'll enjoy Road Rat when it's finished.