Posted April 19, 2021 by J. Douglas Patterson
Version 0.2 includes several modifications and what I hope are improvements to the first iteration of this project. Here are the highlights:
Improving the lighting
Several of the exterior objects, including the moving platforms, were incorrectly tagged as "Interior" which prevented them from being lit by the main exterior light source. This left the platforms extremely dark and difficult to see. Visibility was also improved in the elevator shafts by adding two torches on either side thus allowing the player to see that there's a ceiling rapidly approaching them. The last bit of visibility improvement was to dial back the amount of bloom applied in post-processing. While a bit of bloom is good, and makes the repulsors under the moving platforms really look right, too much can be distracting.
Phun with Physics
There were a couple of logic errors in how the player's status of being attached or detached from various platforms was being handled. In some instances, the player was not released correctly upon returning to the main menu while riding a platform. This caused the player's movement to still be modified by the platform upon re-entering the game. The biggest problem was that the player was not moving correctly while on the rotating platform in the final sector. The solution used for the moving, but not rotating, platforms from the previous sections was inadequate since the rotating platform's position never changes, only its orientation. A pen, some paper, and some liberal application of math and physics later, I was able to write a new script that keeps the player on the platform, even when they're near the edge.