Posted May 19, 2024 by Codemyster
Week 3 - Local Multiplayer and Controller Support
This week I began implementing managed local multiplayer using Unity's input system package. I had previously used the input system in my KIT109 games project, so after a quick refresher on the docs I was able to configure the control schemes for both keyboard and controller, and had simple drop in multiplayer working. I initially had the controller use the analog sticks for movement, but ended up changing to DPAD controls to maintain continuity between both input methods. The default behaviour of the player input manager is to assign each player to a single device, but I will likely change that before testing so those without a controller can play 2 player on just their keyboard - as requiring a controller made it hard to get feedback on my last project.
Getting all this to work required a complete re-write of the player movement behaviour, so while I was at it I took the time to work through all the existing scripts, consolidating related classes together (one script per game object is the way), and making general optimisations and improvements where I could. Once that was done, I started writing a simple game manager to handle the core game play loop; like spawning in players (currently up to 4), keeping track of lives, and triggering a win condition - although it's just console outputs right now, as the UI for the start/end game menu's isn't completed yet.
A bit of a short (and late...) devlog this week. Most of the improvements were under-the-hood so there is not much to share unfortunately. After polishing the basic gameplay, I spent the second half of the week researching how best to implement platform deterioration, which was my goal for next week.
- Cody.