Totally forgot I signed up for this :)

I'm using https://github.com/arcadia-unity/Arcadia which is the integration of CLR clojure with the Unity game engine.

I just finished a rewrite of a tween library https://github.com/selfsame/tween and have been itching to take it for a spin.

As for the game, It will be a simple shooter where you fly on the surface of arbitrary meshes (think mario galaxy with old school scrolling shooter gameplay)

I might stream some dev on twitch - will post an update if so :)

go streaming set up in arch linux (super easy with castawesome) so feel free to tune in at https://www.twitch.tv/jplur_

will try to do 2 hours at 8:00 EST tonight (the 3rd), thursday, and friday

Here's a gist of code and a gif from the first evening:

https://gist.github.com/selfsame/0b21d455c812376a7ac363dc5ec3af0d

Had a lot of fun trying to figure out the vector math with folks in twitch chat. Will have to figure out some issues with the ship getting gimbol locked and apply some sort of smoothing when the terrain angle changes. The planetoid shapes I have in mind are a lot smoother than the suzanne model so it shouldn't be quite as extreme though.

Some good progress today, heres a gist of current code and some gifs.

(this gif was too big for github)

I'm lerping the constraint of objects to planetoid, but there's still some issues where fast moving objects will lose their connection (especially on concave curvature)

I might design the planetoids to avoid this, or try to figure out an actual fix in the math.

going to stream this afternoon at https://www.twitch.tv/jplur_, stop by and say hi!

current code

twitter gif

Implemented a lot of the not-so-exciting game stuff like collisions, death, and a health HUD. For the collisions, I'm using a predicate dispatch library which will come in handy if I end up using a lot of varied entities.

Not exactly sure how enemies & obstacles should be spawned. Hand placing spawn points on the planetoids is a very slow process, so either I make some sort of random spawn point finder by shooting random rays from random points until they hit the surface, or write a script that will add a spawn point from a mouse click ray.

Getting there

Feeling pretty confident I'll have this ready for the deadline. The initial idea was a geometry wars type shooter with novel terrain, however as I get a feel for the gameplay shooting things doesn't seem so important.

My goal is to flesh out 2-3 planetoids with portals between them - possibly with maguffins scattered on each planet that unlock the gates - and a timer on screen that ends when every one is found for speedrun replay-ability.

A happy accident

Left a duplicate constraint update script on the player object, turned out it prevents terrain clipping at higher speeds. Fixing that had been on my todo list. It's still possible to clip into the interior or escape orbit - not going to sweat it for the jam .

planet metaball

Blender's metaballs were perfect for making a fun surface. Especially handy for creating donut topology - normal sculpting tools have trouble with that. The arches in the terrain really show off the mechanics - thinking another level could be a inverted normal cave system with severe lighting changes.

It's really coming together now. It's looking great! Can't wait to give it a play.