Here's update #3 - implemented my first blender model - a ray gun. Spent way too much time figuring out how to make the charge-up animation work and the cooldown serves as a balancing against constant zooming/tractor beam abuse. Also showing off the object pickup system and zooming out into third person view.
The physics is still a little kooky but its a lot of fun figuring out how things interact for the puzzles (and what breaks the game).
So much to do, so little time!