DAY 41
So today I continued work on the third part of the second level. This time it's all vertical, baby! Check this out, guys:
This iteration came right off the cuff and just went with the flow. I like it when this happens, it's like a stroke of inspiration that was beamed down on me from somewhere out in the ether.
And here's a clip of the section's gameplay:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dYVFVUMmcLw4e-duD-dcPrBoWADjr_Ed/view?usp=shari...
Now, do not be fooled by how fast the gameplay appears in the clip, it is slightly misleading. The way this section feels is less tense but way more dynamic. No, wait, let me search my feelings....
OK, done
Right, so the previous section had high peaks of tense gameplay with a lot of space in between the peaks. This section feels more like a flattened curve. It starts out relatively intense and keeps it's momentum (as far as I've played it, because I knew where the grappling attachments were) right until the end. And even if you pause for a moment on the rocks, the feeling of sustained tension doesn't really go away because you have to calculate your next moves. I know the last bit sounded like "this has to be a pixel-perfect platforming run in order to succeed" kind of statement, but it isn't. It allows some wiggle room at times and is letting you do your own thing at your own pace at times as well.
Now, of course there's something I don't like about it, because of course it does, it wouldn't be me otherwise.
While I did feel that kinda sorta potentially maybe some more mechanics/hazards were needed in the section I showed yesterday, this section definitely needs some of those mechanics/hazards. What exactly I don't know. Right off the top of my head, something that could throw you off balance. But I need to playtest this to death to see what exactly it needs
I do have at least two problems that I need to sort out.
There is at least one collapsing platform here. The problem is that if you fall from higher than the collapsing platform was, it would be highly likely to fall on a rock below; and if you want to get back up, you can't because the platform that was there isn't there anymore. There are 2 solutions to this: a) remove all collapsing platforms altogether from this particular section; b) place them and the attachments strategically so that if you drop and fall on the long rock platforms, you can get back up and then progress as intended.
The other problem is accidental wall running. I need to tweak the values regarding angle detection and make the character wall run only on walls that are exactly 90 degrees angle.
So, that's all I've got for today, guys. See ya in the next post, bye.