Suzy Cube Update: May 6, 2016 What's up Suzy fans!.. Can I call you that? I feel like I can call you that now... Anywho, f*ck it, have a bunch of GIFs! Cool! So what's this all about? I'm continuing work on Level 5-B, the final boss level, that's what! I'm making a longer level than usual here given that it is the final one. So far, I've got the lead up to the boss tower done. As I've previously mentioned, I'm hitting this one early enough to give me plenty of time to iterate before release. If the game's final level is no good, it leaves a bad taste in the player's mouth, so make sure your game ends on a high note! Hopefully mine will! After Suzy gets through this part, she'll then have to climb up a treacherous tower to finally face off with the boss at the top. Should be exciting! We've got some seesaw platforms over rising and falling lava, dangerous lava spouts, foreshadowing some of what Suzy will have to contend with during the boss fight, and the new Flying Skull enemies all hooked up and working, spitting their hot hot death at our intrepid heroine! This level's a big one with lots of little interactive touches and stuff, so I figure I'll be on it well into next week. I look forward to showing off the finished draft next Friday. See you then!
Suzy Cube Update: May 13, 2016 INTERNET IS BACK!!! Sorry for the late update, folks, but my connection's been out all day! The joys of living where I do! Ok, so... not much to report as I'm STILL working on Level 5-B. It's a doozy, folks! It has so many sections, and they all require the lava to behave a little differently, and there are other tricky things to set up and have work properly. Yup, a big job. The good new is, the level is now playable from start to finish, though a few sections definitely need a rework. Look at this beast! You see that large vertical structure? That's for climbing, of course. And what climbing section would be complete without the threat of rising lava!? Thing is that's been a bigger pain in the ass to get working right than I initially though. Basically it comes down to two issues, checkpoints and balance. The issue with checkpoints is simple: If Suzy has to be spawned halfway up the tower, then the laval can't restart its journey from the bottom of the level or there'd be no challenge. The issue of balancing is similar. If the lava moves too fast, then it can be too stressful or feel cheap if you die without even seeing it creep up on you. On the other hand, if the lava is too slow, then it's too easy to get so far up ahead of it that it poses no real threat and all sense of urgency is lost. I tried solving both these issues using existing scripts and trigger volumes but it just turned into an unreliable spaghetti mess that was impossible to maintain. So, I decided to scrap all that complexity and just write a simple custom script to handle the rising lava. The way it works is simple, the script simply causes the lava to rise at an adjustable rate while always keeping it within a certain distance of the player. That way the player can't get too far up without the laval plane simply following along. This allows me to fine tune both the speed at which the lava rises and it's maximum distance away from the player so it's always close enough to be scary without ever rising so fast as to kill you out of the blue. As a nice bonus, this also, naturally, takes care of the issue with checkpoints since, as soon as Suzy spawns, the lava just pops up to within the max allowed distance! Speaking of lava, I've been toying with a shader in ShaderForge. I put it on a glow plane above the lava and it fades out based on the distance to underlying geometry. The effect is cool, but it really doesn't play nice with transparent objects like particles. I'm going to keep experimenting with it, though, as it looks really cool in motion. Whoops.. I think I made it rise a little too high , there! I don't even know if I can afford the rendering cost of this shader on my target hardware, though (iPod5). I still haven't upgraded my Mac OS to be able to build to it again and Unity Cloud Build has been failing to check out my SVN repository all week, so no remote builds either! Not good! Well, no promises I'll be done with the level next week, but either way, I'll see you all here!
Suzy Cube Update: May 20, 2016 It's a trim and slim update this week. Most of my week was spent on updating my Mac OS (did I mention sub Mb internet?), updating XCode and getting builds to my iPod working again. Good news, they do! Better news, the boss level runs well! I also spent some time, with the help of my friend Phil, getting a build up on TestFlight for the first time. It worked between us (internal) and it seems the build for external testers was approved but I haven't heard back from any of them yet (just a couple friends of mine for now). If all goes well, I should be able to recruit a first crop of truly external testers next week. (I'm not taking names yet, please don't message me about it until then!) Oh, and after all that boring stuff, I decided to relax and model a pile of coins. It waits or Suzy at the end of the final boss level. Oh, and it twinkles! And, yes, that DOES mean that Level 5-B is now good and done (the design part anyway). Like all levels, it will sit in its non-decorated state until it's been run through enough testing for me to feel confident in the layout and all that. But, for now, I can add it to the testing rotation and move on to the next level in my list! I look forward to telling you all about that next week. See you then!
Feel like I'm late jumping on the Suzy Cube train. This is incredible! Such a beautiful game. Great work.
Suzy Cube Update: May 27, 2016 It's another short update this week as I was away last weekend and part of the week. (Link below for more info on that) As you can see above, I've made a lava themed background that's perfect for the final boss level and gives the impression of being in a vast cave. Things are also looking good for TestFlight. I'm not quite ready to start taking names yet, but soon, I promise! So, why the short week? You can read a bit more about it in this week's update on my blog: http://louardongames.blogspot.com/2016/05/suzy-cube-update-friday-may-27-2016.html#more But here's a hint... Next week, I will, hopefully, have everything in place to start wider scale testing and will be starting work on a new snow themed boss level. Until then!
Suzy Cube Update: June 3, 2016 I am now accepting tester requests! Send me a private message with the subject "Suzy Cube Testing Request" to get added to the list. A couple things to note before doing this: I am, currently, only accepting requests from folks with iOS devices AND Only serious requests, please. If all you want is to play the game, I would rather you wait for the released version and have a much better experience. If, however, you want to help make Suzy awesome, then please send me a PM and I'll add you to the list. Ok, with that out of the way... Check it! I'm finally working on Level 3-B and it's coming along nicely! It's an ice themed boss level involving slides, falling stalactites and crumbling platforms. Suzy's gonna have to watch her step on this one! Particularly harrowing is the fact that the slides force you downwards while icy water relentlessly creeps ever higher! And who's waiting at the top? Why, it's the wintery coloured version of our old friend the boss/dragon/sea monster thing, of course! So.. I should probably get back to it! Happy weekend everybody!
Suzy Cube Update: June 10, 2016 Level 3-B is in the can (design-wise, anyway) and has been added to the test queue for the next build. Next up will be the World 2 boss fight set in the desert! Speaking of testing, I'm still looking for volunteers, so PM me if you're interested! Thanks to all of you who've already signed up! I've been getting and incorporating feedback from this first round of outside testing and have gathered a few dozen game clips as well. The shitty thing is that a combination of my shity internet connection and the fact Everyplay refuses to reduce video quality to a suitably crappy level has conspired against me actually being able to view these clips from home! I'm planning on popping into the Embassy with a note pad this afternoon to review the clips and take notes. This might become a weekly thing as those gameplay clips and like level designer gold! I've also been messing around with a plug-in I got from the Unity Asset Store called PA Particle Fields from Popup Asylum (https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/33271). This asset simply allows for the easy creation of particle fields based on volumes. These volumes can then be parented to objects like, say, the camera to give the impression of level wide atmospheric effects like... Sun beams through trees... A gentle snowfall... Burning embers... Or blustering sand drifts! Though these particle fields are fundamentally much more limited than Unity's own particle systems, they are perfectly suited to the task and perform very well! Finally, I just want to let you all know that I'm going to be pulled away on some Embassy related duties for the next few weeks. It's nothing full time, but it will cut into Suzy's development. I'll do what I can to keep the updates coming but I really don't know the impact this extra work will have on my schedule and stuff so thanks for your patience and I'll keep you all in the loop. See you next week.
I'm really enjoying beta testing. Some times it's hard to see the edges of the current level, the perspective... What's a pit you can jump down into, or will you fall off the edge and die.
And thank you for testing! Ya, I spent a couple hours this afternoon watching replays from you and the other testers. Watching someone else play, I am getting a better sense of those issues. Keep the testing going, it's going to help me tremendously.
Suzy Cube Update: June 17, 2016 Who wants a World 2 boss level!!? Yep, Level 2-B is in the bag (ready for testing anyway). It's a desert themed one with a bit of a twist on the boss fight. In most of the other fights, you need to wait for the boss to attempt a close range attack in order to create an opening for jumping on its head. As you can see in the gif, though, this fight has you using the double jump hat to plant those bops right at the boss' head height! It makes the fight feel refreshingly proactive! The level has Suzy climbing up a face of the tower by negotiating the timing of the dark platforms which move in and out of the rear wall. All while the tower is being swallowed by rising sand, of course! While playing with the colour scheme for the World 2 boss, I ended up deciding to change up the colours for the final boss as well in order to better distinguish them. I think the deeper reds and blacks give the final boss a more sinister appearance. I hope to go back to the Embassy internet connection this afternoon to review the latest crop of videos from my testers. I did that last week, and man am I glad I took the time to implement video recording! I spent all of Monday implementing changes and fixes off my list of notes from last Friday's tester video binge watching session. Ok, Gotta get ready to leave to go check out them videos. Check back next week when I'll have more tweaks from the testers and, hopefully, some healthy progress on the last boss level, Level 4-B.
Suzy Cube Update: June 24, 2016 What's up folks! I've been busy with other stuff so it's a slim update this week. I did get to spend a little time looking into implementing changes based on last Friday's crop of tester videos and feedback. You truly are designing blindly until you watch others play your game! Not much time spent on Level 4-B except for a bit of progress on the paper design of the level and the implementation of this bangin' little number... The low framerate of the gif messed with the flashing of the bomb, but I'm sure you get the idea.. beep beep beep... BOOM! Ok, another hour or so of looking into a couple of crash bugs then back to non-Suzy duties. See you next week!
Suzy Cube Update: July 15, 2016 Well, I've been sick this week! Yep, when I finally thought I might have a meatier update for you... Nope! Spent most of the week in bed, some of it working on aforementioned Embassy duties and a little tiny bit on Suzy. We were on vacation last week, kind of a goodbye thing with a friend who's posting is ending and who's heading back to Canada, so, obviously, no update then. BTW the Andes are amazing and paragliding is not for us folks who get motion sick! I wonder how I would do being the one steering, though? You now, how you never get motion sick when you're the one driving... Anywho! What I was able to do this week was to implement more changes based on the gameplay videos I've been receiving from testers. Probably the smallest yet most considerable change I've made, which will appear in the next test build, is a global and significant reduction to Suzy's knockback when getting hit. It was brought up by a friend of mine and evident in a number of videos that the knockback effect when Suzy gets hit was leading to subsequent, unavoidable deaths from things like being knocked off platforms, etc. What's the point of having a powerup which lets Suzy take an extra hit, if that hit will just knock her into an insta-kill pit? Right!? I look forward to seeing how this change turns out in practice. And, speaking of tester videos, out here in the real world, we hired a technician to come by and inspect the phone wires and, lo and behold, the horrible interference we could hear on the phone line was caused by a mess of uncapped wise connections at the apartment's entry point. After a bit of stripping, clipping, reconnecting and plenty of electrical tape, the horrible hum is gone and, what do you know, our internet download speeds have nearly quadrupled! Mind you we used to get sub-megabits per second speeds so we still aren't up to Roger's bargain plan speeds or anything but it's a HUGE improvement which now allows me to watch my tester replays on the Everyplay website from the comfort of my own office chair! Hurray! I've got to end this one on more bad news, unfortunately. I'm very likely to be working for the Embassy all of next week. The odds are very slim that I'll have any time at all to work on Suzy. I'll see what I can squeeze in, but expect another slim update next week.
Suzy Cube Update: July 22, 2016 I wasn't expecting to have an update for all of you this week but other work has been pushed back, so here we are! I worked on the Ground Pound power-up this week! Those of you who've been following the development of Suzy Cube for a while might be thinking, "But, Louard, the Ground Pound's been working since forever!" This is true, but it needed work. Actually, it still needs work.. man I hate bugs that happen all the time except when trying to debug them!!!! Anywho, why did I feel the need to mess with the ground pound? Because it wasn't very good. Take, as a counter example, the Double Jump, the game's other power-up. What makes the Double Jump so great? The fact that its use doesn't need to be designed into a level. Sure, I can hide things out of reach and create shortcuts which can only be accessed using the Double Jump, but, fundamentally, in a game that's all about jumping, enhancing that most basic of abilities will always be a net win for the player. In short, the Double Jump is awesome because it's always useful. The Ground Pound, on the other hand was not... It was only good for three things: -Breaking rock blocks. -Killing rock enemies. -Activating Ground Pound only switches. You'll notice that the power-up would be useless in a level not containing any of these elements. This made the Ground Pound feel less like a power-up and more like a gimmick. My first idea was to add an area of effect knockback to the landing. So I did that! This was a great start, but while working on it, I found myself looking at other hazards and wondering... Pushing bombs away seems like it should open up some interesting possibilities. And as well should... DEFLECTING FRIGGIN' PROJECTILES!!! I even added a little extra logic to the projectile deflection to, shall we say, encourage awesome situations? You see, a projectile hit by the shockwave will be deflected away from Suzy's centre, this looks about right and gets Suzy out of harm's way. The little bit of logic I added, though, checks the result of the deflection, and if it's going to , more or less, send the projectile back in the direction from which it came, simply artificially turns the projectile 180 degrees so it goes back EXACTLY the way it came.. probably leading to this: This means that, more often than would normally occur, the projectile will get reflected back at the shooter but if the shockwave hits off to the side or something, the projectile is simply deflected away. This new functionality of the Ground Pound... -Enemy knockback. -Bomb pushback. -Projectile deflection. ...is different in that it applies to many more situations found in the game and doesn't need to be specifically designed for. The Ground Pound suddenly becomes useful in any situation involving enemies or projectiles, for example. This makes the power-up feel less like a gimmick and more like a tool. Is it as awesome as the Double Jump? No, probably not, but it now holds its own as a fun and surprising addition to Suzy's arsenal as opposed to a fancy animated key to a handful of decorated locks. I've got a few more things to work on to complete work on these additions as well as finishing up the paper design for the World 4 boss level. I hope to start building the level soon. As you might have guessed, it's going to make heavy use of the Ground Pound. I don't know what timelines are going to look like for a while since much will depend on these Embassy contract dates getting pushed around. Whatever happens I'll keep you all in the loop. See you next week!
