Maybe the animal could even glow for a quick second just to let you know you got it. Followed by a sound effect, maybe soothing to keep the game chill. The confetti idea sounds great too, specially as you guys said "kid friendly" , it could even be different color confetti depending on the biome you're in. I don't see the need for blood anyway, this is more of a chill/adventure game. Also some animals are super huge, like the elephant or giraffe. Some might not seem realistic to catch in the first place, maybe it could just be a specific kind of animal like fish or big enough butterflies like the Monarchs! Maybe even both. Maybe the swarm mechanic from Melodive could even be used for the big monarchs, might be worth a while to fit it in Fugl. This way we wouldn't have to risk dying flying so close to ground every time we need energy, instead the flying swarms would be going through crevices making hunting more dynamic! ;D Eventually the swarm mechanic could be easier to work with once the wind system's all set up...
An earthquake every now and again would also be fun to avoid. One big rock and your bird is good for cooking. Some athmospheric effects (fires started by lightnings for example) could make for a strikingly live experience too. Or imagine an eclipse, quite challenging to see ahead and makes for a quick fly to high altitudes to make sure you are safe. Some sensitivity slider to accomodate those who want less sensible controls when moving left/right for example would also be welcome. Inverted controls has also been a sensible topic on Radiation Island, not sure how it would integrate, but it's good to have an eye on it too. For me, after some getting used to, the controls have become very natural - I'm like a bird! Looking forward to continuing the experience!
Mountains! Reworked the mountains giving them more personality and spice Snow on top could still be an option, when i tried it, it didn't look very appealing hehe.
Just read the entire thread from start to end. Want to play it now ^^. Going to be very exciting to see the progress.
Yeah I just assumed catching animals would result in them disappearing in a puff of smoke (or confetti, if that's what you had in mind). However, the idea of them exploding into a mass of blood and gore sounds kind of hilarious to me I still have some gripes with the flying system - mainly with gliding. To me gliding still seems pointless in its current form. Some examples: >> Right when you spawn and use one finger to aim yourself facing the ground, you should speed very quickly toward the ground due to gravity and your bird being aerodynamic. Currently, regardless of what direction you face the bird just slowly floats toward the ground. >> Once you are speeding towards the ground, you should be able to swing your bird's aim up parallel to the ground, causing the bird to angle up its velocity and glide along the surface. Again, right now regardless of which direction the bird faces or turns, it doesn't change the direction of its velocity and it eventually floats to the ground. >> The same goes for turning - when the bird is flapping forward and comes to a bend, turning the bird while gliding should allow it to glide through the turn. Currently the bird will just rotate in place, continuing on the forward trajectory that it already had and crash into the wall or again float to the ground. Overall I wish: 1. Gliding was more realistic with respect to gravity (I.e. aiming perpendicular to the ground should make the bird fall faster than if it is aiming parallel to the ground 2. Gliding was more realistic with respect to velocity / trajectories (I.e. turning / pitching while gliding should actually make the bird change the direction of its velocity instead of just changing the direction it faces 3. The bird went a bit faster while flapping to give more purpose to the gliding feature / more situations to use it 4. Lastly to expand the usefulness of gliding I think that the two things you should have control of should be pitch and roll rather than pitch and yaw, because pitch and yaw alone are very limited and independent control methods. Pitch and roll can be used together for a wider range of useful maneuvers, ultimately allowing the player to accomplish the same turns that yaw would let them make plus more. EDIT: As I go back to the build, I notice that some of the things I mentioned as things I want to see are present in the game, but it's so subtle that I barely noticed it (ex. the bird does change the direction of its velocity a tad bit when glide-turning, but it's not nearly as noticeable as it should be.)
Yes, I was thinking flying volcanic rocks from eruptions, but falling rocks are also cool. The only problem is that you got to see them fall, because or else you risk getting hit by a stone that you never had a chance to dodge, but this could be solved. I think it's a good idea! Yes, atmospheric effects are cool. I've got a lot of particles to spend, so I will surely make something there. I also want to implement volumetric fog, it's pretty easy to do, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Both these things are coming... Also different control options for sure... That's great news!
Maybe an option? It's just colors anyhow... I agree with everything you're saying, but aerodynamics are very hard! It's a finely balanced system, so you can't just increase some value without affecting others. I'm working on maintaining forward momentum when turning, have gotten some progress. The floatiness is also something that I'm working on. I'm also reading a lot of papers on bird aerodynamics, but they don't tell me much. I don't want to hack the system too much either so I'm trying to find real solutions. I just wanted to say that I have all these things in mind, and I'm continously trying to improve them without making the flying too hard, becasue that is often the end-product of making things more realistic! BTW: Thanks for the "Now playing: Fugl"-signature, I really appreaciate it!
Just send me an email at [email protected] with your device type and udid and I'll send you a link to the latest build!
Hello all testers, I've postet Fugl 0.3.4 at the website. No explosing animals yet, but the groundwork is being laid. Changes: 1) Rewrote tesselation, it's a tad more slower (iPhone5 users beware), but much more effective so viewing distance (and field of view) has been increased a bit. 2) Tuned aerodynamics to preserve more momentum when turning 3) New launch-images 4) Small changes in camera-movement 5) Stiffened up the tail 6) Made a tunnel to connect separe canyons. It's always at sea-level. 7) Fixed orientation on ios 7 (hacky, button needs to be on right side) Exploding animals are not far away, I promise!
Still controlling great like the last version. And nice changes with gliding, now we can dive down and lift up a bit even without flapping. For the first time i could ALMOSt see the whole side of the bird, is that due to camera changes? Finally, something i have wanted to add but always forgot : After a while of playing, i am facing the "slippery thumbs problem". So one of my thumbs starts to "slip" on the screen from getting warm / skin oil or whatever is there that makes our fingers slippery, and the bird starts to roll left or right, turning an otherwise very enjoyable experience in a battle to keep my thumbs straight and correct my rolling every second. I feel this is another reason for the vstick controls because at least there you don't have to keep both thumbs parallel.
Great work on the glider, I love how maneuverable it is now. I'm glad the controls were left intact sense they work so well already. The glider now has more of a practical purpose and it really adds to the whole experience. Regarding the fingers slipping, I'm not sure that has much to do with the controls themselves, other controls will have the same issue as our fingers will be against glass regardless. I do understand the parallel issue but they could easily be recalibrated. The tail looks alot better now, atleast it feels like it supports the bird's body properly ;D Great work!
Started testing it yesterday and I am stunned at how awesome the controls are. At first it was very hard to get going but the more I fly the better it gets and I can't wait to see what's next with this project. I have even spotted a few deer and sheep which was a cool surprise again I just started testing yesterday. I love flight sims and this reminds me a lot of that just with an actual bird which is a really cool concept and the minecraft-esque graphics are actually a plus with this one.
Now this is more like it! I actually find myself using the glide feature now. I'm always in favor of more improvements to the aerodynamics to allow for for longer gliding sessions, but it already feels much better than before. I still wish you could control roll while gliding rather than yaw, because otherwise you can get stuck at a bad angle while gliding (and it's just as easy to turn with roll, if not easier). Maybe even if you made it so that moving your finger left and right controlled a slight combination of yaw and roll? Anyways I don't want to hold you back from developing the meat of the gameplay by nitpicking. I'm eager to collect some animals. I'm curious though if you have any plans for ground controls / the ability to land? When flying close enough to the ground to pick up animals it seems all too easy just to crash into the ground, plus it already seems a bit weird how your bird will go full-on ragdoll the moment any part of its body clips a bit of the terrain.
Good to hear! Probably, I'm trying to relax the camera a bit, smoothen it out, to reduce the possibility of motion-sickness. Lol, never heard of that before, but I do think I understand, I might get the same sometimes. I think the trick is to glide more, and not continously be flapping. When I implement the planned gameplay, it will be almost suicide to flap continously as you will spend all your energy in an unwise way. BUT, I will implement the virtual-stick controls also... But for now, I want to see how new testers adapt to the current scheme, without switching to an alternative too soon. The alternative scheme might be no good also, and then you rule out the default one too soon. Or at least that's my thinking...
Good! I tried it out, but it's not easier as the y-axis is reversed. Beside it's not easier to turn as you will have to roll first, then pull up to turn, so there is a two-step process. The one-thumb control is meant for adjusting course without speeding up. BUT, i got an idea that might solve things: What about the bird levelling out slowly when using one finger or no fingers, so that you don't get these awkward angles you speak of? It's coming along nicely, but it might take a few more days, as I want to implement some movement also. At least for the birds, I'm thinking of putting in an eagle and a vulture... Yes, the ragdoll-bit will have to be adjusted for sure. I'm not planning any landing as it has no gameplay purpose, and it will be very tricky implement. It's basically an endless runner, so landing kind of works against that principle... We'll just have to wait and see how the hunting goes from the air, but with the current aerodynamics, I think it will work.
Did i read this right? we will be able to play as an eagle or vulture too? or will they be our predators of the cute fugl? Keep up the good work, you have made leaps ahead from 0.1!!! Edit : or, flaps ahead if we are true to the game
They will be predators in the final game I think, but first prey just to test out the hunting bit... Hehe, thanks! And thanks for keeping me company!
