Hello again everyone, making another short update about the game development this week. Much shorter update than last week (quite a bit busier at work this week). You can download a copy of the project v0.0.17 for windows. If you’re interested, here is the Hello World Post from last week introducing the project.

Change List

Here is the list of changes added to the project since last week:

  • v0.0.17 - Fixing bugs in spectator code that was added in previous patch.
  • v0.0.16 - Spectator players, you can now spectate other players and static points labeled as “Follow-able” objects when you finish the level.
  • v0.0.15 - Correcting a small typo in the code.
  • v0.0.14 - Disabled footstep sounds from when a player walks around (they were a bit loud and annoying).

Feature Highlight - Spectators!

The big change from this week is the inclusion of spectators! A spectator a mode for watching other players move around the map. As a spectator, you can use the controls “left shift” and “left ctrl” to switch between players that you are following on the map. Spectator players still can independently rotate their camera around what or who they are following.

A demo video showing the spectators in action can be seen here:

Spectators can come into the game in one of a few ways:

  1. Joining after the game has started, they become a spectator instead of a regular player
  2. Finishing the map changes your player to be a spectator

There can be other ways to turn spectators into the future, but this is all that is planned for now.

Recolor Shader Post

I have written a new post for explaining how the recolor shader works and attached an example project, checkout the information/tutorial Recolor Shader Post if you want to know more about how it works. It has an example project stepping through each part of the shader and explaining how it works.

Future Plans

The next few features planned (in no particular order) for the project include:

  • Auto end a round when all players have finished (instead of waiting for timeout)
  • Improvement to character controller
    • Knocking the character prone/rag-doll
    • Slippery ground to slide across
    • Bouncy surfaces and objects to jump off
    • More debugging of jumping and falling mechanics
  • Level select screen for host
    • Also, more level besides just big fans
  • Score screen to show player scores at the end of round
  • Character select screen in main menu

Have a great week!

- Nick Maltbie