DAY 15
Continued work on level design today. Placed collapsing platforms around the area and tested it to see how it plays and feels. Like it is now, it is unexpectedly challenging without being annoying or frustrating.
You start from here:
And end up here, where the grey button is:
But some ugly problems reared their ugly little heads.
1) The very first platform and one specific platform near the middle of the area are very tricky to get on to, because the player cannot properly asses the distance and leverage character movement, more specifically Air Control. On one hand, this can be filed under "things that the player can master", perfectly setting up the difficulty of the game. On the other hand, how this area plays and feels now is too much of a challenge so early in the game.
2) Another ugly thing that occurred to me is that is a bit too similar to the previous areas. Theoretically, you would be like 5 minutes into the game when reaching this area (2 min if you know what you are doing) and all you did now, besides some exploration and interaction with notes and tame machines, is a lot of jumping on "platforms" (technically some are rocks, but I'll go with the generic term). This needs some variety, some "mix'em-up" even if you're just 5 minutes in. I can't let the player with just jumping around on platforms.
I did state yesterday that I'll put in another mechanic. After testing, Rope swinging would be good here, but the rope I made is not really functioning properly (doesn't get the velocity of the jump when the player jumps on it) but it does swing. Would have to take a peek in that blueprint to see what's happening.
And to give the player a break from all the jumping, I'll add a tall and wide rock in the middle of that little lake and test it to see how it feels and plays. I'll add multiple levels to it for variety and possibly scenic purposes. I say scenic, because I'd like to add a spectacular waterfall there somewhere.
All in all, what I did today had surprisingly good results and I'm pleased with the challenging aspect, but needs more variety.
That's all for today. See ya in the next post.