DevLog Week 3 - Game World

Update Summary

Game world

In this week's update, arts for game world environments such as ground and trees are completed and implemented. The game now has three main environments in the whole map, ocean, sand, and grass. In future updates, the sounds of character walking will change dynamically to make them sound more realistic like really are walking on that texture, this depends on the area the character is currently locating.

Player controls the character walk game word

Player will be allowed to walk on a grass or sand ground but not able to walk into the area determined as ocean.

Player is not allowed to go in ocean

Player will able to walk around trees or other static objects, sprites layer order will be calculated from character and item position to make the visual effect that looks like the character is behind an object in 3D space.

Player walk around a tree

In-game time

The game implemented an individual time system to calculate in-game time than real-time. In-game time will count much faster than real life, around every 1 second(real) for 30 minutes(in-game).

Each in-game day will be 24 hours(in-game), and each month has around 29~31 days, each year only has 4 months corresponds with the 4 seasons.

A visualize icon of sun and moon will be added in the future to show what time currently is, the sun and moon will rise from the top right corner of the screen, move along the top screen edge set at the left top corner to simulate a day. Also, more other simple UI will be adding in for player to quick check time informations.

Time count to a new day

Character

A few character frame animation assets are edited and changed to make animations blend to each other more smooth looking.

A new setting that every time the character finishes run action, will force to play a short clip of instant stop animation to differentiate the differences between walk and run, to make run action does not only give the positive gain effect that make walk just becomes useless. The  instant stop action will happen every time run action is stopped(no direction key current on pressed), including when trying to turning 180 degrees of direction.

Instant Stop action played every time after run

Feedback

The animation after instant stop action animation transition to other animation is not looking smooth.

A bug has been found and fixed, every time instant stop action finishes, the character state will be default as walk, it causing animation transition go to walking animation first then idle. This makes the walk animation plays for 1 frame every time before turning to other animation. Fixed it by adding an animation event to instant stop animation, let the instant stop animation not belong walk or run character state.

Ocean is static, there are no waves and no ripple on the water surface, like a pond. Unrealistic.

This is the first version of the game word environment texture, will be a few changes made during further game development. The water wave and ripple effect are in the development plan, they will be achieved by both frame animation and shader in the future.

The instant stop action animation should look better if the character keeps sliding forward a little distance while the animation playing.

It was a nice idea and it should be make the instant stop action animation more smooth connect with the run. The idea has been achieved, the instant stop action animation now sliding forward a short distance, makes the instant stop action looks more realistic and smoother the controls the character.