Hello IndieDB! We hope you had a good Easter and are finding yourself well :)
In our last article, we talked about the concept and research for Instar, so if you haven't checked it out, I recommend you to!
Now, you can read more about the mechanic, how it works and some print screens of the development from Miguel, our awesome programmer :)
The concept of the mechanic is the following: throw the needle with the string attached, hit a surface, and walk on the string like it was a little bridge. If we break this down it can become a little complex, so in order to for a better understanding on the programmer's part, here are the created rules with an image to better explain it:
-map has specific spots for the needle to land on and for the player to tie the end of the string
- player clicks F to throw/recall the needle
- the needle can be recalled whenever the needle is not with Ivy
- when the needle is recalled, it will teleport back to Ivy
- player click E to tie the string
- the string has a length defined
- needle has a midair time (player can only use the length of the string that is defined)
- If needle doesn't meet a surface or hits a non-stickable surface, the needle teleports back to the player
- if the needle meets a "stickable surface", the needle sticks there
(I just noticed I typed tieable incorrectly, and that the word does not actually exist, please ignore that)
Seems a bit complicated, right? Worry not, as the player you'd only have to worry about throwing the needle and tying the string :) These rules only serve to guide the programmer and tear down the mechanic so there's a better understanding.
Since this is very hard to pull off, we came up with a plan B if this does not work out. If we are unable to create this mechanic, we will simplify it in the best way possible. If we proceed with plan B, Ivy will only be able to throw the needle in specific places, and once the needle hits a surface, a string bridge will be created automatically.
Though, we are placing our bets on plan A. You can take a look at some print screens from the development of this mechanic:
The full length of the string, with working physics.
The string stuck on a surface on Ivy's hand.
Ivy on top of a giant table with the string falling down.
Since the string has to be created in real-time and has physics, Miguel used bones to approach this problem and here are all the bones of the string.
So this is all for the mechanics! Thank you so much for reading! Our next article will be about the Environment, so stay tuned :)
I really urge you to follow us on Instagram and Twitter since we post some other stuff that might not appear in these articles, we really appreciate a follow!
Have a good end of the week and stay cozy <3
