Version 1.0, Devlog

This build took me two months to make, start to finish. It was almost completely built from scratch. I used some code from previous projects (UI, lava bubble spawner, player locomotion) but refactored or optimized most of it. The main goals of this game were: to get better at controlling a player character using physics , make alternate modes of locomotion (walking/sprinting, climbing and flying), and designing an environment for this to take place in. 

I originally wanted to make two levels: a valley level where the player learns climbing and double jumps and such, and a floating island level where flying can be learned and flexed. This scope was quickly shortened to a singular level with only ground-based movement mechanics. I then further shortened the goal of the build to the first section of the first level with only climbing and an additional jump. The original ambition is the final end goal but narrowing the scope definitely helped with identifying the hurdles I had to get over to create a passing game. 

The biggest obstacles in completing this build over the past two months were: the climbing system and the level design. As I progressed development I made a new scene for every time I felt I needed a new space to test different ideas in. Some scenes are attached to this post and were made to test: locomotion and slope movement, the climbing system, and choosing the colors and objects for my environment. It took awhile to figure out the kinks of getting the PC to move in a 2D space according to the climbing surface it is on. Having low poly surfaces helps immensely with this but being able to connect a different movement system with the base movement system was interesting. Level design in this scale was a first for me and I did go through several iterations of levels and designs to be able to accomplish the feeling I wanted from the level. Blocking out a mock level and then adding textures and details was a neat trick I learned over iterations. 

Some neat concepts I learned were using the async function that Unity has as well as using events (specifically action events). I also greatly improved my usage and understanding of particles systems, lighting system and shader graphs to create simple but impactful effects.

If you read this far, you are hecka cool and deserve a cookie or smth. I was not really making this to be read by anyone but I figured its a good idea to have documentation of this because I did work on this for almost two months straight, 6-7 days a week, 1-6 hours a day. So sorry if my writing skills were not up to spiff but I would say the writing is similar of my train of thought and I would say its a pretty decently effective train, so thanks again and have a good day. -_-