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[Louard]

Sorry about the late update, but I’ve been having internet woes again.  I'm currently bumming off a neighbour...

After my update last week (two weeks ago... I've lost track...), I started work on a new enemy type which I finished up on Monday. I needed a simple behaviour that wouldn’t be ground dependant and could be used to keep the player moving. The result? This hot little number…



It simply chases Suzy relentlessly and won’t even stop for stuff like walls!



Most of my week afterwards was spent on Level 2-1, the pyramid themed underground level I started last week.



As I started designing the level, which plays a bit like an old Zelda dungeon, I was placing corridors between all of the rooms. I quickly realized these corridors were adding nothing at all to the experience, so I cut most of them out so that every room change brings something to the level, be it a puzzle or a hazard or, you know SOMETHING!



By the same token, I also cut out a lot of the empty space in the starting area and made the pyramid smaller. Now, I plan to add a bunch of decoration here when I get around to polishing the level, sure, but as I’ll likely be hiding some coins or items around this part of the level for curious players, I also didn’t want it to be so vast and boring.

I’ve said it a million times: Cutting shitty things out of your game makes it better than adding good things.

On that note.. that’s it! I’ve got a little more work to do on the level and then I start on the next one. See you next week!

[Louard]

Still no internet.. posting from neighbour's WiFi again...

Ok, so, I know I was supposed to work on Level 4-1 but I got... uh... distracted...

Everything started out fine. I knew I wanted to make Level 1-4 the introduction to the Ground Pound power-up and that one thing I wanted to add to showcase it was a new enemy based on the Bullies from Mario 64/3D World.



I mean.. I got pretty far. Here is the big guy modeled, textured and even rigged and ready to animate! I just never really got around to that part... or the implementation part...

I had a couple of flights of fancy which derailed my work. One was a shockwave hazard that was just so easy to model and implement that I just said "F-it!" and did it..



I figure these will be a nice opportunity to use the shockwave outside of boss battles.

The other flight of fancy will have more considerable consequences, and flight of fancy might not be quite accurate in this case. For months now I've been saying that if I were to add sprinting to Suzy Cube it would have to be done without buttons. I had an idea of how I would want the behaviour to work but this week, I found myself really thinking about how I would implement it and as the solutions came to me I just got obsessed  and went ahead and did it.



So after initial implementation, animation work, scrapped animation and reanimation I ended up with what you see in the GIF. The way it works is simple enough, if Suzy maintains top speed for X seconds (currently 2) she will flip to sprint mode until her speed drops again from either stopping or turning too quickly. While sprinting, she runs faster (duh!), jumps a little higher (with a somersault!) and her handling gets a little slipperier.

The idea behind adding the sprint (ya, why, Louard!?) was to give expert players something to master over noobs. It's tricky to maintain a sprint and it should allow better players to complete levels more quickly and deftly than newer players.

This has the potential of having a profound effect on certain levels, so much playtesting will be needed to get it just right, of course!

Otherwise it's been little under-the-hood stuff.

Next week? Well, I would love to say I'll get the Skull Bully all done and in game and start work on Level 4-1 buuuut... I kinda took a bunch of notes on camera improvements last night and I might just tackle those first.

Is it procrastination if your distraction is still work?

[Louard]

Yep... still on the neighbour's WiFi...

Monday was a writeoff (Canadian Thanksgiving... With a twist... a beachy twist) and my wife was home sick on Tuesday so I only did about half a day's worth of work. So a short week and a short update.

Most of my week was spent on some new camera functionality. I won't really go into it here since I plan to write some proper Lessons from Suzy Cube posts about it and the camera system in general. Stay tuned for those links as I publish the posts.

The later bit of my week was spent starting work on the animations for the Skull Bully. I'm about halfway through the list so far so I hope to move on to implementation by early next week. Here's a sampling of how things are shaping up.



Lookin' tough!



Gettin' riled up for a fight!

Well, like I said, short update! Next week will likely involve more GIFs of the Skull Bully, see you then!

P.S. On a side note, since feedback from testers means more work on existing levels which means less progress on new levels, I've actually put testing on hold for an undetermined amount of time. Once I've got a design draft of every level done, I'll start a new round of testing targeting a few levels per build. The lessons I've learned from these early rounds of testing have been invaluable already and I strive to incorporate them into every new level I design.

[AfroHotel]

This game looks really juicy! Definitely gonna check it out when it's done

[Louard]

As promised, the first in a three part mini-series of posts on the camera system in Suzy Cube is live on my blog. You can check it out here:
http://louardongames.blogspot.ca/2016/10/lessons-from-suzy-cube-camera-system.html

And check back for updates on the next two instalments.

[PetterBergmar]

The skull bully looks very nice!!

[Louard]

I swear I'm not trolling all of you! I was unexpectedly traveling this week so I didn't get done nearly as much as I had hoped!

First things first, I invite all of you to check out the first instalment in a three part series of articles about the camera system in Suzy Cube available here. It's what I spent most of my Monday doing.

I left on Wednesday, so I really only had Tuesday left to work on the project. As you can see, I've got the Skull Bully imported into Unity and I've also completed its animations. I look forward to getting started hooking it all up together next week. As a consolation prize for the paltry update, have a couple of GIFs.





So, I leave you with this for now and... like.. basically no promises for next week because, apparently, I am no longer the master of my destiny! See you next week!

[Louard]

Sorry, folks internet troubles again. Part 2 of my series on the camera system in Suzy Cube is now up, you can check it out here:
http://louardongames.blogspot.com.co/2016/10/lessons-from-suzy-cube-camera-system_24.html

[Louard]

Hey, hey, everybody! The Skull Bully is finally in and functional!!

I ran into more issues than I expected in hooking it up so there's not much more to say this week. Sorry! I also spent a lot of time trying to get my internet provider on the phone... yes... I'm still stealing WiFi from my neighbour. (he totally knows... it's totally not stealing...)

Anywho... So, the Skull Bully!


Here's Suzy totally not paying attention!


Here's Suzy totally wishing she was anywhere else!

In other news... By yesterday, I was able to move on to design work on Level 4-1. I'm having a hard time really forming a concrete idea of the essence of the level. I've made enough of them now, though, to know how important it is for me not to try to just jump into the editor without first strengthening the paper design. Rushing into building levels has proven a great recipe for spinning my wheels in the past.

Next week will, thus, be all about making progress on Level 4-1. See you all then!

[Louard]

Almost forgot to post about this!! The third, and final instalment of my mini-series on the camera system in Suzy Cube is live:
http://louardongames.blogspot.com.co/2016/10/lessons-from-suzy-cube-camera-system_31.html

Happy reading!

[Louard]

Ahoy ahoy!

Level 4-1 is finally taking shape.



A mix of forested and rocky areas showcasing the Ground Pound power up. Oh! And speaking of Ground Pounds, check out this little guy!



Pretty dope, right!? If you defeat him, you can snag the power-up for yourself too so he acts kind of like a mobile power-up dispenser but that comes with show-don't-tell instructions! I also made a jumping Skull wearing a Double Jump hat.



I'm hoping as players see these regular enemies wearing silly hats doing something different they will figure out that Suzy wearing a silly hat might just be able to do something different too!

I also worked on a couple other odds and ends. I made a set of more reliable and reusable cave entrance style archways. You know, a set of two unconnected doors which teleport the player giving the illusion of them being connected by a tunnel. It's something I've set up for other levels in the past but those were custom, one off set ups. This new prefab allows me to just plop such doorways into a level with no additional setup. So that's cool.

I also made a slight modification to my cannons allowing them now to impart an initial velocity to projectiles. So far, all I've been shooting out of cannons are rockets and fireballs, both of which fly themselves, so cannons have only needed to spawn projectiles, not make them go or anything. With this new change, though, cannons can now shoot out otherwise static objects like... oh, I dunno... bombs?



I wouldn't stand there if I were you...

So, that's it for this week. I'm hoping to wrap up Level 4-1 by mid or late next week and have enough time to start on the next stage, but we shall see. Unexpected stuff has a way of popping up, it seems!

P.S. If you're in the Caracas area, I'm planning to attend Expo Game Fest this Sunday so hit me up on Twitter if you're also planning to attend and we can try to meet up. I should have a Suzy build handy for anyone who wants to give it a go.

[Ashmor]

Awesome! I like the art style of your game! looking forward to seeing more 

[flipswitchx]

Loving all the new content keep up the good work 

[Louard]

Loving all the positive comments, keep them coming ^_^ (get it?)

Ok, update time, it's a short and sweet one this week. Design draft of Level 4-1 is done!



Building out and refining the level is what I spent most of the week on so there's not all that much to say. I fixed up some little stuff here and there, but nothing really noteworthy. All about Level 4-1 this week.

Oh, I did add this little feature...



Invisible (or nearly) coins which only appear once Suzy passes through them once. We've seen this in Mario, they are handy for rewarding eagle eyed players and setting up situations enticing risk takers to retread dangerous challenges. Anywho, another tool in the box!

I'm feeling really good about the next level on the list, Level 5-1. Unlike 4-1, my notes on this one are much clearer and I've got a really good idea of what I want to do with each section of the level. I'm excited to get started on it but I doubt I'll have the opportunity to do so before next week.

Like I said, short and sweet. Check back in next week to see how things are getting on with Level 5-1!

P.S. I also updated to the latest Unity patch release which finally fixed a LOOONG standing shadowing bug!

[Ishi]

I feel inspired when I see your updates, keep working hard!

[Louard]

Thanks Ishi!

Ok, Update!:

I'm probably going to be more psyched about this update than the rest of you, but that's cool! Not only did I start work on Level 5-1, but I also completed the design draft of the level!! That's another one in the can! (for now ^_^)



It's a lava themed level which has little Suzy navigating platforms paths which sink and emerge from the lava as well as conveyor belt style moving platforms.



I want to point out the shape of the platforms. Notice how they have a border and a raised center with sloped sides? It's a bit hard to see given the framerate in the GIFs but I modeled them this way so that the platforms really look like they are emerging from the lava. A flat topped platform would simply seem to appear at the lava's surface and wouldn't read as sinking or rising through the liquid.

I wrapped up the major work on the level by Thursday freeing me up to check off some odds and ends from my to-do list. Mostly usability tweaks like this one...



This is one of the rooms from the Zelda inspired level, Level 2-1. During game play, the spiked rollers move back and forth in the pit. They aren't super hard to avoid or anything, but since the camera moves from room to room in this level, it was possible to enter the room (through the door on the right) and fall into the pit sight unseen. To remedy this, I added the little guardrail that you can see in the screenshot. I wanted to use this as yet another example of those subtle little details in a level's design which make the difference between done and good.

Ok, next week I start work on another level. I've already started doing a bit of paper design on it but I really want to spend the necessary energy on the planning so building the level goes smoothly like it did for this last level. Check in next week for more progress!

P.S. No promises though... I picked up a few games during the Xbox Black Friday sale... So.. we'll see...

[Louard]

Great progress on Level 3-2 was made this week, but not much else... Thanks Xbox!
As predicted last week, I spent considerable time this week enjoying my early Xbox Black Friday acquisitions. In order not to descend into a dark pit of self loathing and despair, I did make sure to make good progress on Suzy Cube nonetheless!

What you see above is the current state of Level 3-2. Once decorated, I hope it will evoke a sense of underground exploration!

There are a couple of timing sensitive challenges which could use a bit of rework but the level is otherwise pretty much done. Try timing two snakey bad guys moving one way and a moving platform moving the other way! It's not as easy as it sounds!

I hope to wrap up work on the level today, freeing me up for something else next week. I'm not sure if I'm going to be diving straight into another level after this one or working on other improvements to the game. We shall see!

[Louard]

Level 3-2 is done, for the moment, as I spent the later part of Friday and the early part of this week making tweaks and changes and doing a full coins and pick-up pass on the level. It's amazing what a sense of purpose adding collectibles can bring to a level.



You'll also notice I've added gradient shapes to the outer portions of the level. During gameplay, these blend into the background colour and help sell the underground look of the level.



They are also mightily handy for hiding goodies, seemingly, outside the level bounds, like this star pick-up.

I'm also, almost, done with the initial build pass for level 4-2.



It's a fun auto-scroll level involving a bunch of moving platforms, mostly moving in the opposite direction to the camera. I still need to complete the end of the level and add enemies and pick-ups, but most of the tricky stuff, like properly timing the platform and camera movements, is already in place.

I expect to finish off the first design pass on the level by early next week before moving on to, either, another level or a detour to start re-working the level select screen which is in need of a functional retool. Check in next week to find out!

[Louard]

Wow, folks, I'm sorry I missed Friday. I was really busy and ended up writing my blog post on Thursday instead and then forgot to write my forum update to go with it.

Ok, so, I wrapped up the first design pass on Level 2-4 and made good progress on Level 2-2!



It's all about rotating blocks! I don't have any deep design insight to go with this this one but I did put some work into custom rotator blocks to solve an issue a friend of mine (http://www.flatheadgames.com/) had with rotators I had in my prototype level many moons ago before Suzy Cube was even, really, a game.

His issue was that he couldn't simply walk from face to face by moving against the rotation of the block. This was because, despite having rounded corners, the block's collision volume was a simple box. Well, no more!



These new custom rotator blocks have more rounded corners and actually employ compound colliders made up of boxes and capsules in order to form nice rounded edges Suzy can run across.

The set up involves 12 capsules (one for each edge) and three intersecting boxes to cover the faces.




You can check out by blog post about it for a step by step cross section breakdown of the collider setup. http://louardongames.blogspot.com.co/2016/12/suzy-cube-update-friday-december-8-2016.html

That's pretty much it for this week. As I mentioned it was a very busy one, non-Suzy wise, I mean. I hope to be more productive next week.

So, it looks like I didn't work on the level select screen after all. Next week? Who knows! One thing's for sure, I'll be continuing work on Level 2-2! See you then.

[Manaflow]

The rotating blocks are a nice touch. Lots of fun looking features.