unwanted traffic

Another main mechanic: attacking, and enemies that can die. After a few more critical mechanics are added, such as player health and enemy behaviors, I’ll finally be able to make this more unique.

REAL SPRITES!! Kind of… I drew out a bunch of prototype sprites on Clip Studio Paint and used an online website to generate a sprite sheet. Afterward, I sliced that sprite sheet into individual frames that could be selected in groups for each animation. Then, I had to use an Animation Controller to control when each animations played under certain conditions. I think I’ve said it in another devlog, but it’s way harder than it looks for the first time around. I have years of experience in Scratch but this is the complexity that comes with professional tools (Unity). Also, if you’re curious, I attached reference art for the character; lore coming soon? (It might relate to future gameplay mechanics…)

I added jumping, but it took way longer than I thought. The plan was to make this high-action, so a simple up and down jump, like in many traditional platformers, would’ve been “restrictive” by putting the player a predefined amount of time in the air. Instead, I implemented variable jumping, where if you release the jump button early, you fall earlier. I drew inspiration from Hollow Knight (a metroidvania), but this was popularized by Super Mario Bros.

Next on my priority list would either be coyote time (giving the player a small window to jump when off the platform) or working on attack hitboxes for the main gameplay loop.

I’ll add actual sprites soon!! I have some concept art, they just need to be animation-ready and blend into the game.

My first proof-of-concept for this game: horizontal movement. It doesn’t look like much for an hour of work, but it turns out Unity can be very hard to learn…

But anyways, it exists and that means it can continue to improve.

I’ll also explain why the game is called ‘unwanted traffic’ in a future devlog. The player character does have a backstory.