PANTRY REANTRY

Today I started working on making the reentry system more flexible by preparing the game for multiple objects instead of just the test cube.I experimented with the idea of making every object its own prefab, allowing things like fridges, pizzas, cars, and other random objects to be thrown into the atmosphere. The plan is to keep the same reentry system, but swap out the mesh, collider, and SDF data for each object so every item has its own way of interacting with the plasma and heat effects.I also looked into making the VFX system more reusable by using one main reentry plasma graph while giving each object its own settings, like different SDF collision shapes and different fire trail styles. This should make adding new objects much faster instead of rebuilding the entire system every time.A big focus today was thinking about the future structure of the game. Instead of one object being launched, the player will eventually be able to choose what they want to send into reentry and see if it survives.The project is starting to move from a physics test into an actual game with different challenges, objects, and replay value.

Today I worked on improving the gameplay loop for Pantry Reantry and focused on making the launch, crash, and respawn systems work properly.I added a respawn button that appears after the object crashes, allowing the player to try again without restarting the game. I also worked on fixing the camera so it doesn’t randomly teleport during resets and stays attached to the player object when needed.A big part of today was debugging the VFX systems. The reentry plasma and fire trail were having issues where they would start at the wrong time or keep existing particles after respawning. I worked on making the atmosphere trigger control when the effects activate, instead of them starting automatically when the object launches.There are still a few small VFX issues to clean up, but the overall reentry loop is coming together. The object can now launch, enter the atmosphere, activate the heat effects, crash, and be reset for another attempt.The next steps are finishing the UI and adding things like altitude, speed, heat, and survival stats to make the reentry experience feel more like a real game.

Today I worked on making the reentry experience. I focused on connecting all the systems together so the player can actually watch an object fall from space and survive (or not survive) the journey.I improved the VFX setup by making the reentry plasma and fire trail activate when the object enters the atmosphere. Instead of having the effects constantly running, they now wait until the object reaches the invisible atmosphere boundary, which makes the transition feel much more realistic.I also fixed the particle behaviour so the smoke and fire trail stays behind the object instead of moving with it. This made a huge difference because the trail now actually looks like something burning through the atmosphere.Another challenge was the camera system. The menu camera and gameplay camera were fighting each other because the follow script was constantly overriding the start button position. I fixed this by making the camera follow system activate only after pressing the start button, allowing the camera to transition into the gameplay view properly.There is still a lot to add, like better destruction effects, heat intensity based on speed, and more detailed atmosphere visuals, but the core reentry sequence is finally starting to come together.

Today I worked on making the reentry system feel way more alive. I focused on getting the heat particles to actually interact with the objects instead of just floating around them. After a bit of experimenting with collisions, SDFs, and VFX Graph, I finally got particles reacting properly with the objects flying through the atmosphere.I also started setting up the systems needed for objects to have their own reentry effects. The goal is that every object falling from space can have its own heat trail that follows it, turns on when it hits the atmosphere, and disappears when it escapes or slows down.A big challenge was making everything follow moving objects correctly. Static effects are easy, but when you have something travelling at high speed, everything needs to stay perfectly synced. I worked on making the particle emitter follow the object and keeping the collision data aligned so the effects don’t lag behind.There is still more to improve, like making the heat intensity change based on speed and adding better visuals, but the foundation is now working. Seeing the particles actually wrap around and react to the objects makes the whole reentry experience feel much more realistic.

so uhh today i continued my work from yesterday, making the reentry plasma, i realized there was no way in history i was gonna make a blender made modular physics based reentry plasma system and tried to make a plasma one normally, using a sphere. long story short, i failed, fell asleep and then gave up 🥀 hopefully ill be back at it later today, if not wait till tomorrow.

Today was mostly about making reentry look and feel a lot cooler. I spent a good chunk of time learning Shader Graph and experimenting until I had a fire effect that looked much more like an object burning through the atmosphere. It took a lot of trial and error, and I had to fix several bugs along the way, but I eventually got everything working together.After that, I added explosions to the game. I learned how to create and use prefabs, then connected them to my reentry system so objects now explode once they get too hot. Seeing random objects burn up and explode while falling toward Earth makes the game feel much more fun than before. There are still plenty of improvements I want to make, like adding better visual effects and making the explosions even more cinematic, but having the whole reentry-to-explosion sequence working is a big milestone.Overall, today was a really productive day. I learned a lot about Unity’s visual effects tools while making the game look much more exciting, and I’m happy with how much progress I made.

Today I worked on improving the reentry and visual effects system for my Unity project, focusing mainly on making the atmosphere interaction feel more cinematic and less “flat prototype.” I spent time testing how the particle system behaves during high-speed descent, especially around the point where the object hits the upper atmosphere. The initial version was too abrupt — the effect would briefly show particles and then disappear, which completely killed the sense of momentum and scale.
I experimented with smoothing the transition using gradual intensity changes instead of instant triggers. I also adjusted local offsets and rotation values to better align the effect with the object’s trajectory, since some of the transforms were behaving inconsistently between the inspector and runtime. That took a bit of debugging because some values were being overridden or reset in unexpected ways.
After that, I started exploring how to push the visuals further toward a “glowing plasma cone” look, with stronger edge concentration and a softer fade into the surrounding atmosphere. I also began looking into Visual Effect Graph as a possible upgrade path for more advanced GPU-driven effects. Overall, it was a day of fixing broken motion, improving visual flow, and pushing the system closer to something cinematic rather than purely functional.

Today I worked on a space reentry style simulation and spent most of my time getting the gravity and camera systems feeling right.
I set up the test object so it’s always pulled toward the planet and rotates to face it as it moves, which makes its motion feel more like it’s actually orbiting and falling through space instead of just drifting around. That part was pretty important because it sets the foundation for everything else.
A big chunk of time went into the camera. I tried a bunch of different follow styles because at first it kept jittering, flipping, or ending up in weird positions where I couldn’t even see the planet properly. I went from a basic follow camera, to trying rotation copying, to LookAt setups, and eventually simplified it down to a system where the camera stays in a fixed position relative to the object and just rotates with it in a stable way.
After a lot of trial and error (and a few broken camera moments), I ended up with a setup where the object behaves correctly under gravity and the camera stays locked in a consistent orbit view so the planet is always visible and the motion is readable. however i still have issues with the camera and the tetobject that ill b using for ll the objects thrown into the atmosphere so ill probbably fix that tomorrow

Today I worked on the reentry system for pantry reantry and fixed a bunch of annoying physics bugs, especially the crazy jittering when the ship got far from the origin. I separated the skybox movement from the actual physics so the visuals don’t break anymore at high altitude. Reentry feels way more stable now and doesn’t glitch out when you’re coming in fast. I also tested a few high-speed drops to make sure it doesn’t fall apart. Next up is adding heat damage and making reentry actually dangerous instead of just falling through the atmosphere. i put in a screenshot of the progress on the button and the earth not jittering, it is definitly starting to come together! stay tuned for the second devlog surely coming tomorrow i hope maybe