Welcome to May’s monthly update. This has been a busy month where I have been focusing on Game Number 7, also known as GIVE ME A BLADE.
As you may remember from last month, I started GMAB by building off from Auto Trials. The first week was spent tidying up the project and getting it ready to re-create the gameplay mechanics from GMAB.
Movement
The movement has been built from the ground up, and I feel it’s already much better than what GMAB had before. With a dynamic animation system that blends multiple animation clips at the same time, seeing the character move already looks much better than in my prior games. It was so good that I forgot I was testing my game while I was just walking around the sandbox test level I built for myself.
Unlike my previous games, this game’s characters have been built with physics in mind, so there is no character controller being used. This was not so easy to implement, as I did get reliant on the character controller, especially after releasing five games using that system. But with the experience of making Auto Trials, I did get a quicker understanding of it than I thought I would.
Camera
After I finished the movement, I decided to change the camera. There was no longer going to be a large world for the player to walk around, so having a third-person camera didn’t fit the vision for the game. Instead of a third-person camera, I decided to go with an isometric camera, quite similar to my previous game Akuto: Showdown.
Even though the game looks quite like Akuto right now, the gameplay still feels closer to the original vision of GMAB, which is exactly what I was aiming for. One big difference, and an improvement over Akuto, is that players have no walking assist. This means they can fall from high ledges down to the ground.
Mechanics
I am still working on the new mechanics for the characters, but so far I have added some core gameplay mechanics. One of these is wall running, which is great for helping characters travel across gaps without falling into them. There are obviously other ways to get across gaps, but I don’t want to spoil too much right now.
Future
Right now I am still focusing on the character controls and getting everything I want implemented. I would rather do this properly now instead of trying to push it in very late in development.
Next month I will continue working on the characters, and after that I will work on some NPC characters. All I can say for now is that not all of them are humanoid. Apart from that, I will also be creating more story details so my vision of the game is clearer and I know what I need to implement.
Thanks for taking your time to read this, and happy gaming!!