Day 5: Slow Progress

Welp. Time flies faster than I thought, and after a busy week filled with deadlines and headaches there is not much to report. However, the weekend has finally arrived and I'm using that to focus on the game entirely.

Few days ago I picked up pen and paper to design some levels and other elements. I also composed two songs: one for the ending, which I'm satisfied with, and one for the main menu and intro, which will probably be replaced with a third-party asset. So far, I have only 8 levels, I'm aiming for 10.

This evening I finally got to sit down with the engine again. I got my level design workflow down and sculpted the first level, so here's a sneak peek:

Textures will be added later and the crystal is a placeholder for the gravity device the player will pick up. However, this level already showcases several gameplay mechanics, including a hole the player can fall into, and a pushable crate that will be replaced by a boulder. The wooden crate does not really suit for the bleak aesthetic I'm aiming for and, as a side effect, removing it will get rid of all human traces inside the cave, which fits the lore of the game.

Now here's a little insight into how I created the level: It is obviously upside-down, as you can tell from the crate flying upwards. However, reversing the gravity of the crate and making the physics work like this is rather cumbersome even with the Custom Gravity Plugin I mentioned in my previous devlog. So I simply built the level right side up and rotated the camera by 180°. Behind the scenes, the player is actually walking left!

I still have the entire Sunday at hand, which will hopefully suffice to finish the remaining levels. Few days have gone to waste, but I'd say I'm on time. If everything goes according to plan, the next log will come in about 24 hours.