Now that things are starting to come together, we are working on further contextualising the theme and making the game a cohesive experience. I started the week by finishing off some dizziness particles, which would hover over a character’s head to indicate when it the player stunned or dizzied. Implementing it has been a whole new issue, however, as it was not a simple matter of attaching it to the player. Current attempts to do so have resulted the player leaving behind a trail of stars in their wake, so more experimentation is required.

Suggested solutions have been to simply make star-shaped meshes and append them to the model itself, so that may be the best way to go for now!

The first pass on the HUD has also been completed, with a first look at the proposed Coolness Meter. This meter acts as a performance meter for the player, and therefore their health. In order to maintain a successful film shoot, the player must continue to perform well and avoid harm. While somewhat functional, the meter still needs some revision both in its design and its placement. We found that it is better placed in the corner of the screen rather than the centre as originally intended, and I will need to make it asymmetrical to reflect that. There also seems to be some serious issues in communicating the link between the player’s performance and the meter.

Many playtesters were also asking about the theme of the game, and it became clear that we need to establish it more in the game’s opening scenes. In order to better contextualise the filmmaking theme of the game, I decided to simulate the film clapper that typically initiates the beginning of a take. In a similar manner, the clapper is used to indicate the start of the level, as well as its name.

I even set up an animation as a way to show this off even more!

We also wanted some throwable items in the game which change state depending on their damage. For starters I made some garbage bins in order to give this a test:

With only three weeks remaining, we need to do whatever we can to ensure that the feel of the game is apparent to a player as soon as they pick up the controller!