Zetheros
Developer
Hey Exanimates,
This week we've mostly been working on various aspects of "casting" mechanics and controls, as unlike Mind, Force thaumaturgy is often used actively in combat, it has an action and skill element to it, with animations that can be interrupted etc. This led us down a bit of a rabbit hole as we reviewed the core mechanics behind how different actions interact, respond to physics, transition into each other, delay each other, what might interrupt them and so on. Previously this only really concerned specific attack mechanics, so we felt we needed a more unified approach. We standardised a lot of behaviour for voluntary and involuntary actions, making the system a lot more robust and easier to work with, with animation data now also carrying more information about action states rather than it being hard coded. These are good changes that will be useful in the future and look promising for some core improvements.
Part of this, because it is closely related, has been testing and refining how characters are affected by and deal with being hit with force powers, at a fundamental physics and animation level. Fortunately our character simulation means it mostly just works, but the physics always has to be accompanied by a degree of intelligent control by the character, and there was clear room for improvement. These are general improvements and not specific to force powers, so we'll likely see more uses.
We've been evaluating controls and input handling for Force and other more action-focused thaumaturgy. For now we've gone with one approach and focused on making it responsive, easy to control and generally polished, but things are subject to change as we get some initial feedback from testing, and there are some control additions and improvements that we already have in mind. This is also particularly important because how easily you can use different powers affects how you will effectively build and use your character.
We've tackled these difficult problems this week and ticked various other items off our to-do list. Things are looking good and we're working through some reported issues now, we should be able to get a general (no Force) test version update out some time this week, with the first insider test of Force soon after.
Have a great week!
-the BM team
This week we've mostly been working on various aspects of "casting" mechanics and controls, as unlike Mind, Force thaumaturgy is often used actively in combat, it has an action and skill element to it, with animations that can be interrupted etc. This led us down a bit of a rabbit hole as we reviewed the core mechanics behind how different actions interact, respond to physics, transition into each other, delay each other, what might interrupt them and so on. Previously this only really concerned specific attack mechanics, so we felt we needed a more unified approach. We standardised a lot of behaviour for voluntary and involuntary actions, making the system a lot more robust and easier to work with, with animation data now also carrying more information about action states rather than it being hard coded. These are good changes that will be useful in the future and look promising for some core improvements.
Part of this, because it is closely related, has been testing and refining how characters are affected by and deal with being hit with force powers, at a fundamental physics and animation level. Fortunately our character simulation means it mostly just works, but the physics always has to be accompanied by a degree of intelligent control by the character, and there was clear room for improvement. These are general improvements and not specific to force powers, so we'll likely see more uses.
We've been evaluating controls and input handling for Force and other more action-focused thaumaturgy. For now we've gone with one approach and focused on making it responsive, easy to control and generally polished, but things are subject to change as we get some initial feedback from testing, and there are some control additions and improvements that we already have in mind. This is also particularly important because how easily you can use different powers affects how you will effectively build and use your character.
We've tackled these difficult problems this week and ticked various other items off our to-do list. Things are looking good and we're working through some reported issues now, we should be able to get a general (no Force) test version update out some time this week, with the first insider test of Force soon after.
Have a great week!
-the BM team
