Blog Post 2, Sprint 2

     Sprint 2 for Bedtime Climb has just concluded! And I'm happy to say that overall things went quite smoothly. To briefly list the larger accomplishments we got done this sprint: Total completion of level 4 and block out of level 3, creation of our unique movement ability, and implementation of the Rising Danger concept.

For the sake of efficiency and fear of over writing work, as a team we would only have one person working on a individual level at a time. Using this method for this sprint, we had Klyian focus primarily on scripts that would be used through out the game, such as the Dream Dash; and myself and Tony work on level design. The majority of work I was tasked with was surrounding level 4 and any mechanic tied directly to it. This ranged from heavily modifying the Rising Danger script built by the team to be able to work with more variables. Such as being able to set a customizable speed for the rising liquid, but also be able to have it accelerate through out the level. 

Another new gameplay aspect introduced into this level was diagonal platforms. I had made horizontal moving Platforms in level 1, and Tony had made Vertical moving platforms in level 2, so it only seemed natural to have a both in level 4, but also introduce a new hybrid diagonal platform. 

Not only did these move more then double the speed of the previous platforms, but their movement would seem far more sporadic to the player. The horizontal platforms moved in a 360 degree radius and the vertical platforms moved on a set vertical rail. The diagonal platform does both, greatly increasing the location it could be in the level at any given time. This is also why there is four of them at the same base height compared to other two types of platforms which are always present by themselves. I had to make sure the odds of a platform being reachable to player before the lava gets to them was highly likely. Despite sharing the same starting location, the speeds of all four diagonal platforms are off set by one (13, 14, 15, 16 respectfully), this is to ensure that by the time the player reached the top of the level where these platforms were, they would be sufficiently spread out due to their differing speeds, despite sharing the same range and axis as each other.

Next up is our first (and potentially only) pick up item.

This blue ribbon will be present in every level, and is what will need to be touched in order to complete said level. While attempting to create a star, I accidently initially made what looked like a ribbon, we actually quite liked it so decided to use this model instead. I made it reflective, spin, hover, and have contrasting colors relative to the level in the hopes that the player would clearly recognize it as a pickup. It being present at the very top of the level also signifies that getting to it is the goal.

To conclude, this sprint went well. We did end up finishing 24 cards compared to the 31 we did last sprint. We realized this was primarily due to the fact that we began having midterms due through out the week, so we had less time to work on this project. This trend will also most likely be evident for sprint 3. Regardless, we're happy with the work we got done and believe we're on track to finishing a very polished prototype. For Sprint 3, I will be making level 5, Tony will be making level 6 (our last level), and Kylian will be working on more scripts, along with our assistance.