Hi everyone! In the following post we will talk about all the changes and struggles of this week.

What has changed?

-We created several blockouts to see what levels work with the mechanics we have.

The first blockout is more simple, focusing on being able to move wherever you like at any point. I mostly put the breakable stuff on the edges so the catcher could trap the runners quite easily.

In the second blockout we implemented a higher area which will be accessible with a launchpad that is always in the map. The breakable objects now are more randomly scattered and I added some more so the monkeys wouldn't smash everything in a short period of time. I went for more of room feel so they can be different compartments. Also thought more about running paths and other ways to trap the players like a zig-zag part.

For the final iteration we added even more breakables and a little area on the right to break the map up a bit more from being just a rectangle. Everything is also more closely packed together to make it harder to manouvre the lab. This also makes it a little more balanced for the catcher. There are no areas where you get easily trapped anymore in 1 big room.

-We decided on an art style, since it wasn't that clear before. The art style will be similar to the image below, which can be achieved with one toon shader for everything, and some extra unique textures for tiles or screens. 

-We finished our character concepts, after deciding that the little monkeys are scientists that went crazy and that the catcher is a janitor that tries to save the lab.

-We put all our effort into the Unity prototype, dropping all work planned for Unreal. We did this because we choose this engine to make our final product in.

-We weren't sure whether or not we should convert the runners into catchers using the conversion machine. During the playtest session we found out that this isn't really necessary to make the game more interesting. So will keep this as a "bonus" feature. Bonus feature are features that we are not planning to implement but might come in handy when the game needs to be more balanced.

-We added more mechanics in the prototypes. In one prototype, we aimed for the catcher, and how the cage works if it converts monkeys into catchers. We used this prototype too for testing the blockouts and the oxygen tanks work with recharges. The other prototype gave us more clarity in  the destroying of props, and another oxygen tanks having a fixed amount of oxygen, that you can slowly collect as a catcher. This prototype also had a UI and showed a leaderboard when it ended. This week gave us a good sense on how the game is gonna be, and showed us the game is fun to play.

What hasn't changed?

-We decided to keep some of the elements that we decided on in the previous weeks. For example, the proportions and the amount of details for the props are things that we insist that there are the right decisions. 

-We still have not tested the items part of our game. But this shouldn't be that big of a deal since these are only additions to the base mechanics we already have.

What went right?

-We chose to make a specific toon shader for our assets and the prototype went well. The prop looks like we imagined it and it matches the style that we want to go for. We can also control different variables, like the thickness of the rim light or the colors. 

- Compared to Unreal, the Unity prototype development went like a charm. Every mechanic didn't take long to implement and there weren't any major problems we ran into. Of course there were some small bugs and there might still be some in this weeks prototype but they should've been reduced to a minimum.

- We playtested the base mechanics of our game and we found a lot of potential in them. We think if we iterate further on these mechanics and add new items the game will be very fun to play.

What went wrong?

- During the playtest session we found a lot of bugs and flaws in our game. We found out that the camera was still a bit buggy so we had to fix that. We fixed some weird spawning glitches. We also saw that it was hard for the catcher to keep track of his oxygen count so we made it more visible. The smashing mechanic of the runners seem a bit overpowered so we made the runners stand still for a certain amount of time when they smash an object.

What's next?

Next week we will hopefully start the real production process of our game. This includes assets, sounds, levels and actual polished game mechanics.