Devlog 6 - Tutorial

In this update, I’ve added some new combat features, refactored a bunch of code and thought it was finally time to make a tutorial for the game.

Tutorial

Making a tutorial was long overdue, and I thought it was time to make one as some of the puzzle elements needed some explaining. I started out dividing the mechanics into small sections, with each section focusing on a few key mechanics that get the player to repeat tasks. I started out dividing out the combat mechanics into attacking, defending and special attacks, and created a small quest where the player can hit some training dummies to learn about their moves.

In the basic attack section, the player learns how to use basic inputs to make melee and ranged attacks and allows them to put it into practice against a set of training dummies. Here, they are taught about charging attacks to give them special properties and arrow costs for ranged attacks. Then, they move onto the defence section, where they learn how to block, parry and dodge. They also learn about armour and how it is needed to defend them. The final section is the special attacks, which are activated through special inputs, and have special properties and are more tactical than the normal attacks, but they usually have some cost and are more complex to use compared to basic attacks.

For the attack sections, I added a training dummy. I used hinge joints to get physics-based reactions when the player hits the dummy, with a higher force when hitting with more powerful attacks.

I also divided the puzzle elements into 3 key mechanics, reflecting light off dishes, reflecting light with the player’s block and using a new lunge attack to phase through ghost walls (I’ll have more info on that attack more in the next section).

I mentioned in the previous devlog that my puzzle elements were tied to the same mechanics that the player uses to fight enemies, and in my case, they corresponded how I divided the combat tutorials. So I decided to break up the combat tutorials with the puzzle tutorials so the player can learn how the combat elements are used in puzzles. This also breaks up combat tutorials and puzzles, which helps with pacing and better reflects the game loop I want to have in the final game, which involves exploration, puzzles and combat.

After each of the combat sections, the player will be presented with a puzzle that involves one of the mechanics they just learned, so they can get familiar with the puzzle mechanics. After all of the learning is done, I added 2 sections that test the skills the player learned. The first is a small combat test where they will fight a single enemy, followed by a puzzle.

In the future, I plan to incorporate the tutorials in the game levels so the player is introduced to the mechanics at a slower pace so they can get used to the mechanics and to also make the tutorial less distinguishable from gameplay, making it more interesting to play through. However, right now, this small tutorial teaches the player all the mechanics they need. I also plan to update it with inputs for other control types rather than just PlayStation controllers.

Lunge Attack and Combat Changes

The lunge attack is a new attack that offers a lot of defensive utility. This attack is inputted similarly to the other special attacks, but requires the player to cancel any attack with a dodge input. This attack causes the player to lunge with their sword, dealing damage to enemies and allowing them to move past them. This attack allows the player to move past enemies when surrounded, and has dodge frames. However, it has a more complicated input than simply dodging, and does not offer as much protection.

To implement this attack, I used physics layers to allow the player to move past certain objects and enemies, while still colliding with the environment. I’ve also allowed the ghost enemies to use this attack, which helps to distinguish them from other enemies as they surround the player and perform attacks that lunge past the player.

This attack also allows players to move through certain objects, like phase gates.

I’ve also spent time refactoring the attack system. Before, the attacks were all shared among all characters of the same type(humanoid, spider, crawler). Now, each character can have unique combo strings and data for their attacks. This change allowed me to tweak damage values of each attack as well as change the combo string for enemies to include more readable attacks while keeping the player’s attacks. This also allows me greater customization, so I can add more complex combos, and allow attacks like the dodge attack to transition into the middle part of the combo string.

I’ve also made some changes to make the combat feel a bit better, I decided to change the colour of the player’s sword during the parry window to better show when the player can parry. I also adjusted the ragdoll of enemies to have some more weight to them.

Other Features

The asset pack for the characters includes a bunch of different parts, which allowed me to add a character customization screen, which allows the player to edit their character. I’ve also made a Web build, which allows the game to be played in browser.