I found some older docs, from back when I first started thinking about Filament. The original plot, subtle as it is, and the new color mechanics solve a lot of the plot and mechanic issues that stopped me from working on the game, and I think I'm finally ready to start devoting time to the engine and the tools. It feels more possible than ever, and it's time that I stopped worrying so much about getting it right the first time, and simply do it.
My plan is to start off by coupling Java2D's XOR functionality with the collision detection, so the colliding world will actually be drawn twice, once to an invisible collision image, and again to the screen, but the latter being much more detailed. This keeps a nice separation between entity model and entity view (a complex looking entity need not collide complexly), while still being faster than anything else I can think of. If I ever find a fast, stable way to boolean out shapes mathematically, then I'll just swap it out when that comes up.
That is all!
Dev-Blog for the Puzzle Platformer Game, Filament!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Fixing The Flaws
Take a look at the picture below:
This is a common scene in the old Filament design: a room with some objects strewn about, in this case a table with a block on it. There are two core issues that jump out at me when I look at this: First, there is no way to tell where one object begins and one object ends, other than pure intuition. The second problem is a physics one: what’s to keep all of these objects from just falling through each other (the core game mechanic)? Nothing.
These two issues have made level design very difficult, almost impossible, even.
Luckily, a better mechanic is available! See the image below:
By introducing a color mechanic, we fix these two issues completely. Our scene is now stable, objects will not phase through each other the moment the level opens. Instead, we’ve tweaked the phasing mechanic so that only objects of the same color may overlap. This opens up a bunch of puzzle possibilities that just weren’t there before, and that’s never a bad thing!
The player gains the ability to change to certain colors at will, which lets the player phase through matching entities. Certain colors, like black, may remain impenetrable to the player, but only to enforce some sort of level boundary. The main idea is that this opens up a vast ocean of enemy and puzzle mechanics. Image a boss fighting you, shooting fire balls or some other manner of projectile. You simply change colors to match it, and it goes right through you. This can be spun into all manner of fun and challenge, and I look forward to designing around it.
This is a common scene in the old Filament design: a room with some objects strewn about, in this case a table with a block on it. There are two core issues that jump out at me when I look at this: First, there is no way to tell where one object begins and one object ends, other than pure intuition. The second problem is a physics one: what’s to keep all of these objects from just falling through each other (the core game mechanic)? Nothing.
These two issues have made level design very difficult, almost impossible, even.
Luckily, a better mechanic is available! See the image below:
By introducing a color mechanic, we fix these two issues completely. Our scene is now stable, objects will not phase through each other the moment the level opens. Instead, we’ve tweaked the phasing mechanic so that only objects of the same color may overlap. This opens up a bunch of puzzle possibilities that just weren’t there before, and that’s never a bad thing!
The player gains the ability to change to certain colors at will, which lets the player phase through matching entities. Certain colors, like black, may remain impenetrable to the player, but only to enforce some sort of level boundary. The main idea is that this opens up a vast ocean of enemy and puzzle mechanics. Image a boss fighting you, shooting fire balls or some other manner of projectile. You simply change colors to match it, and it goes right through you. This can be spun into all manner of fun and challenge, and I look forward to designing around it.
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