Progress Report #1

Hi everybody,

Welcome to the first progress report for PogoChamp! I've been pretty heads-down on implementation, and I decided to take a breath and let you know what I've been working on over the last month and a half. There are a lot of changes, but here are some highlights.

[h2]Redesigned Replay Mode[/h2]

This gif shows transitioning between Free, Stationary, and Follow cameras in Replay Mode, and also demonstrates the updated Super Jump vfx.

[h2]Minor visuals & Post Processing update[/h2]

Left = old, right = new

[h2]Changes (in approximately chronological order)[/h2]

• Updated all UI text to use a new font.
  
• Tweaked the new font to have monospaced numbers.
  
• Added "New Record" text that shows when you beat your old best time.
  
• Adjust water physics so you don't bounce infinitely on it.
  
• Add placeholder SFX for jumping / landing.
  
• Moved the jump charge UI to be centered & follow the player (used to be in the bottom left corner).
  
• Added level numbers to the level select UI.
  
• Added level gates to tune progression so people don't get overwhelmed.
  
• Fixed issue where sometimes the character would spin out all crazy when landing at certain angles.
  
• Adjust the way the character is put together so that velocity properly transfers when you crash.
  
• Update canvases so they scale with screen size.
  
• Fixed placement of super jump trails.
  
• Update super jump trail color to be a rainbow (not sure if permanent).
  
• Jump charge UI now indicates whether you are in the process of super jumping, so it's much easier to see where you went wrong.
  
• Increased super jump input window to be much more forgiving.
  
• Delay start time & replay tracking until you move.
  
• Add in-level score HUD.
  
• Added ~10 new levels
  
• Updated all of the level star times.
  
• Show the number of stars needed to unlock each gate.
  
• Make gates a physical object in the level select. Gates animate opening + save whether they have been opened.
  
• Reduce amount of time before you can input anything after crashing.
  
• Add a skip button to the victory animation.
  
• Added Cannons (mario-style)
  
• Adjusted the camera top and bottom angles to be less extreme.
  
• Only enable mouse camera control when using Keyboard & Mouse control scheme.
  
• Added camera reset button, which will position the camera behind the character while it's moving.
  
• Added more input icon textures (L3, R3, Scroll)
  
• Add Pause & Pause Menu.
  
• And Options Menu.
  
• Allow customizing camera settings (sensitivity + invert) in options menu.
  
• Several level adjustments & bug fixes.
  
• Show the number of attempts in the post-level replay UI.
  
• Changed the save system from PlayerPrefs to SaveGameFree.
  
• Camera settings are saved now.
  
• Updated game shaders to use FlatKit + increased saturation. I think the game "Pops" more now.
  
• Replay system completely redesigned. Replays are now timestep agnostic, and include perfect jump trails and explosions. Their fidelity (records per second) can also be adjusted at will, and playback & recording rate are decoupled.
  
• Post-crash ragdolls are now recorded in the replay system.
  
• Replays can be saved & loaded now.
  
• Added a Main Menu.
  
• Added a replay list menu to the main menu where you can view your replays.
  
• Decoupled Game Logic from the level Scenes, so that you can load scenes in different modes (Normal mode, replay mode, etc).
  
• Updated the Spawn Point VFX.
  
• Added animated leaning to the player character.
  
• Allow the player to overlap water slightly before crashing.
  
• Added square goal zones.
  
• Fixed issue where strangely scaled goal zones would cause the character to morph in strange ways.
  
• Added breakable platforms.
  
• Removed 200+ C# warnings (mostly variable not initialized).
  
• Added replay mode, which allows you to control playback speed, adjust camera, watch specific attempts, pause, etc.
  
• Allow you to hide the UI in Replay Mode.
  
• Added a current button selection UI indicator to all menus.
  
• Added Loading popup when loading replays, and Saving popup when saving them.
  
• Replays save and load is now done in a background thread.
  
• Saving replays now saves a screenshot, which is displayed in the replay list, so you don't need to remember all the level names.
  
• Returning to the Main Menu from a replay now keeps the menu open and scrolled to your previous position.
  
• Button prompts now update much more reliably when controller type changes.
  
• Added screen wipe transition when loading into levels.
  
• Updated to Unity 2020.1
  
• Fixed lighting and saturation in Replay mode.
  

Let me know what you think in the comments!