Lost Twins 2 News

Welcome! In this devlog, we'll unveil the intricate design and mechanics behind our mushroom implementation. Within our mesmerizing enchanted forest zone, these bouncy fungi serve as the gateway to reaching new heights, quite literally. So strap in and prepare to embark on a journey where mushrooms become your springboards to unimaginable adventures!

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In our forest zone, you'll find mushrooms scattered on the ground, while some are cleverly growing on vertical organic walls. To add an extra layer of challenge and excitement, we've placed alternating mushrooms on nearby left and right sides of the walls, giving players the sensation of wall jumping. Each mushroom possesses a unique bounce factor, determined by its size. While some mushrooms allow you to bounce higher with a simple jump, others are massive, requiring you to find a higher ledge to reach their tops.

Implementing the player's jumping mechanics was relatively straightforward. We created a detection system that triggers whenever the player's feet touch the top side of a mushroom. Once detected, we simulate a regular player jump, but with the height of the jump varying based on the bounce factor of the specific mushroom. This allows for a satisfying and dynamic jumping experience, encouraging players to strategically plan their movements and explore the environment.

For the mushroom's bouncy animation, we employed a rigging technique within our 3D software. Multiple joints were added inside the mushroom, enabling us to create a base bouncy animation. To add an extra touch of visual interest, we included additional controls to rotate the mushroom cap left and right. With this, we created a custom Sine animation that reacts to the player's interaction with the mushroom. Depending on whether the player hits the mushroom on its left, right side, or center, the mushroom cap responds accordingly, adding a delightful visual feedback to the gameplay.

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And that concludes our exploration of the marvelous Mushroom mechanics in our game! We hope you enjoyed this look into how these bouncy fungi elevate the gameplay experience in our forest zone. It's these little details that make exploring our game world exciting and engaging. Stay tuned for more.


Until next time, happy gaming!

Best Regards,
Playdew Team

Welcome back! Today, we have an enchanting tale to share with you as we delve deeper into the captivating world of our Enchanted Forest zone. Our team has been hard at work, crafting a truly mesmerizing experience that will challenge your wits and immerse you in a realm of wonder. In this devlog, we are thrilled to unveil a new puzzle element that will test your mettle: the Mud.

As we embarked on designing the puzzles for this bewitching realm, we sought to create an element that would not only align with the zone's theme but also add a unique twist to gameplay. After countless brainstorming sessions and careful consideration, we found inspiration in the natural world. Mud, being notorious for hindering movement speed, emerged as the perfect addition to our puzzle repertoire.

Our intention with the Mud element is to immerse players in a soft, squishy, and malleable experience. As you step into the mud, it eagerly embraces your feet, creating a subtle sinking sensation and a feeling of being slightly stuck. To amplify this tactile and sensory experience, we've designed the mud's surface to be uneven, causing your feet to sink in certain areas while encountering resistance in others. The mud oozes between your toes, leaving a wet, cool sensation on your skin.

To bring this idea to life, we've developed a custom physics system specifically tailored for the Mud element. By strategically placing checkpoints at both the beginning and end of the mud area, we can accurately detect when the character enters and exits this unique terrain. Upon stepping into the mud, the character's animation smoothly transitions to convey the sensation of being slightly stuck, enhancing the overall immersion. Furthermore, we've disabled jumping while the character is walking on the mud, ensuring players fully experience the distinctive challenge it presents.

Curious to see the Mud element in action? We've prepared an exciting video showcasing its mechanics. Take a look and witness the captivating interplay between our character and the mud, and how it dynamically affects their movement.

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Stay tuned for further devlogs, and thank you for joining us

Best regards,
Playdew Team

Today, we're diving into the creation of another puzzle element- moving platforms. Moving platforms play a crucial role in the game, adding dynamism and complexity to the level design. However, their implementation was not without its obstacles.

Moving platforms introduce dynamic and interactive elements to the gameplay. They are platforms that are capable of changing their position on certain triggers or player actions. These platforms add an extra layer of challenge and strategy, requiring players to time their movements and make precise jumps to reach higher areas or overcome obstacles.



We faced an exhilarating challenge in the implementation of button-activated platform movement. Each platform was designed to have a predetermined destination when the corresponding button was pressed, with the direction varying from upward movements to other directions. Upon releasing the button, the platform seamlessly reversed its course. However, achieving smooth and fluid motion for these platforms while handling collisions with environmental blocks, interactable elements, and characters proved to be a formidable task.

Our goal was to create a truly immersive platforming experience, where players could interact effortlessly with the moving platforms without any disruptions or glitches. The challenge lay in maintaining the integrity of the platform's motion while ensuring accurate collision detection and response, preventing characters and elements from becoming stuck or experiencing erratic behavior.

To address the challenge, we incorporated trigger colliders slightly larger than the platform's size. This setup allowed the platform to gradually decelerate upon encountering an obstacle, ensuring a smooth stop. If the path obstruction was removed, the platform resumed moving in its intended direction.

However, this wasn’t the end. Initially, we assumed that the character and other interactable elements would behave correctly on the platform by leveraging the standard physics engine. However, issues arose when characters stood on moving platforms. When moving vertically, the character would jitter, and when moving horizontally, the character would remain stationary while the platform continued to slide away.

To resolve the jittering and sliding problems, we implemented a system where any element or character landing on the platform's surface becomes a child object of the platform. This approach allowed the character to walk on the platform's surface while moving with it. We used a combination of OnCollisionEnter events and additional code to determine whether an element or character hit the top or bottom surface of the platform. Based on the Y position check, we could appropriately parent or unparent the character.

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By implementing the parenting and unparenting mechanism, we successfully eliminated the jittering and sliding issues. Characters could now seamlessly move on top of the platform, maintaining their position relative to the platform's motion. We are delighted with the outcome of this solution, as it significantly improved the player's experience and ensured smooth interaction with moving platforms.

Thank you for joining us on this development exploration.

Best regards,
Playdew team

In this update, we're excited to share details about one of the most intriguing creatures in our game - the Dragonfly. As an interactive puzzle element in our forest zone, we put a lot of thought into the design, mechanics, and animations of this magical creature.

As a puzzle element in our forest zone, we explored various ideas for allowing players to fly around and reach different areas of the puzzle. Ultimately, the Dragonfly seemed like the perfect fit as it complements the forest theme.



Although the creature isn't an exact replica of a dragonfly, it's a magical creature that players can mount to travel to different areas, including separate puzzle pieces that are joined together. When players dismount, the Dragonfly returns to its original position in that level.

To see the Dragonfly in action, check out the video below.

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One of the biggest challenges we faced was designing the environment in a way that doesn't allow players to break the puzzle by flying everywhere. We created many narrow passages that only players can pass through, not the Dragonfly. This restriction creates interesting and challenging puzzles for players to solve.

When it came to implementing the Dragonfly's design, we used Spine to create its rig and animations, which we then imported into Unity. By making the character a child to one of the bones near the Dragonfly's neck, we ensured that the character follows the Dragonfly's movements and animations naturally.

Take a look at the Dragonfly's animations in the video below.



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From the ideation stage to its implementation, the Dragonfly has been an exciting and challenging puzzle element to develop. As always, thank you for following along with our development journey. Be sure to stay tuned for more updates as we continue to build and refine our game. Until next time!

Best wishes,
Playdew

In developing the Enchanted Forest area of Lost Twins, our team was tasked with incorporating puzzle elements that would enhance the forest ambiance. After several brainstorming sessions, we decided to include a bridge as one of the puzzles. The broken bridge would give the impression that it is fragile and could break at any moment, but in actuality, it can only collapse when both characters have stepped onto it.

To bring our idea to life, we first constructed each section of the bridge as individual meshes. We then imported them into the Unity Engine, where we merged them together. Initially, the bridge appears intact to the user, but when both characters step onto it, each mesh detaches from the others.

To achieve the effect of a dramatic bridge collapse, we applied various physics principles such as force, torque, and gravity to the individual pieces. This caused them to collapse and fall apart when the bridge was destroyed. We also added particle effects to enhance the visual impact of the collapsing bridge.

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Our team tested the puzzle element several times to ensure that it was challenging but not impossible to solve. We also took feedback from beta testers to make adjustments where necessary. Overall, the broken bridge puzzle element was a success and has been a favorite among the team.The result is an engaging and visually impressive puzzle that complements the forest ambiance and adds to the overall immersive experience of the game.

Follow us for more updates

Best regards,
Playdew team