What’s new this week?
I have continued with the main menu targets, rebuilding the streak visual effect, and adding it back into the main menu. The non-360 degree set used a prototype of this vfx, so I created a better prefab and re-added it.
It plays a speedy line effect when the target is hit, simulating the target’s quick return into the hole. In reality, the target destroys when hit, but the streak vfx provides the illusion I wanted.
Satisfied with the functionality of the main menu targets, I relegated the remaining art and sound tasks in my to-do list, to the art and sound pass, and focused on adding the Lobber target into my Stage Manager system. It is added much like the Avoid and Bonus targets, using a ratio value to distribute it evenly throughout the stage.
In the gif animation below, I use a Lobber Ratio of 1:1 to generate Lobbers for every instance, useful for testing purposes.
At the moment, I have the Lobber animating with several components, the main body, gun barrel, muzzle flash, and a projectile position. I have just finished instantiating a projectile at the projectile start position. The projectile will eventually animate towards the camera plane.
I really enjoyed making the code for the Lobber target and projectile. Float variables like projectile rotation are automatically generated by other settings like barrel angle, with the more complex animation of the Lobber target components (with numerous animation length and delays) generating other variables like the play times of finishing muzzle flash animation and shooting sound effects.
Later, when I tell the barrel to aim at the camera, projectile angle will auto adjust. Making changes and balancing of the Lobber, an easy process of adjust a couple of settings, and the rest generating themselves.
I am currently working on animating the projectile along a parabolic arc, using a simulated process, rather than a physics solution with mass and gravity, as I want to keep it simple, controlling projectile trajectory with 3 values, a start position, arc height and end position. It may change but this is my plan.