
Week 4 Feature Build
This week the project really started to come together. We built a mini level that has a bit of everything in it and we have the player run through each of the sections in order to experience some of the unique features and mechanics we’ve implemented so far. I spent most of my time this week debugging and building a couple of new features. I built the off screen character tracker arrows which point and follow which ever character is off screen and the portal system which allows instant transport to another game area. The biggest thing that I worked on this week was revamping the menus. I added all the options screens and tied the available options up to the save system so that players wouldn’t have to mess with the settings all the time. I also made some minor changes to other features, for example I set the male characters clone skill to only allow one clone to be created at a time.
Here’s what we completed this past week:
- We found out that we needed to change the controls for keyboard as Windows doesn’t like when the shift keys are used. A new keyboard layout was created while the game pad controls still work the same.
- Made some tweaks to the character controllers that prevented them from double jumping while next to boxes.
- Prevented skills from being used when they shouldn’t have been.
- Female Skill: Magnetic Attraction now pulls all nearby items marked with the crystal.
- Range auras were added to both the Magnetic Attraction and Animal Whisper female skills.
- Boulders no longer kill on contact and instead are required to reach a certain velocity before becoming lethal.
- Options menus
- Off screen character tracker
- 2 way portals
- Many other small changes…
I’ve uploaded the build here if you’d like to check it out: https://sethrolfe.com/wp-content/uploads/Above%20WebGL%20Week4/index.html
Here are the controls: A game pad is recommended but keyboard controls do work if you don’t have one available.
*If you’re playing on a keyboard be sure to note the new control scheme. There are 2 jump buttons per character so that you can use either finger as you’re running. *
*At the bottom of this post I’ve also added the activation criteria for each skill as we haven’t put tutorials in yet.*
Male Character Controls – GamePad | ||
Button | Action | Description |
Left Stick | Movement | Moves the male character in the direction the player is pressing at walk speed. If the player holds the male’s interact button while moving the character will run. |
Left Bumper | Jump | The male character will jump vertically. |
Left Trigger | Interact | Activates several different actions depending on the male character’s current state. For example, dragging a crate or climbing a vine.
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Female Character Controls – GamePad | ||
Button | Action | Description |
Right Stick | Movement | Moves the female character in the direction the player is pressing at walk speed. If the player holds the female’s interact button while moving the character will run. |
Right Bumper | Jump | The female character will jump vertically. |
Right Trigger | Interact | Activates several different actions depending on the female character’s current state. For example, dragging a crate or climbing a vine. |
Male Character Controls – Keyboard | ||
Button | Action | Description |
ESDF | Movement | Moves the male character in the direction the player is pressing at walk speed. If the player holds the male’s interact button while moving the character will run. |
W/R | Jump | The male character will jump vertically. |
A | Interact | Activates several different actions depending on the male character’s current state. For example, dragging a crate or climbing a vine. |
Female Character Controls – Keyboard | ||
Button | Action | Description |
IJKL | Movement | Moves the female character in the direction the player is pressing at walk speed. If the player holds the female’s interact button while moving the character will run. |
U/O | Jump | The female character will jump vertically. |
; | Interact | Activates several different actions depending on the female character’s current state. For example, dragging a crate or climbing a vine. |
Male Skills – GamePad | ||
Criteria | Action | Description |
Character is idle and player presses Left Stick Up + Left Trigger | Sprint | While the male character is in the idle state, the player can hold up and then press the interact key to sprint with dominant force, this is different from running as it allows the male to move even faster and will also allow him to smash objects that are cracked. This skill costs 30 energy. |
Character is in idle and player presses Left Stick Down + Left Trigger | Spectral Clone | While the male is in the idle state the player may hold down, then press the Left Interact key to create a non-controllable clone of himself. The clone can be pushed or dragged to activate switches. Both players can manipulate this clone. This skill costs 30 energy. |
Character is in air and presses Left Stick Down + Interact | Heavy Slam | While the male is in the air the player may hold down on the left control and press the left interact key to perform a Heavy Slam. The male will come down with enormous force and destroy any cracked objects he hits. This skill costs 30 energy. |
Male Skills – Keyboard | ||
Buttons | Action | Description |
Character is idle and player presses E + A | Sprint | While the male character is in the idle state, the player presses the interact key to sprint with dominant force, this is different from running as it allows the male to move even faster and will also allow him to smash objects that are cracked. This skill costs 15 energy a second. |
Character is idle and player presses D + A | Spectral Clone | While the male is in the idle state the player may hold up, then press the Left Interact key to create a non-controllable clone of himself. The clone can be pushed or dragged to activate switches. Both players can manipulate this clone. This skill costs 30 energy. |
Character is in Air and player presses D + A | Heavy Slam | While the male is in the air the player may hold up on the left control and press the left interact key to perform a Heavy Slam. The male will come down at an angle with enormous force and destroy any cracked objects he hits. This skill costs 25 energy. |
Female Skills – GamePad | ||
Buttons | Action | Description |
Character is in air and player holds Right Trigger. | Glide | While the female is in the air, she may hold the interact key to glide. She will glide down softly which prevents fall damage and allows her to reach difficult to get to areas. This skill costs 15 energy / second. |
Character is idle and player presses Right Stick Up + Right Trigger | Magnetic Attraction | While in an idle state the player may hold the right control up and presses the right interact key. While holding this combination, objects within 15 units that are marked with a magenta crystal will gravitate toward the player. This is useful for moving objects out of reach and to flip levers from afar. This skill costs 15 energy a second. |
Character is idle and player presses Right Stick Down + Right Trigger | Animal Whisper | While the female is in the idle state the player may hold down on the right control and press the right interact key to begin the Animal Whisper ability. The closest Monkey on screen will be controlled by the player. While in control the player loses control of the female and her controls now manipulate the monkey. The monkey can jump further distances and enables the player to reach switches or other elements of the puzzle that are out of reach of the characters. This skill costs 50 energy. The energy meter for this skill starts at 50 is drained over time (0.83/second) and when the energy reaches 0 the female loses control of the monkey. |
Female Skills – Keyboard | ||
Buttons | Action | Description |
Character is in air and player holds ; | Glide | While the female is grabbing a climbable/hangable object the player may press and hold the right jump key to glide away from the object. She will glide down softly which prevents fall damage and allows her to reach difficult to get to areas. This skill costs 30 energy. |
Character is idle and player presses I + ; | Magnetic Attraction | While in an idle state the player may hold the right control up and presses the right interact key. While holding this combination, objects within 15 units that are marked with a magenta crystal will gravitate toward the player. This is useful for moving objects out of reach and to flip levers from afar. This skill costs 15 energy a second. |
Character is idle and and player presses K + ; | Animal Whisper | While the female is in the idle state the player may hold down on the right control and press the right interact key to begin the Animal Whisper ability. The closest Monkey on screen will be controlled by the player. While in control the player loses control of the female and her controls now manipulate the monkey. The monkey can jump further distances and enables the player to reach switches or other elements of the puzzle that are out of reach of the characters. This skill costs 50 energy. The energy meter for this skill starts at 50 is drained over time (0.83/second) and when the energy reaches 0 the female loses control of the monkey. |