Week 8 Development (Devlog)

Tasks Undertaken:

- The primary tasks for the week was to develop some more environmental prefabs that make movement more dynamic that will be later integrated into the Level Design alongside a series of Particle Systems that will animate gameplay and allow environmental hazards (Once developed) to be visualised clearly to the players. Superfluous tasks also including creating the base scripts for the Acid, Frost, and Flame Bullet prefabs that were differentiated to the standard Projectile prefab that has been used.

- Two new environmental devices were scripted and converted into prefabs for the game; The Teleporter and The Launchpad. They both utilise a OnTriggerEnter function to fire the code which was tested multiples times with the AI. The Launchpad adds Z-Axis force to the collider with an editable force variable and a Delay timer was also setup so that the Jump pad (Depending on the Editor settings) could have a cooldown on use . A similar approach was taken with the Teleporter prefab that moves the player to a new transform position by using a set Vector 3 target position that can be setup within the editor, called teleportCatalyst. A delay timer was also integrated for cooldown if necessary. Due to the Player Controller being defective, proper testing was complicated however it was able to be done showing that due to the rigidbody not being attached to the player, both trigger prefabs would function solely with the AI. This complication was rapidly remedied for the Teleporter due to it not being a physics base process by changing the GetComponent<RigidBody> to GetComponent<CharacterController>. The launchpad does not function for the player due to the Character Controllers inability to process physics functions compared to the RigidBody.

- A variety of new Particle Systems were tested and developed including 3 variants of electrical storms, a Volumetric Fog, Muzzle Flashes, and a Projectile Trail. This process was a first time experience working with the Shuriken system within Unity however was enlightening and perceived to be valuable at current stages and later stages of development regarding environmental hazards, Weapon realism, and general ambience of our later developed levels. This system is planned to be further developed after discussion with Carter whom is working on explosive equipment so that more visually appealing aesthetics for explosions can be implemented and adapted for possible integration of multiple equipment types.

Obstacles:

- The sole problem during this week was the lack of interaction of physics functions with the Character Controller on the Player Controller which is the base for movement. The Teleporter was able to be remedied for Triggers through an altered GetComponent<> however nothing can be done regarding physics functionality. Discussion with the Level Development team is planned to query as to whether an AI specific jump pad would be valuable or if we should just archive the prefab. This however is not a great loss at this current stage.

Solution Reasoning:

- The methods for repairing functionality with the Launchpad were considered in a variety of ways including a Vector 3 transform change  so that the illusion that the player has been propelled however this was abandoned due to being an exact duplicate to the Teleporter script. The current script can be valuable for environmental traps and baits for AI if decided to be integrated. If it is archived, it was still valuable for informational purposes understanding the functionality of the Character Controller and enabled further research on the topic for future game projects in Unity.