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JazzGruff

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Joined: Jan 2012

Posts: 69

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Feb 13, 2012, 09:11 AM
JazzGruff is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plunK View Post
You are my absolute god......
Haha, thanks! =D

Ok, here's a little non-release update.

I decided to some work with the weapons, dream cells and collectables.

* Added a "bobbing" effect to all of the collectables and items (They basically move up and down)
* Firing rockets makes you fly back a bit. I am not sure if I'll keep this, but it is kinda fun so far.
* Jazz now actually kind of turns around when going in the opposite direction with the keyboard (He does a really quick turn though, but it looks nicer than the insta-turn).
* Ammo no longer recharges unless you let go of the fire button - this almost fixes the problem of the fights being just way too easy, because before you could still shoot relatively rapidly when you ran out of ammo - now you have to wait and/or retreat before attacking again.
* Up/Down keys are now replaced with the Duck and Jump keys when the character has grabbed onto a ledge. In other words, if you want to drop down, you have to press the Ducking key, and when you want to climb up (It's pretty much just a "jump up on the ledge"), you have to press your Jumping key. Directional keys no longer work here.

I was thinking about some improvements that I could do later on when I discover how to do certain things, for instance, control the user's camera (I still can't find the right piece of code...).

* Fixed camera and controls in dialogs.
Think Outcast, where after asking another person into a conversation, the camera nicely locks onto them and both characters share some sort of info. This could allow Jazz to actually say something, too, but not only that, it could be possible to have different conversations by giving the player the ability to sometimes choose what to say.

I know this sounds like really way too different from what Jazz Jackrabbit really is all about, and I'd totally agree. But let's be real here, Jazz 3 is just so different from the originals already, I'm not sure if it would really matter, I mean the game was really being built as if they wanted to make it more of an adventure game, with the shops and one-time-pickup items that give you more powers. In fact, the game even has code for some sort of level-up system.

Anyway, I'd like to know what you guys think about it!

* Realtime cutscenes
I can't WAIT to find out how to change the camera's target and location.
Once that is done, I'll most certanly at least try to make a cutscene or two. These probably won't be anything special (Just characters running through certain paths and such), but this could make the game just so much more interesting and fun, because this could open up more possibilities in the game progression. For instance, sometimes it's really hard to introduce something new or show some kind of event without actually showing an animation.

Maybe you have some cool ideas?


Also, I'd love to get some kind of assistance for importing models in the game. It'd be an incredibly huge help, because I could actually use multiple models for Jazz (Like The arms and head would be detached, allowing jazz to aim and look in any direction he wants, ultimately improving the animation infinitely).


On another note, I really still can't seem to be able to edit the first post. What's going on here, did I do something wrong?

Thanks!

EDIT:
Another short non-release update!

(Click to enlarge)


Improved ledge climbing code!
It is now possible to move the camera around, just like you should, but not only thay, jazz actually grabs the ledge correctly, by facing it and aligning to it perfectly.

There are some horrible bugs though, sometimes if the gemoetry is a bit too complex, jazz would go inside walls and jumping or dropping off may actually kill him.
I am working on this though, but it's a great step forwards!

I hope to find the right camera code soon, though.

Last edited by JazzGruff; Feb 14, 2012 at 01:56 PM. Reason: Ledge Grabbing!