Entry 10 - New Movement
A short post on my preparation for the implementation of Katt’s new movement sytem.
This week was mostly research and set-up for the new movement system I wanted to implement for the game. My attention was brought to a site named Sonic Retro, a fansite for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. On this site in particular was a physics guide with information as to how physics are calculated in the classic Sonic games. I decided to read up on this guide as it may provide assistance in implementing the movement system for our game, since it is inspired by the early Sonic games.
New Movement Script and Sensor Setup
After reading up on the aforementioned physics guide I created a new movement script for Katt I named “S Movement” (“S” being short for Sonic, since with this I hope to implement a movement system similar to Sonic’s using this script). This script will take a lot of setup so I currently have the existing “Player Movement” script working in tandem with this one until I can test movement fully using “S Movement” as well. If all goes well, this new script will keep track of numerous variables, like Katt’s acceleration, angle, etc, while also keeping track of whether Katt’s running on a wall or running upside-down. I’d also like to get the script to keep Katt attached to the ground as she moves (currently her momentum can cause her to hop off the ground now and then).
As part of the setup for this script I have given Katt new “Sensor” objects, these are simply colliders that tell the movement script what the sensors are touching. I added these to emulate Sonic’s sensor system. Take a look at the image below.
On the left is Katt and her current sensors, on the right is Sonic and his sensors. I found the image of Sonic’s sensors on the Sonic Physics Guide.
As seen above Sonic had 6 sensors (A through F) used to detect whether or not he was touching the floor or the ceiling, allowing his behaviour and abilities to change accordingly. So far I have set up four sensors (A through D) for Katt. I will likely add the last two if I am successful with the first four.
An example of how the sensors can affect behaviour: In the original Sonic, if sensor A (right foot) detected ground while sensor B (left foot) detected no ground, Sonic’s idle animation would be replaced with his leaning animation, since the game has determined that he is standing on the edge of a platform.
Aside
Apart from reading up on the Sonic physics, I tidied up the project’s folder structure and added a physics material asset I called the “Sheer Wall” physics material. Physics materials can be placed on any object, allowing you to alter two parameters: “Friction” and “Bounciness”. By setting both of these parameter’s values to “0” I have solved an issue where Katt would stick to a wall if the player continued moving her into said wall while she is airborne. Now, she will slide off walls naturally after colliding with them, regardless of the player’s input.
Next week I hope to continue working on Katt’s new movement script, wish me luck!
‘Til next time!
