Update Overview

Our goal this week was to refine the build and iron out any major bugs, such that we are ready to start playtesting officially. 

Progress

Implementation

• Old assets and retextured models have been changed into the new prefab templates.
• Player speed is now dynamic and has a faster starting point.
• Separated existing scripts into smaller components to better follow the single responsibility principle.
• Object placement has been reworked
  • Rather than dropping with gravity, now a transparent-green placement guide appears on the surface you are looking at. When you press [E], the held object snaps to the guide’s position.
  • Controls changed to button hold [Q] to activate placement, press [E] to place
  • Removed colliders when objects are picked up
  • Replaced the old ‘lightObj’ identifier tag system with a ‘PickupInteractable’ component
  • Fixed bug where objects are not sticking to one spot on the screen when held
  • Allowed support for placing items (such as posters) on the wall
• Object inspection has been worked
  • Initial size of object upon inspection now depends on how big the object is (smaller objects are more zoomed in)
  • Object rotation upon inspection is now done around the center of the object
  • Inspected items are rendered on a separate layer, such that they appear on top always
  • Inspection controls switched to button press [F]/[South Button]
• Print screenshot of current video frame on TV feature implemented. Players can click print button on TV and a print out of the current frame will be placed in their hand.
 

Scripts & Tapes

• Character drawings have been sketched for Tape 1.

Assets - Models

• Additional props have been added to the modeling list to fill the attic with more culturally relevant items.
• Stool and TV models have been textured.
• Starting screen has been planned out.
• Inserting VHS tape animation has been finished, as well as opening and closing the large box.

Assets - Audio

• Raw voice lines for Joaquim and Vini have been recorded for Tape 1
• Audio integration of tape 1 is in progress
• Key props sfx for level 1 are in progress

Challenges

• A challenge we faced when attempting to improve the inspection mechanic was that depending on where the player is facing, the inspected object may sometimes appear behind walls. After doing some technical research, we figured out how to use a secondary camera and layers to ensure inspection is rendered separately.
• As we worked more on refining object placement, we realized that there is a bit of inconsistency regarding our model transforms. Occasionally, the model transform is not pointing to the asset itself, but to a space near it. We had to go through our interactable props and standardize their setup.