The focus of this week has been on getting the promised gamemodes implemented, as well as getting lots of the needed features done, so I can soon start working on some more miscellaneous (but fun) stuff.

I've largely finished implementing each of the planned gamemodes: Timed, Zen, Capture, and Infection! And so obviously, these also all work in multiplayer. The host just sets a custom map, and then when the game starts, the map will be automatically downloaded for anyone who doesn't have it already. One limitation with multiplayer levels is testing. You can play the levels in the editor, but only as a Zen level. You unfortunately won't be able to properly test in multiplayer until the course is published.

You can now freely set each of the 6 time goals for your course. This is accessible from the new Dashboard window (replacing the Admin window you may have seen in previous Devlogs). This window just provides access to tools to help further configure your level.

I've also added the ability to setup leaderboard versions. This means that if you make a large change to your course, you can create a new leaderboard version for it. But I have decided to limit it to a maximum of 3 versions, so use them wisely (and hopefully not at all). This will also reset the users locally stored data.

This started off as just adding options to control the sun, but since the sun is just a type of light, I decided to go all the way and completely implement light sources. So now you can drag in a light, and change many of its properties from the inspector. Just be careful not to spawn too many, or performance may start to chug. As for the sun, this is just a special light object called the "Environment" (by default). It exists in the hierarchy, and can be rotated and moved as with any other object. But it cannot be deleted, duplicated, parented, or included in a template. There is also an Environment shortcut in the dashboard that will select and focus on the environment object.

I've also just spent a good bit of time getting the editor generally more polished and ready to ship.

All gamemodes now have their respective build checks (ie. ensuring a battery spawn is placed down for Capture). I've also made it so you will need to play your Timed courses before publishing or updating them. These restrictions don't apply to other level types since it just doesn't make much sense.

To prevent any accidental data loss, you will now be asked to save when exiting the editor with unsaved changes. You can also see if there are unsaved changes indicated by an * on the save button. I've also got scenes loading much more cleanly, and removed an unnecessary call to load custom models when playing levels in the editor, so playing in the editor should now be instant, even with very large model files.

And about an hour before writing this, I started work on a feature that lets you freely place the pivot point when transforming objects. This is kinda similar to the 3D cursor in Blender. My primary use case here is scaling. Say you want to scale a cube to make a wall. Normally, scaling would happen from the center, so you'll likely end up scaling, and then adjusting the position several times. But with this feature, you can place cursor on one side of the cube, and then scale out from there, removing the need to reposition. It's a small thing, but I think it'll make level creation significantly smoother.

Here's the list from last week with striked out features that have been completed, as well as new things that weren't on there. Of course, this list does not necessarily include everything, and may have stuff that will be scrapped.

• Audio sources
  
• Much more default assets
  
• Unique movement objects
  
• Different types of Timed points
  
• Ability to view leaderboards from the level browser
  
• Documentation / manual for the editor
  
• Support for launch pads, fans, and wall runs, all of which will be completely configurable (launch pads have been partially added already)
  
• Light objects
  
• Ability to control the order of Timed checkpoints
  
• Editor hierarchy view
  
• Editor log
  
• Options to set up leaderboard history snapshots
  
• Options to set up medal and trophy times
  
• Support for Capture, Infection, and Zen Chat (this is primarily done)
  
• More robust publishing / updating (require publishers to complete the level first)

And that's it for now. Next up will be adding audio sources, and ambience zones, and then whatever else needs to be done. Probably the different Timed point types and shapes.

Once again, thank you for your patience,
Tobey

https://test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/steamstore/app/2560140/The_Local__Supporter_Package/

[discord.gg]

This week has mostly been focused on getting more of the general aspects of the editor done. Things that apply to all gamemodes.

I've now added support for all the movement types: rails, launch pads, wall runs, and fans! Rails and wall runs don't have any parameters to customize speed and stuff, cause they were just never designed for that. But launch pads and fans were! So all their properties are exposed in the inspector. There are also generic triggers for launch pads, wall runs, and fans. So that way you can make your own models for these objects, and just attach a trigger as a child. And when placing wall run triggers down, they will automatically conform to the hovered surfaces angle, for easier placement.

When I first added the inspector, I actively chose to not support multiselect. Buuuuuutttttt then I got to thinking about it a bit more, recently. And I realised it wouldn't actually be too hard... right? RIGHT?! Yes. It ended up being pretty simple. So now you can edit multiple objects from the inspector. There are some limits, however, For instance, only mutual inspectors will be shown. So if you inspect a fan and a launch pad, only the transform inspector will appear. There are also objects that have set transform constraints. For instance, you cannot rotate a rail. So multi selecting objects with different transform types is not possible... at all. But that's more to do with the gizmos in the world, rather than the inspector.

Since I added parenting, I felt a hierarchy view was quite important. So from here, you can view all the objects in the scene, and view the relationships between them. You can also do some basic organisation, like renaming objects, and moving them in the hierarchy. This all ended up being a much greater challenge than I had anticipated. Particularly with optimisation, since it needs to be able to support potentially hundreds of objects. But it can now!

This is where all your logs are stored, and categorised as: Info, Warnings, and Errors. Right now, I've got logging for the scene loading process. Using this, you can check how long it takes to load, as well as how long each of your custom models take to load. You can also clear the log, and search through it. There will also be some logs that have a little magnifying glass icon on them. This indicates that the log has a context, and clicking it will select the object that the log relates to.

For linear check point courses, you can now change the order that each point must be reached in. I've also added a handy route line that displays when you have the spawn, or a check point selected. This will visualize the order of everything. You obviously can't have multiple points with the same order value, so if there are conflicts, it will be displayed in the log.

This partially applies to the "More robust publishing / updating" point below, but now, whenever you press play, a series of checks will be done based on the level type to determine if the level is valid. So for Timed, you need 1 spawn, and at least one point. You also cannot have any order conflicts.

Some assets, particularly primitives, and other generic models, now have a material inspector. From here, you can select from a range of materials.

Here's the list from last week with striked out features that have been completed. Of course, this list does not necessarily include everything, and may have stuff that will be scrapped.

• Support for launch pads, fans, and wall runs, all of which will be completely configurable (launch pads have been partially added already)
  
• Light objects, and audio sources
  
• Ability to control the order of Timed checkpoints
  
• Editor hierarchy view
  
• Editor log
  
• Much more default assets
  
• Options to set up leaderboard history snapshots
  
• Options to set up medal and trophy times
  
• Support for Capture, Infection, and Zen Chat
  
• More robust publishing / updating (require publishers to complete the level first)
  
• Ability to view leaderboards from the level browser
  
• Documentation / manual for the editor

And that's all for this week! At the moment, I really just wanna get all the existing mechanics implemented. But once that's all done, I wanna start work on some new, and more experimental mechanics, that probably wouldn't work all too well in the base game.

Once again, thank you for your patience,
Tobey

https://test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/steamstore/app/2560140/The_Local__Supporter_Package/

[discord.gg]