Creating Personality
Dialogue Writing
Finding a fitting camera concept for Project Mothership was quite a challenging task. Together with the Game Design Department, we came up with a top-down system that dynamically changes the camera's height between a minimum and maximum value, depending on the distance between the players. This way, we ensure a smooth appearence throughout various different scenarios.
Additionally, instead of using the players as reference objects, we committed to the oxygen tank as focus for the camera. When it is not picked up and thus stationary, the camera stays in place, keeping both players equally in view. However, once the tank is picked up, the focus shifts to the player that carries it, stressing its importance and providing additional visual feedback for the players.
Handling player inputs
State Machine
To ensure no large objects are blocking the view, rays are casted from the camera's position to both players' and the oxygen tank's positions. In case one of them hits a target that features a mesh, it is added to an array that contains all objects which are currently in the camera's fov. Each of those objects' opacity is then lerped smoothly over a fraction of a second so it appears visible but transparent.
Once an object is not detected by a raycast anymore and thus not potentially blocking the view, it is removed from the array and its mesh regains full opacity. With this implementation, the opacity effect does not last any longer than required, providing the player with immediate visual feedback and maintaining the game's flow.
Making things happen
Interaction Implementation
Finding a fitting camera concept for Project Mothership was quite a challenging task. Together with the Game Design Department, we came up with a top-down system that dynamically changes the camera's height between a minimum and maximum value, depending on the distance between the players. This way, we ensure a smooth appearence throughout various different scenarios.
Additionally, instead of using the players as reference objects, we committed to the oxygen tank as focus for the camera. When it is not picked up and thus stationary, the camera stays in place, keeping both players equally in view. However, once the tank is picked up, the focus shifts to the player that carries it, stressing its importance and providing additional visual feedback for the players.