Spent this last week fixing some of the many issues I've got in my to-do list. Some of these problems manifested in the footage I recorded for the trailer a couple of weeks ago:
1) Missile zig-zagging
You can see the messed up missile trails caused by background threaded movement logic which was out of sync with updates on the main thread. A better implementation of how the background thread processed before updating the main thread fixed this, and also fixed the ghosting seen with UI missile indicators (rotating triangles around the missiles).
This clip shows the fixed missile trails:
2) Ground mist effects were clipping the terrain.
Not easy to show this in an image, and not that exciting anyway, so I won't try. However I've implemented a different shader for the mist particles which has mostly resolved the problem and improved the visuals in the scene where these effects are located. I'll still look into improving these further in the future though.
I've also reduced the number of particles generated by these mist clouds (but increased their opacity to compensate) to reduce overhead when flying through them.
3) Implemented a vacuum effect when collecting resource clouds.
Previously the cloud remained in place as the drone flew through it, but now follows the drone as it dissipates:
It's work in progress but gives the player some additional feedback (there's already sound FX) that they flew through the cloud successfully and collected its resources.
4) Improved the narrative handling logic.
This enables the narrative and vocals to continue to play even if the player has completed the mission by returning the drone to the dronecase. There is still the option to ignore the narrative and leave the scene early, but previously the narrative actually stopped without finishing which left the player hanging if they were reading/listening along.
Cheers,
Faster Time Games.
