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Player Mechanics and Animation
- You control character movement using "A" to move left, "D" to move right and "W" to jump.
- Press "Spacebar" to detach a part and jump.
- You only have 1 jump typically, which is consumed by jumping or detaching parts, after using all of your jumps, they only replenish once you land on the ground again.
- Some limbs have active abilities. Arm abilities are aimed using the cursor's position in respect to the player character, and can be activated using the "Left Mouse Button". Leg abilities are mostly passive, but some are activated using the "Right Mouse Button".
- You gain additional height while you have legs and/or arms equipped, limiting your ability to enter low areas. To keep this consistent, the dimensions of each part (head, arms and legs) should remain the same regardless of special abilities.
Idle
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Just a Head - Blinking, looking around with eyes (will look at cursor if there is mouse activity), Antenna Twitch.
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Head and Arms - Blinking, looking around with eyes and neck tilt (will look at cursor if there is mouse activity), Slight bob up and down as if breathing.
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Head and Legs - Blinking, looking around with eyes and head rotate (will look at cursor if there is mouse activity), some occasional shifting of weight between feet (potentially a separate animation).
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Full Body - Blinking, looking around with eyes and neck tilt (will look at cursor if there is mouse activity), slight bob up and down in shoulders as if breathing, some occasional shifting of weight between feet (potentially a separate animation).
Move
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Just a Head - This will be done through programming, the head will rotate as a dynamic rolling object.
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Head and Arms - Spinning Roller, running arms, forwards lean (slight), head bob with shoulder movement, slightly narrowed eyes.
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Head and Legs - Running Legs, head bouncing (potentially), slightly narrowed eyes.
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Full Body - Running Arms, running Legs, forwards lean (slight), head bob with shoulder movement, slightly narrowed eyes.
Move into Idle
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Just a Head - This will be done through programming, have the eyes, black face screen, and head case on different layers (as different objects). Have the eyes continue to spin in a circular motion for a bit after the head stops moving.
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Head and Arms - Twist to slow down, roller spins backwards, tilts and rights self.
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Head and Legs - Skid to a stop, head wobble.
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Full Body - Skid to a stop, arm twist, head tilts and rights itself.
Jump from Standstill
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Just a Head - This will be done through programming. The player head will quickly expand and retract as though the plates are pulsing outwards to force it to briefly jump.
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Head and Arms - The arms will wind backwards, and swing/pump forwards, inwards and upwards (like swinging your arms for a jump wind-up). Characters chest and balljoint will compress, then expand.
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Head and Legs - Legs crouch and spring. Potentially later have another animation for the head lagging behind as the character body starts to fall.
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Full Body - Arm wind up, leg crouch and spring.
Moving Jump
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Just a Head - Same as idle.
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Head and Arms - Same as idle, but with forwards lean, then angle backwards to even out.
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Head and Legs - Legs skid/brace and jump.
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Full Body - Upper body has a forwards lean, angling backwards to even out, while the legs skid/brace and jump.
The camera will be centred on the player character, with the height and outward zoom increased as the player accrues more parts. When the player reaches the edge of the level, the camera should lock in place, so that the area the player can interact with stays onscreen rather than the bare walls surrounding the game.
Whenever the player enters a new puzzle that spans a large area, it may be worth locking the player controller in place, and then zooming the character controller out and panning it through the level to provide a tour of its important elements.
The screen size should scale slightly based on the number of components the player has, making them feel as though their height has increased their vision, and their ability to access more of the map. When the player is just a head, the screen size should be the height of 7 full body characters, just a head and one other component, 8 full body characters, and complete, 9 full body characters. Scaling will occur over 1 second, and start 0.5 seconds after the player has gained or lost a component.
When the character is on an elevator or reformation (checkpoint) platform, they can scroll down to move the camera outwards to expand the screen to up to double its size, allowing them to see the puzzle and its elements. Moving off of the platform, will cause the screen to zoom back in over a 2 second period after a 0.5 second delay. Preventing zooming out while in the middle of the level is intentional, as the aim is to make the player feel more immersed and reactionary, while scrolling initially allows them to orient themselves or strategize (which makes the game slightly less exciting but a bit easier). This allows the player to choose their own pace of approach.
As just a head, your character rolls around, gathering speed up to a certain limit. You are the smallest form you can be, allowing you to traverse tight spaces. You can jump 1/5 the height of what you could with legs, but you can roll up ramps and launch yourself into the air that way. When connecting with other pieces, the head has the lowest position-snap priority (that is, it will always snap above the position of any arms or legs it comes in contact with, rather than the legs or arms snapping to the head). You cannot replace your head in the game, but potentially later in development, we can add the following modifications. If the level demands it, the player will receive a head augment automatically when crossing over a checkpoint, or entering the level for the first time. The augment will remain until the checkpoint or elevator after it is last needed.
Scaler Augment
Your head is capable of adhering to and rolling along any surface whilst not attached to any other limbs. You can jump once from a surface you have adhered to.
Pincushion Augment - Scrapped Feature
Instead of jumping, you can now press and hold "W" to expand spikes from your head, increasing the radius of your outer hitbox. This outer hitbox managed collisions but doesn't damage you, the only way to take damage is to have the central hitbox (the size of your head) take damage. This holds your central (primary) hitbox above the ground and allows you to traverse spikey floor.
With just arms and a head, your character can now jump 2/5 the height of what you could with legs, but you are shorter and slightly slower than if you also had legs. Without legs, the base of your torso elevates slightly into your chest, and a ball bearing wheel pops out of the base of the abdomen (there is no overall height change to the character. Rather than the initial idea of using the arms as pseudo-legs, the ball bearing allows them to retain all functionality without legs. Arm movement will be the same as when running, but slightly slower.
Most arms allow you to pick up and carry a box by standing next to it and pressing the "Left Mouse Button", pressing it once more to drop it. Most arms also allow you to climb on surfaces with handholds, including both walls and ceilings. When equipped with arms that have an active ability, and whilst away from a box, you can aim using the cursor relative to the character controller, and use that ability by pressing the "Left Mouse Button". When connecting with other pieces, the arms have the second highest position-snap priority (that is, it will always snap above the position of any legs it comes in contact with).
With Legs, you gain access to the character's full jumping potential but also become taller, limiting the spaces that you can fit into. When connecting with other pieces, the legs have the highest position-snap priority (that is, every other part will snap above the position of the legs). Most legs have passive abilities, but those with active powers can be controlled using the "Right Mouse Button".