Subnautica 2D - Progress and Issues

 Here's an early update video of my Subnautica 2D project.

As of right now I've set up the swimming animation, added the water and made some adjustments to the camera. I've also added a camera zoom feature where eventually you'll be able to make your field of vision larger at the cost of light and added feelings of being a small fish in a very large alien pond. That's the idea anyway!

I've also started work on the adaptation document, but it's just in notes form right now. I ended up being a little held up by my semester 2 essay but I'm back to focussing on this project now!

My main issue right now with my playable proof of concept is that I wanted to have the player sidescrolling around the sides of what would essentially be a large cylinder. I would have attached the player to a spline, and had that spline go all around the outside of the ocean in a circle. Subnautica is set in the crater of a volcano, so I wanted to give the effect of moving all around the outside while still in the 2D sidescroller format. It would also have made the world into a loop with no edges. However, I just could not get the camera to work with this setup - either the camera wouldn't follow the player on the spline as the player veered off, or the camera would rotate to match the player exactly, which wasn't really preferable as the player rotates when they change direction, so this meant the camera was constantly swooping around the player. This method also got rid of the springarm, which is what I was using for the zoom effect. I also tried making the world just appear to be cylindrical like in Animal Crossing, but this requires editing the materials of every mesh in the game - at least with the tutorials I found.

I think I'm going to scrap this idea for the proof of concept, as it matters a lot in regard to how I build the playable level. If I could get the circular world to work, the level would have to be circular as opposed to straight. I don't want to waste time building a circular level if I can't get the camera to work, but I really need to move on to other parts of the demo. For now I'm going to make a straight level, and get to work on the mechanics. I can always implement a fish-eye lens effect on the camera to give a similar visual effect, or go through with changing every material for the Animal Crossing approach. I might make a small cylindrical level at the end if I have a sudden eureka moment with the camera!

Anyway, that's all for now. See you in the next one!

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