(Airship Trader) Dev Blog #4 - Pickups, Pressure and UI
I was away for a few days on holiday in the beautiful Harz area in Germany, but I'm back to working on the airship. The good news first: pickups are finally working. I have absolutely no idea what actually fixed them.
I had been playing around with collision layers, masks, groups and a bunch of other things, trying to figure out why the hook wasn't picking things up properly. At some point, after changing a few things around, it suddenly worked. I'm not going to pretend I fully understand which change did it. But the problem is gone, and I'll take the win. Hopefully it won't come back to haunt me later.
The pickup system now works like this: the player can pick up to three items in the middle cargo hold. If those slots are full, the hooked item can't be collected. The player has to move some of the cargo into the front or back storage first, which then changes the weight distribution and therefore the tilt of the airship.
I also fixed a bug in the inventory system, so it now correctly collects the items, and changed the layout a little. It's still very much placeholder UI, but it is starting to resemble a usable structure.
Getting the Airship Up to Speed
I've also increased the maximum speed quite a bit. I want to see if a faster, more action-oriented style of flying works better for the game, so for now I'm just pushing it a little further and seeing where it takes me. Going backwards now also has three speed gears, just like going forwards. This fits better with the telegraph-style speed indicator I have in mind for the airship UI.
Right now, though, the movement is a little too fast and a bit clunky. I definitely need to find a smoother middle ground.
This is actually becoming one of the first things I need to figure out properly, because the way the airship handles will have a pretty big influence on how the level needs to look and feel. If the ship is fast and responsive, I can design the world very differently than if it is slow and heavy.
So before I get too far into building the actual world, I want to get a better feeling for the ship itself.
Giving the Airship Some Instruments
I've also started working on the actual airship User Interface. The next design iteration, at least.
I haven't connected the new graphics to the game yet, but having them there already helps me see whether the information I want to display actually works visually.
For the speed indicator, I want to go for something inspired by old steamships: a telegraph-style gauge where the player sets the desired speed with one pointer, while a smaller needle follows along with the actual current speed.
I also want some kind of spirit level-style indicator for the ship's tilt, so the player can see how the airship is positioned relative to the ground. Its not really necessary information as the ship itself is a pretty valid indicator, but it might add a bit of flavour.
The trickier part is showing the pressure of the gas cells, or ballonets, and the gas tank in between them. I've got an idea for how I want to display this, and I like how it looks so far, but it takes up quite a lot of vertical space.
Since all of these values already exist in the game and are being used by the movement code, I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to connect them to the UI and animate everything properly.
The visual direction I'm aiming for is inspired by Victorian steampunk, but without covering everything in unnecessary flourishes. The information still needs to be easy to read, especially while actually flying the ship.
It's still mostly a collection of graphics and ideas rather than a functioning interface, but it is starting to make the airship feel a little more controllable.
What's Next?
For now, I think the next step is to keep working on the movement and find that sweet spot between speed, responsiveness and weight. Then I can start building the world around how the airship actually flies, rather than guessing at it.
Lots to do, but I know where I'm going next. Care to join me?
Follow the game and come aboard for the voyage!
I’m also happy to hear your feedback!
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