So last week I was all about sound. That was until I went to add in some sounds for the UI, like zooming in. At that point, I realized I didn’t really have a ‘zoom in’, I was just switching cameras. And that is how the rabbit hole began.

In this test video I had completely rewritten the camera system, moving away from cameras tied to the individual MAV and weapons, and instead, using a global camera manager. This solves quite a few issues:

Unity frame lag is gone.

Turning a camera on in Unity is an incredibly expensive operation and the old system relied on turning cameras on and off to switch weapons.

Transitions are possible.

Because each camera is always around, I can actually control where it is and what it is doing. This means fun things like camera transitions and effects.

Spectator mode can be MUCH better.

This whole system is built around a floating camera, which is exactly what spectator mode is. This system allows the camera to be attached to any control system, making it even possible to ‘leave your MAV’ if that is something that fits the game.

But, if you watch that video close enough, you can tell it’s not perfect yet. I have been hammering down on all the little bugs and trying to perfect the system. I have already smashed out quite a few of these bugs, but there are still some issues with when you first spawn in. I might defer these to when I redo the gameflow, as it really is a part of that system and this task has already rabbit holed for a whole week. Plus, I am super excited to be moving on to destruction and sound. I want to spend a week working on the destruction and particle fx in the game, then move on to finalizing some of the audio the week of Thanksgiving. Does this sound exciting to you? Then join me on Twitch tonight and help me create some more explosions!

I have also made the choice to extend my streaming schedule to have another dev session on the weekends.

Wednesday 7:30pm PST : Game dev stream

Friday 7:30pm PST : Friday Night Fights multiplayer action

Sunday 10:00am – Noon PST : Game dev stream

I really hope to see you on the streams!

[Side note: Congratulations to LordDelvin for unlocking the first instance of the Featured Build award!]