Hey folks,
okay, you caught me. There was a devlog on verticality before this one, but I couldn't squeeze in everything I wanted to share. So, I'll touch on the topic again. I'm sure it will be worth your time ;)
I always wanted to have vertical diversity, such as mountains, because I think having them adds a sense of grandeur to the game world. And I wanted players to be able to climb them and not just look at them from a distance.
So, we have these high places, but what about the low ones? It is part of our design philosophy not to block off areas from players that they feel they should be able to traverse. Remember those platformers from our childhood where the hero dies as soon as his feet touch the water? These games are cool in their own way, but they can break your immersion at these points. That's why we decided to let players swim and even dive.
This, in combination with our Freeze Flasks, adds another aspect to vertical landscape diversity. Players can interact with verticality in a very direct way: they can manipulate it! In the following GIF, you can see me freeze a water surface.
This not only separates me from the creatures that are underwater but also allows me to move faster than swimming. I just have to dodge those ice crystals and accommodate for my slippery feet. Now it feels like playing one of these platformers from our childhood again ;)
I have not really seen this way of working with verticality in many other games, and I think it is a concept worth exploring more. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
Have a great rest of the week!
Alain