Platformer is feeling pretty good, thanks to some recent defold features

Dev diaries
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I’m hacking on a game to play with my daughter, inspired by DKC / SMB / M64:

The custom platforming physics depend on these three awesome features:

  1. A blend of tile-based and freely-placed collision volumes. This is so much easier to do with the configurable editor grid shipped by @sprocketc.

  2. Interpolation of the visuals across a fixed physics timestep. The game runs smoothly at 30, 60, or 120 physics Hz and renders at the native refresh rate on 60Hz, 120Hz, etc screens. Thanks to GitHub - indiesoftby/defold-object-interpolation: Interpolate the position and rotation of a game object between fixed update steps. by @aglitchman!

  3. Convex collision hulls with geometric overlap, built automatically from tilemaps via an editor script. This enables reliable, tunneling-free solutions to interactions between moving platforms, one-way floors, and the player. Thanks to @vlaaad for the 1.10.4 editor script enhancements!

adagame-hulls
adagame-hulls2018×1432 260 KB

I’m still just putting together a playground of interactive things (breakable blocks, ladders, ramps, moving platforms, etc) and getting just moving the character around to feel fun. Having a great time with Defold, which to me hits the sweet spot on the code<>engine gradient: https://youtu.be/Qj6dCd8KPKc?si=nRXEuUdvgvNr4Fx2&t=192

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Wow, nice progress and some clever solutions used!

4 Likes
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Creating a platformer, in my opinion, is one of the most difficult tasks. But it seems that you’re doing really well! I like it.

I finally solved the issue of what to do when fixed update runs at the same frequency as updates and the fixed update frames can alternate - 2, 0, 2, 0 - until it stabilizes to 1, 1, 1 etc. So I will update this extension soon, and it will work even better (smoother)!

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