Robson's coding work for Paper Crown continued today with the integration of a new core player interaction mechanic: the Push Feature. This feature is essential for implementing puzzle-solving and obstacle management within the 2D platforming environment.

The Push Feature: Initial Implementation

The goal of the push feature is to allow the player to manipulate certain environmental objects, like crates or blocks, to open new paths or reach higher platforms.

• Additions: A movable "square" (the placeholder object) and a specific push keybind were added.
• Mechanism: When the player is in collision range of the movable square and presses the designated key (currently 'P'), the square dynamically becomes a child object of the player. By making the square a child, it is forced to move, follow, and remain locked to the player's position, allowing the player to push or pull it across the level.

Immediate Challenges and Unrealistic Behavior

As is often the case in development, adding a new system instantly revealed several unexpected and "unrealistic" bugs that require immediate attention:

1. Flipping Glitch

• Unrealistic Behavior: The movable square flips along with the player when the player changes direction.
• Underlying Cause: The character's flipping mechanism is currently set up to rotate the entire player object, which includes all of its children, such as the attached square.

2. Jumping Glitch

• Unrealistic Behavior: The movable square jumps up into the air along with the player.
• Underlying Cause: The player's jump function is currently set up to apply force and movement to the entire player object, which includes all of its children, such as the attached square.

3. Friendly Fire Damage

• Unrealistic Behavior: If the movable push square touches a damage-dealing object, the player takes damage.
• Underlying Cause: The damage detection system is currently too broad and is set up to detect collisions involving all children of the player object, treating the attached square as part of the player's vulnerable hitbox.

Robson has successfully identified the root causes for these bugs, which stem from how the game's engine treats parent and child objects during transformation (flipping, jumping) and collision detection. The next step will be to implement specific code solutions—such as detaching the push object's rotation and movement from the player's non-translational movements—to make the push feature behave realistically.

Stay tuned for the fix log!