Welcome to week 6 of our devlog for Wicked Warehouse!

With only 3 more weeks of production to go, we've sat together and decided on what needs to be done to complete our game.
We have decided to overhaul certain elements that we had original planned to focus more on the mechanics that were already in play.
With that our biggest changes as of now include our order picker system splitting up box types, with the goal to make the game-loop more dynamic than just running from point A to B over and over again.
With that, we had to redo our original level layout design and rethink ways to set it up better for the mechanics and gameplay elements that are yet to come.

Coding

This week for coding, we ended up adding a bunch of new game mechanics and assets whilst also polishing and finishing some of the gameplay that was already present. We added different box types and updated both the order system and the box spawners to work with the newly made box types. We then also created some gameplay regarding the movement by implementing both a conveyor belt that moves boxes and players alike and an elevator to get up on and down from higher platforms.  We also added a new asset we like to call The box upgrader which takes for instance a couple of wooden boxes and turns them into a metal box! The way we drop the stack of boxes is now also different with the player holding down the button and selecting how many they drop instead of just dropping the entire stack.  

Art

-Environment
One of the biggest things that we have worked on as stated before, is the level layout design. Without changing our screenspace much, we had to improve the layout for the mechanics we had and make the warehouse more enjoyable to play in. From player feedback with our last builds, we saw that it was too cluttered and there were obstacles that were just avoidable at all times.

The image below shows the old iteration. The red path was being used and the rest could basically be ignored, both to a too cluttered layout and essential mechanics not being in play yet.

With that feedback, we've decided to build the level again, make it bigger, and separate the drop-off zones in better positions so the players have to traverse different paths. We personally feel it improved a lot, but we still need to test more and see how it could be improved more. One thing we're thinking about is having different box spawn zones locations rather than having everything stuffed in one corner. With our latest build we're already ready to test that. 

Not only did we improve the environment's visuals with the newer assets that we have, but a lot of behind the screen-magic is happening too. Colliders and technicalities are starting to get into place to make sure players are not bound to disappear into the void phasing through a wall.

-UI
Something we're also slowly working on is implementing diegetic UI elements. Currently, we're using placeholder screens that we eventually will make models for as well, but for now, we're testing color coding and size ratios to see how visible it is from a couch co-op experience. It is not yet interactive but will be coming sprint.

-Assets

We are also slowly getting rid of all the placeholder geometry and adding cool assets to our environment.  The texture was done fully using a gradient sheet. We also explored different ways of unwrapping like planar projection and camera-based which sped up our workflow. The asset above would be used as an elevator to reach a higher place. The asset shown above will be added next week with other assets.