Week 7: Character select and Camera smoothing

Step 1: Character Select Part 1

  

We can let the player select a different character. We have the boy and girl characters for this.

Step 2: Character Select Part 2

Step 3: Character Select Part 3

Step 4: Character Select Part 4

Step 5: Camera movement with Physics Part 1

  

We can make the camera move in a much nicer way than just sticking to the player. Many games use camera motion in interesting ways to make the gameplay more engaging. Check out this article by Itay Keren for more info: Scroll Back - The Theory and Practice of Cameras in Side-Scrollers

Step 6: Camera movement with Physics Part 2

Step 7: Forward focus camera Part 1

  

By making the camera move further in front of the player, we can let the player see more of the level before they run into it. We will detect which way the player is facing, and move the camera’s target point away from the player in the correct direction.

Step 8: Forward focus camera Part 2

Step 9: Camera limits

  

Limiting where the camera can go means that the player won’t see outside of your level bounds (or wherever you’d like to limit the camera to).

Step 10: Scrolling camera Part 1

  

You can change your camera object to constantly move forwards, and force the player to keep within the camera view by ending the game if they can’t keep up. This might be a good idea for a unique level in your game, like a runner mode with an obstacle course.

Step 11: Scrolling camera Part 2