Problem: Face Your Fears

Reported By: David Tarnowski

December 3rd, 2023

THE PROBLEM

In our ongoing efforts to refine the gaming experience, we encountered a new challenge: inconsistent enemy movement. This issue was particularly perplexing; while the animations for enemy movements were playing correctly, the actual execution of these movements was erratic. Players noted that enemies would sometimes animate as if moving, but without any corresponding physical motion. This inconsistency was disrupting the gameplay, making it less immersive and predictable.

THE SOLUTION

Our initial hypothesis was that the problem stemmed from our navigation mesh (navmesh) agent, specifically how it was being toggled on and off. However, after several hours of intense debugging, we discovered that the real issue lay in the logic governing enemy orientation.

The breakthrough came when we realized that the process of passing in new rotation positions for the enemies was inadvertently transmitting other transform data as well. Our solution was straightforward yet effective: we disabled the enemy's ability to rotate during their animation sequences.

This adjustment yielded two significant improvements:

Figure A. Full range of motion

1. Root Motion Resolved: By restricting rotation during animations, we completely eradicated the root motion inconsistency. Enemies now move exactly as their animations suggest, aligning visual cues with actual gameplay mechanics.

Figure B. Finish what you're doing before you look at me!

2. Enhanced Combat Realism: With the removal of mid-attack rotations, enemy assaults became more believable and balanced. This change adds a layer of fairness and strategy to combat, as players can now anticipate and respond to enemy attacks based on visible cues.

The outcome of these changes is a more cohesive and engaging gaming experience. We've effectively ironed out a critical inconsistency that marred the fluidity of gameplay, making enemy interactions more predictable and tactically interesting.

As we continue our journey in game development, we remain committed to addressing issues and enhancing the overall quality of our game. Your feedback is crucial in this process, helping us identify areas for improvement and guiding our decisions.

Stay connected for more updates from our development journey. We're dedicated to delivering an immersive and seamless gaming experience, and your support is vital to our success.

Thank you for being part of our gaming community.