Postby xiriusnoodles » Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:21 am
The swimming controls are unconventional compared to most 3D platformers I have played, but they have some advantages compared to the "aim character and swim" approach. For one, by mapping horizontal/lateral movement to the joystick and vertical movement to buttons, it's possible to introduce a larger underwater moveset that does not entirely consist of "spin or dive furiously at target". With Yooka's movement independent of the camera, you can look behind you and see what's attacking from behind, without having to stop and slowly point yourself at the threat. If Yooka gets to use his tongue to grab and carry objects and enemies, he could carry them underwater to use as ammo or to keep an underwater switch weighed down. There could also be instances where you need to grab floating boxes, drag them underwater, and move them to another location to use as platforms. With the classic "point and swim" controls, you would have to aim the character at the object and then try to grab it, all while the camera changes angle constantly to stay behind you. This is not to say that the current implementation has faults, though. It would be nice if Yooka would swim faster with the Right Trigger, and do some torpedo attack with the Left Trigger, though this could be solved by making those moves unlockable. The general lag in the transition to vertical movement (rising, diving) does need to fixed. If I see something directly under me or above me, I want to go straight toward it, not a bit to the left or right of it.