Running & Jumping Mechanics news - Tension mod for Half-Life 2

Hey again guys, Cooper and I have been pretty hard pressed for time lately, but we got together this weekend, and after some pizza and Oreos we got to work on Tension. I managed to implement two new features: the run and jump game play mechanics.

(If you aren't a fan of lengthy text descriptions, there is a video underneath)

Run:
We saw a comment from a user (yes, we actually read those) about how the player should keep speed when moving, and gain it while running, like Mirror's Edge. So we started with a simple run, which gained speed over time. It was almost final, and after adding the requisite code for keeping the speed from swings and pulls, it now is complete.

Jump:
Jumping posed some interesting issues. We wanted a variable (charge) jump, but soon realized this made levels far too difficult and hard to design. So then we decided to add onto our momentum concept with the double-jump. It functions as a normal jump, but when the player jumps onto a ledge, he can perform a two-jump combo. In this combo the second jump launches you high into the air.

This integrated so nicely with the swing and pull because you really built up speed throughout the level. It really keeps the pace of the game up. I also thought I'd take a second to answer two popular questions/comments I've noticed in the comments.

Sounds
We have NONE of our own sound effects as of now. Anything you hear is a placeholder, for example the grapple is all RPG sounds.

Multi-Player
While it was in the original design plans (and still is) we are focusing on getting solid game play first. This means if we get this single player version of the game working how we want, and it's well received by the community, we will be moving on to a multi-player version.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment; we love the feedback. Be sure to check out the grappling gameplay if you missed it!

Also, Cooper will most likely chime in later with a mid-week update of what he is working on.

- Alex