Balloons as Teleporters

May 26, 2016

Several examples of teleporter balloons. Click for a larger image.

The world of Shroud of the Avatar is divided into many adventure, town, and story scenes. Exiting a scene can be as simple as walking to the edge of the play area, but SotA also includes many interactive teleporters. The visuals for these teleporters are important. If a player is fictionally traveling along a dusty road then the interactive teleporter is probably a caravan wagon. If a player is being sent across an ocean, then a teleporter that looks like a ship is called for. Going underground is accomplished by clicking on a hatch. But SotA didn't have the perfect teleporter for all situations, such as when a player wanted to travel from an island to a land-locked mountain.

Keith decided to create a teleporter balloon that could be used as an all-purpose teleporter visual. Based off existing house-sized dirigibles used in the game, he worked with the art team to create new balloons that were smaller than the existing decorative ones, including one-occupant baskets. He added two scripts to perfect the balloon visual: one to make the balloon float and another to dynamically spin the balloon depending on the direction of the wind in the scene.

Tags: ancillary design, Catnip Games, multiplayer, Portalarium, single-player, worldbuilding