Jumping game devlog #2: Game Over Logic, Juice & Visual Polish

In the last update, the goat was essentially immortal. You could step into empty space and keep walking on air. For Devlog #2, the main focus was locking down the actual losing conditions and adding game feel ("juice") to every action.

1. Death Mechanics & Fall Logic

The most critical missing feature was fall detection.

• Stepping onto a non-existent step now triggers a falling state.
• The player character drops into the void below, terminating the current run.

2. Game-Over UI & Restart Loop

Once a run ends, the game needs a clean way to reset without breaking the flow:

• Card Defeat Animation: The player's active card hand swishes off-screen upon death.
• Centered Score: The score counter animates to the center of the viewport and scales up to highlight your final score.
• Start/Restart Flow: Added a dedicated restart button alongside a smooth camera transition back to the starting block.

3. Game Feel: Jump Rotation & Particle FX

To make jumping feel snappy and responsive:

• Mid-Air Tilt: Added procedural pitch and tilt rotation to the goat character model during jumps.
• Landing Particles: Implemented a subtle dust cloud particle effect on step landings to give impact to each jump.

4. Environment Polish: Stone Textures

To improve visual clarity and depth:

• Swapped the plain brown pillar bases for detailed low-poly stone step textures.
• Kept the bright green grass tops to maintain strong contrast between paths and the background void.

What's Coming in Devlog #3?

Now that the complete gameplay loop (start -> play -> die -> restart) is functional, it's time to make reaching high scores much harder:

• Environmental Traps: Crumbling steps, spikes, and slippery surfaces.
• Step Diversity: Adding special step tiles with unique gameplay effects.

Follow along on Instagram and YouTube for the next video update!