Great job, namida!
Here are my first impressions:
1) The Jumper actually jumps a little further than I expected - but that's a good thing!
Better too far than too short. I placed a couple of standard L2 square blocks next to each other, at such a distance that the gaps between them were just as wide as the blocks themselves. When jumping from block to block, the Jumper would land a little further to the front on each next block compared to the previous one, until he would eventually jump too far and fall off the next block. But that's precisely what I meant anyone can easily adapt in their levels - by just placing these blocks a little further apart, or intentionally not doing so (making the placement of the Jumper a little more challenging, or dare I say "add execution difficulty", for those who like it
).
In short: The distance seems perfect for me! Right now the Jumper can jump from the foot of a Builder staircase right to its top, which seems very fitting overall.
2) So, looks like updrafts do increase the jump height, after all? It's minor, so hard to notice, but it does indeed look like it. I certainly approve of this! 3) I had a little trouble getting
Jumper-Shimmier transitions to work at first, because I thought the Shimmier had to be assigned when the Jumper actually touched the ceiling - not while he was on the upward part of his curve, still moving towards the ceiling. Thus, initially I thought Jumper-Shimmier transitions hadn't been implemented (yet).
But now that I've found out how it works, it seems fine to me!4) One thing that definitely doesn't work yet is Jumper cloning: The Cloner assignment is delayed until the Jumper lands on his feet again, and then the Clone is a regular Walker. Maybe this is intentional at this point and you simply haven't had the time yet to implement this?
In the Anticipated-Jumper-behaviour thread (i.e. the one before discussing the actual physics), it was already pointed out that Jumper cloning would be one of the most difficult parts to code.
5) Another thing that didn't come to my mind until just now:
How should Jumpers respond to splat pads? Shimmiers die when failing to reach for a ceiling, because they transition back into a Faller.
Jumpers will obviously also die if a platform with a splat pad is 1 pixel lower than the platform they started jumping from, because they will transition to a Faller after the jumping arc is completed, and therefore splat.
But what about a Jumper landing straight on a splat pad at the end of or even earlier during his jump (e.g. when jumping onto a platform
higher than the one he started from)?
Splat pads seem like a great way to make certain paths "Jumper-proof". We have a new skill, that means we also need to consider new potential backroutes. I'm just not sure whether it would be counter-intuitive as far as mechanics are concerned, because the Jumper wouldn't transition into a Faller before hitting the splat pad and splatting. But they still "land on it", so that would make the player expect them to splat again...
Just for everyone's information: Currently, Jumpers don't splat when landing on a splat pad within the course of their arc (=meaning the only splat if they become a regular Faller after the jump).The latter point probably shouldn't be discussed here, but in the Jumper physics thread. I just wanted to mention it for overview purposes; I'll copy that last part and paste it over there.