Have you wanted to make a game where you can run fast and jump high? Look no further, a new Platformer Template is here!
The team at Rec Room has put together ^PlatformerTemplate with a ton of locomotion functionality already implemented to get you started. A lot of these mechanics you can find in our Rec Room Original, ^RunTheBlock, but you will NOT need Rec Room Studio to make significant modifications!
How to find ^PlatformerTemplate
You can find ^PlatformerTemplate in the Create menu when you go create a new room.
We recommend running around the room and engaging with the various mechanics before trying to jump into creating. You can also use this post as a breakdown of what the room includes. Let’s take a deep dive into each of these mechanics.
Movement and Ability Stats
There are a number of tunable variables you can configure and change to adjust the movement in the game. If you’re a more experienced circuiteer, you can edit deeper into the locomotion circuits and make the movement feel exactly how you want or add new capabilities.
These are some of the tunables you can change out of the box using the Moment Stats Level Variables:
- Move Speed
- Jump Height
- Stomp Enabled
- Dash / Air Dash Enabled
- Number of Dash Charges
- Dash Cooldown
- Grind Speed
- Multi Jump
In addition, the Raw Movement Stats Data Table lets you change the raw values for these levels. If you want to experiment with configurations we didn’t have in ^RunTheBlock, like jumping 50 feet in the air, try changing those values.
Next is the actual Player Locomotion circuits graph. There are a number of circuit boards here that have tunables on them that give you finer control over specific abilities. Configuring the ports on these boards gives you control for things like how long an air dash lasts, the amount of force when bumping another player, and how far and high a wall jump kicks you off a wall.
This is also the place to change the sound effects of any of these abilities.
Respawn Volumes
Respawn Volumes move the player back to the last position they were on the ground. They’re great for hazards on your map that should make the player respawn like water or lava, or to ensure players stay in the gameplay area. You can clone the volumes and adjust their size using the manipulate/scale tools to reposition them where you see fit.
Collectibles
There is also a Collectible system you can tap into! Once players get a collectible, it’s obtained permanently; they will stay collected on subsequent visits to the room. You can use these as a unique collectible currency in your room, and make a system to upgrade abilities or stats like we we did in ^RunTheBlock.
You can change the visual of the collectible by updating the image for the Inventory Item and make it whatever you wish!
Bounce Pads
When players land on an object tagged with “BouncePad”, they will soar into the sky!
You can apply this tag to Maker Pen Shapes and other Rec Room Objects, or clone one of the bounce pad props we’ve placed on the map.
Grind Rails
In this template, Grind Rails are entirely made from a Maker Pen shape and two Vector Components defining the two endpoints.
If you want to make one longer or shorter, simply manipulate the shape to the size you want, and move the Vector Components to the new ends of the shape.
We’ve included a few examples in the map including a loop to try out– we’re excited to see all the fun grind setups the community comes up with, so please share your images with us in the comments of this post!
Climbable Surfaces
We have added a ladder from ^RunTheBlock to this template, but you can also make any Maker Pen Shape climbable in the config menu.
Time Trials
This template features the Time Trials you might remember from ^RunTheBlock. The image below provides instructions for creating your own, and we’ve included a few example time trials for you to run through for inspiration!
We highly recommend going through all the steps for a new Time Trial first before trying to run it. You will hit circuit errors when a step isn’t completed or there are missing connections.
Included with Time Trials is Rec Room’s leaderboard system. Leaderboards display the top times for anyone who’s ever run your Time Trial, and can also be filtered by friends. Leaderboards only support 7 different stats, so only 7 Time Trials can be supported by this system. When setting up your Time Trials you can determine which ones support leaderboard functionality by their position in the Manifest Data Table, using the first 7 rows.
HUD & Time Trial UI
We’ve made a HUD and Time Trial UI for this template. If you want to make any major alterations here, you’ll need Rec Room Studio.
The HUD is mainly used for showing how many Dash charges you have and how many Collectibles you have.
We’ve included a few simple Studio Function chips you can use to enable or disable the HUD or Dash Charge elements entirely.
The Time Trial UI is used to start Time Trials and see the results at the end of the run. If you want to make major changes to this menu you’ll need to use Rec Room Studio.
Room Moods
This template uses the Room Moods system to adjust the look of the skybox/sun/background objects. Using the Maker Pen you can change all of these settings to something spooky, or bright and sunny!Do you want a spooky, nighttime theme? Or maybe a more warm, daytime theme? Change it all right here with the Maker Pen!
Closing
We’re excited to see all the different rooms you create using this as a base! Let us know what you think of the template room and what you’d like to see going forward!