After a couple of days of hard work, I have managed to build the first version of the climbing system for Russell. This initial version allows Russell to interact with ledges and start climbing, but there are still some issues to iron out. One of the main challenges I’m facing is with the positioning of his hands. The hands are not aligning perfectly with the ledges, which makes the animation look a bit off. I’m using Inverse Kinematics (IK) for more realistic positioning, but it seems there’s still some tweaking needed to get it just right.
Additionally, I’ve encountered a problem with the Montage animation for the shimmy action. Currently, while Russell is hanging on the ledge, he can only move to the left. I haven’t implemented the movement to the right yet (don’t ask why—it’s a long story involving late nights and some very stubborn bugs). The animation itself looks good, but there’s something not quite right with the transitions and the overall fluidity of the movement.
Looking ahead, the next major step is to implement jumping to the next ledge. This will involve detecting nearby ledges within reach, animating the jump, and ensuring Russell can grab onto the next ledge seamlessly. I’ll also be working on enabling Russell to climb up and down between ledges, adding vertical movement to his repertoire. The freehang feature, which allows Russell to hang freely from a ledge without moving, should be functional now, but it will need thorough testing to confirm its stability and smooth integration with other actions.
Finally, there’s a lot of debugging and refining to do—fixes, fixes, and more fixes. Each part of the system needs to be tested rigorously to ensure smooth transitions and realistic behavior. This involves not only the animation and IK adjustments but also refining the logic that handles Russell’s interactions with the environment. It’s a complex system with many moving parts, but each improvement brings Russell one step closer to becoming a nimble and believable climber.