Visual anticipation for scene transitions/quest entry

[wjt]

We link scenes together (such as Fray's End and the path to the Song Sanctuary) with pairs of Teleporter scenes. These are Area2Ds which handle body_entered by switching to another scene, with a wipe transition configured to match the direction of movement.

LoreQuests are now started in the same way. A QuestTeleporter is an Area2D which, when entered, starts a quest. There is a little bit more ceremony here because we show a splash screen for the start of the quest; after a few seconds the quest starts automatically but there is an option to interrupt and go back.

Generally it is obvious from the level design & camera motion when walking off the edge of the screen will trigger a scene switch, and we place them in pairs so if you change your mind you just walk back in the other direction. But you can't simply walk back out of a quest; and starting a quest carries a bit more weight. I think it would be nice to show some visual (and audible?) indication as you get close to the invisible triggers that start a quest.

XP Summary (total 675)

Subdomain	Skill	XP
Art: Animation & Effects	Problem Solving	75
Art: Animation & Effects	Creativity & Design Thinking	75
Art: Animation & Effects	Technical Literacy	150
Game Design: Game Feel & UX	Problem Solving	75
Game Design: Game Feel & UX	Creativity & Design Thinking	150
Game Design: Game Feel & UX	Technical Literacy	150

[wjt]

In the (excellent) game Chicory, the camera is fixed, and scene transitions use a directional wipe rather like ours (but more beautiful). Normally the wipe only happens when you actually trigger the scene transition (like in Threadbare) but if you watch this playthrough from this timestamp closely, you can see that in the screens leading up to the spooky tree (where the first boss lives), when Pizza (the dog) gets close to the area which will trigger a scene transition, the wipe gradually starts, and progress the closer the dog gets to the trigger; when the dog finally touches the trigger, the rest of the wipe follows. If you back off from the edge of the screen, the wipe reverses.

I really like this both because it builds an ominous sense that something big is about to come; and because you can immediately recognise that it's anticipating a scene change because it's the same animation you've already seen tens/hundreds of times by this point. It feels very natural.

I prototyped a much simpler version of this in Threadbare very quickly by adding a second Area2D just below the one that triggers the musician quest. When entered, it makes the Transitions node visible and tweens the fade to the halfway point. When exited, it tweens it back to nothing. And if you carry on and trigger the QuestTeleporter, that node continues the transition all the way to full black.

Screencast.From.2026-07-06.14-22-10.mp4

https://gist.github.com/wjt/35c4534da641c5ad94f528575edcb849

[wjt]

I'm not wedded to this specific visual design, it's just the one that came to mind as an effective way to anticipate the transition.