Spiral Mode: Orbiting a Rotating Tunnel
Building the spiral box tunnel, and the mass and bounce values that decide how the ball travels it.
In This Tutorial
What Spiral Mode Is
Spiral mode builds a tunnel out of individual boxes arranged in a spiral, and drops the ball into it. The boxes are physical objects with their own mass, so the ball pushes them around as it travels and the tunnel deforms during the run. This is the only public mode where the arena itself is made of movable pieces, which is why it produces motion that does not look like any other mode.
- •Press B to throw the ball. The Throw Angle, 0 to 360, and Throw Power, 0 to 100, set the launch.
Building the Tunnel
Box Count accepts 10 to 500 and sets how long the tunnel is. Box Width and Box Height each accept 5 to 100. Box Spacing, from 0 to 100, sets the gap between them, and a spacing near zero gives a solid wall while a wide spacing gives a broken tunnel the ball can slip through. Spiral Scale, from 0.1 to 3.0, sizes the whole structure. Min Box Scale and Max Box Scale, from 0.1 to 1.0 and 0.1 to 2.0, taper the boxes along the spiral so the tunnel narrows or widens as it goes.
- →Box Count: 10 to 500
- →Box Width / Box Height: 5 to 100 each
- →Box Spacing: 0 to 100
- →Spiral Scale: 0.1 to 3.0 | Spiral Rotation: 0 to 360 degrees
- →Min Box Scale: 0.1 to 1.0 | Max Box Scale: 0.1 to 2.0
Mass Is the Setting That Matters
Ball Mass accepts 0.1 to 100 and Box Mass accepts 1 to 1000, and the ratio between them decides everything about how the run feels. A heavy ball against light boxes ploughs a path and scatters the tunnel, which is dramatic but ends fast. A light ball against heavy boxes rides the tunnel and stays in it, which gives long clips. Set the ratio first, then tune the bounce values, because changing mass invalidates whatever bounce settings you had.
- →Ball Mass: 0.1 to 100
- →Box Mass: 1 to 1000
- →Ball Bounce: 0 to 1.5, step 0.05 (default 0)
- →Box Bounce: 0 to 1.5, step 0.05 (default 0)
- →Box Air Resistance: 0.8 to 1.0, step 0.001
Settling the Scattered Boxes
Box Air Resistance accepts 0.8 to 1.0 and damps box motion after a collision. At 1.0 there is no damping and knocked boxes drift forever, which leaves a messy frame. Bring it down toward 0.98 and disturbed boxes settle after a few seconds so the tunnel keeps its shape. This is the setting to reach for when your clip looks chaotic in a way you did not intend.
- •Small changes matter here. The difference between 1.0 and 0.99 is very visible over a thirty second clip.
Styling the Tunnel
Box Style and Texture set the surface. The Color Engine offers several schemes including a two-colour ramp using Color A and Color B. Opacity accepts 0 to 1 and Texture Opacity 0 to 1. Glow Radius accepts 0 to 100 with its own glow colour. Edge Thickness accepts 0 to 10 with a border colour. A gradient ramp along the spiral, with a moderate glow on a dark background, is what makes the tunnel read as depth rather than a flat pattern.
- •Colour the boxes along the spiral rather than uniformly. The gradient is what communicates depth.
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