Twisted IK 2.0.0 released- 2D SUPPORT

Hey everyone! I'm excited to announce that Twisted IK 2 version 2.0.0 has been released, adding something that has been missing up to this point: 2D IK support! Now Twisted IK 2 supports both 3D and 2D IK, making it the ultimate IK solution for Godot.

All of the 3D IK solvers currently implemented in 3D are now implemented in 2D: LookAt, CCDIK, FABRIK, Jiggle, CurveIK, and TwoBoneIK are all fully implemented and work great in 2D. As with 3D, loads of properties are exposed so you can get the result you are looking for.

But it's not all just a straight port from 3D to 2D, there is also some 2D specific goodies implemented.

• One of the most visible is that Twisted_Bone2D nodes, which are just extended Bone2D nodes, have custom-made gizmos!
  • This allows you to change the color and visibility of bones on a per-bone basis, as well as choosing the color these bones take when IK is executing.
• There is no Twisted_Skeleton2D node! You can just use a normal Godot Skeleton2D node, as I didn't need to implement any skeleton specific functionality.
  • Additionally, because Twisted_Bone2D nodes are extended Bone2D nodes with additional functionality, converting an existing Skeleton2D and Bone2D node setup to work with Twisted IK 2 is simply just changing Bone2D nodes to Twisted_Bone2D nodes and potentially adjusting a few properties on the bones (tip/childless bones are the only ones that really need additional work 90% of the time)
• LookAt has angle constraints! This is an optional feature that you can enable and configure in the node inspector.
  • Just like in 3D, CCDIK in 2D also supports angle constraints.
• 2D modifiers also have gizmo support! Currently only used on LookAt and CCDIK for visualizing angle constraints. These gizmos make it much easier to see the range of motion these solvers have, making setup much more pleasant.
• All 2D IK modifiers work with both positively scaled nodes and negatively scaled nodes! If you want to flip your character by changing the X scale to -1 and back, the IK code should just work.
  • One minor requirement is that the Skeleton2D, Twisted_Bone2D nodes, and the Polygon2D, and any other bone-attached nodes, all have to be parented to a Node2D and that node is the one you can change the scale on. The 2D test scenes are setup so they work with negative scales and I believe one of them has a test animation that shows this off (I want to say CCDIK)

The list above is not everything, as mentioned all of the functionality that IK has in 3D is also part of 2D. For example, FABRIK has per-joint gravity settings and setting the tip bone to use target rotation, and Jiggle can use a relative vector. The functionality between 3D and 2D are really quite similar, so if you are used to one working with the other should be easy. One of my goals with 2D IK was making sure its just as powerful and useful as the 3D equivalent, making sure that no matter which dimension you program games for, you have access to great IK in Godot.

The example development project has been updated to include examples showing 2D IK, like the one you see below for 2D Jiggle!

This is a huge update and basically doubles the code base and functionality of Twisted IK 2. I have done some bug testing, but because of the large size of this update, there may be bugs and things I've missed. Please do not hesitate to report any bugs you find. Additionally, if you have any feedback or suggestions, please make a post on the community page here on Itch.IO and I'll try to reply as soon as I can.

Moving forward, I plan to fix up any bugs or issues with 2D IK support, as well as look into adding a version of FABRIK that supports angle constraints to 2D IK. I also plan to continue work on the documentation, so the plugin is easier to understand and use. There is no ETA on the next update, but you can always follow me on Twitter if you want to see what I'm working on and in-progress sneak peeks of coming updates.

Finally, to celebrate 2D IK support being added to Twisted IK 2 and the upcoming Lunar New Year, Twisted IK 2 will be on sale with a 25% off discount from February 8th to February 15th. If you have been wanting to get Twisted IK 2 for commercial use, then this sale would be a great time to pick it up!

Thanks for reading and for your support!