Hi! I'm using this blog as part of a class requirement to keep track of my progress on my semester project - a 3d environment filled with little capybaras to talk to!
Alright, this is a post I didn't think I'd end up making. Unfortunately, I've decided to put CapyQuest on long-term hiatus. It's been really hard to find motivation to work on it, and honestly my expectations of the final game are too high for me to reach by myself. I'm not giving up entirely, but I'm going to stop posting to this blog for the time being.
If, or more likely when, I return, I'll probably need some help with puzzle design, mechanics, level design, audio design, narrative, and animation. Who knows, maybe I'll put together a little team? Only time will tell!
While I'm sad I have to set CQ aside for now, I'm excited for the future where I'm able to rekindle my motivation and keep going.
Once again, not a huge update, but for good reason this time (and not just bad time management lol) I got Covid, so I've had to take some time away from working to rest. But now I'm well enough to be at my computer again!
This last week I managed to get the basics of the grappling hook shot function done. It's not very pretty right now, but it's the foundation that's most important. Since there's not much to show on its own, I'll include footage of it next week when I've got more to share.
Also, while I was working on it, I had a thought... what if there was a function to hang on after you'd reached the shot position? And that spiraled into ideas of a climbing function, and a sidle function. Since this game is a puzzle platformer, why don't I introduce more interesting platforming mechanics? I know it's feature creep, but I really think it'd add to the game if there was more complexity in the platforming.
Before I start working on those, I want to get the main grappling system down first. So, let's see what my week is looking like!
Main focus: Grapple mechanics
I'm going to get the main functions of the pull and swing functions done, and then (if I have time) I'm going to make them look nice, with proper animations and all that. Since I never really "nailed it" on my first version of CQ, I know this is the part that will hold me back the most, so wish me luck!
Life has been crazy busy for me these past few weeks, so unfortunately I once again had a week of no CQ work. I'm going to try to trim down my priorities to find more time to work on CapyQuest, but be prepared for veryyyy slow updates, maybe none at all for a couple weeks. We'll just have to wait and see.
Alright, let's just jump right into things, shall we?
I didn't hit all my goals necessarily that I'd hoped to this past week, but it does mean I could put more care into the code that I did get done. I'm really surprised with how concise and efficient my code has been compared to the original demo!
Anyways, while I didn't finish the shot and pull grappling hook mechanics, I did set up the aiming and throwing systems. And they work amazingly! I will do a little cleanup, but otherwise it's ready to go.
And, sorry, no video today. I hope you can forgive me :')
Let's see what's happening this next week!
Main focus: Shot and pull mechanics
I don't want to speak too soon, but I'll probably be able to get some more work done on top of this. I might get some new animations done, or start working on the swing mechanic. We'll see! But my top priority is the shot and pull.
Kind of a shorter update this week, but I've covered everything. So, I'll see ya later!
Alright, I got quite a bit done this past week! Not as much as I was hoping for, but I nailed down a solution to a problem that I hadn't planned on fixing for a while.
So, in the original CQ demo, I faced a problem where having multiple interactable objects within range would both be triggered when interacting. My plan last time was just to space out interactable objects from each other so only one could ever be in range at a time. This was a pretty bad and limiting strategy.
Now, when you press E to interact, it will calculate which object, if any, is closest to you, and only trigger that one. It works like a charm! Now I have more freedom in level design.
Also, I set up the indicator icon that lets you know if there's an interactable object in range.
Finally, I made the pick up/set down system. I just have to now animate the player character to have her arms out, so it will look like she's actually holding it.
Here's the recap video for you!
So, what's going on this week?
Main focus: Grappling aim and fire
I want to get started on the grappling hook early since it's a major mechanic in the game. Getting the mechanics working is my first priority, so that I can make level design easier and more free for myself in the future.
After the aiming system, I'll start to work on the easier two of three grappling effects, which would be the shot and the pull. I'll probably dedicate next week to the swinging mechanic. Hopefully I can get all of this done more efficiently than last time!
Since I'm starting fresh, I had to do some setup. Thankfully I'm able to salvage a lot of stuff from the previous demo, including the player character's model, textures, and all of its animations. Phew!
I used the default third-person starting blueprint to save time. As I mentioned, I set up the character model, imported and implemented all the animations, and added a basic walk-run toggle. Other than that and some basic file organization, I haven't gotten much else done. Still, not bad, especially since I'm kind of swamped this month.
Anyways, that leads us to this week! What's going on?
Main focus: Basic mechanics
I'm mainly going to work on three mechanics this week: Picking up/setting down objects, grapple hook aiming and firing, and starting dialogue.
I'll be following tutorials for the dialogue system, since in the past, when I made my own from scratch, it was busy and inefficient. I'll be following this tutorial series, which seems to be really in-depth with a lot of flexibility.
Also, if I have time, I'm going to redo the jump animations for the player character.
So. I was playing through the mountainside level to figure out what needed to be fixed or finished to publish it and redirect all of my focus to the remake. Unfortunately, everything is broken. I don't know when any of it happened, but here's a brief list of what no longer works! :D
Drowning/respawning is broken
Grappling no longer works at all except for swinging (???)
The pull box for one of the puzzles, which can no longer be grappled, also doesn't respawn after falling into water
I would have to remake all the capys that were using an old blueprint (so, like, all of them) Not a huge deal, but very time-consuming.
The skeletal mesh SKM_Capy_1 is not compatible with the Capy skeleton... which makes no sense at all, it was working just fine a while back and I didn't make any changes to the skeleton OR the skeletal mesh. I've tried fixing it many times, but it's just not working, unless I want to completely re-rig Capy 1. However, SKM_Capy_2 still works.
I don't know when or why all of this stuff broke. Maybe there was something wrong with the way I was backing it up? And it is partially my fault, since I knew about some of these problems for a while and mistakenly thought I could just fix them easily in the future. Well, the future's here, and there's not really any fixing them.
So instead, I'm just going to, unfortunately, have to abandon it. I learned a lot along the way, though. It just kinda sucks that I added so much and lost all that progress, but hey, I'm remaking it anyways! And the remake will be much better and more exciting! And I'll remember to playtest regularly this time!
Fortunately, I still have the original demo and level 1 packaged and available on itch.io, so I'm not losing everything! Here are links, if you'd like to play them! They're both free to play with optional donations, so don't feel pressured to pay. Just click the text that says "No thanks, just take me to the downloads"
Original
Level 1 (Password: DFX452)
That's about it! It's a bummer, but there's a lot I can salvage, and what I can't salvage I will make even better than before. This isn't the end, it's just the beginning.
I've been doing pre-production for the new and improved CapyQuest! So far it's just planning and prepping, not much hard work. I...
Made a list of mechanics
Decided on naming conventions
Set up folder organization
Compiled tutorials for future reference
Decided on texel density/texture resolution
All of this is a good start! I feel very organized, and I feel like I have more direction to get started in a much better way. Now that I have some basic setup done, I'm ready to hop back into the original CQ to finish it up.
Speaking of, let's see what I'll be working on this week!
Main focus: Organizing the end of the CQ production
I'll be starting with going into the project and make a comprehensive list of things I need to fix and things I need to finish, and then I'll get started on organizing the tasks and get started on them. I think I'd like to finish the grappling hook mechanic once and for all - it's been the bane of my existence for quite a while. But we'll see how far I get!
If you saw my last post, you'll know I've been starting from scratch! Yup, the whole demo! So I have nothing to share in terms of updates. So, let's get right into this!
What am I getting up to on my new first week?
Main focus: Art bible and basic setup
I'm going to set myself some rules on the 3D art side. Stuff like determining texel density (pixels per unit), poly count for each kind of asset, and some other stuff like that. All that is going in my art bible!
I'm also going to see what I can salvage from the original demo in term of models - I'll probably have to redo a lot of textures for consistency, but I'll see what models I can reuse.
Additionally, I'll make a list of the final things I need to complete for the rest of the original demo so I can get that squared away. Even though it's not perfect, I've still worked hard on it, and I want something to show for all that work before I move on to the remake!
Alright, this is a really big decision I've made that I've been thinking about for a LONG time. I'm not really sure how to introduce it in a nice way, so I'll just say it. I'm starting from scratch.
I have a lot to say, but TL;DR I'm a better artist and game developer now than when I started, and it's time I learned how to do things properly and apply what I've learned over the past few years. It'll be really good for my growth and for CQ in the long run. But, I will finish up what I've currently got and release it still!
Click 'Keep reading' to read my super-big text dump about this!
CapyQuest has its roots in my college career. I made the original demo my second-to-last year, and expanded it to a larger demo for my final year's final, which is what I've been working on finishing for ages now, documented here.
I'm a much better artist than when I started for one, and so many of the assets I've made are just not what I'd consider acceptable from myself today. A lot of my assets were super rushed, being for a college final and all. Not to mention I'm a better technical artist as well, meaning I now know how to make sure everything has the same texel density/resolution, how to optimize models with poly count and texture, how to monitor rendering performance, etc.
I'm also a better game developer. I used to be so impatient with doing things the "right" way that I would find a way to make it work for me. I didn't realize how messy and complicated these things would end up being (like the dialogue system that I just improved - it's still not as nice as I'd like it!) I didn't even realize all of this until I started following a masterclass for a different game development project, and so many of the things that took me days could actually be done in just an hour or less. I'm more open to learning new things properly at my own pace instead of just watching 30 seconds of various tutorials and mish-mashing them together.
Also, I'm nowhere near being done with even the first section of the forest grove area. Not great! So I think it'd kind of be a waste of time to do what amounts to, like, 60% of the demo's content, just to redo it in the future if I make CQ a full game. Oh, and don't even get me started on the grappling mechanics. So many of the mechanics are so jank that it's impossible to fix mistakes, since they're so poorly made and disorganized.
WHEW. That was a lot! Well, I'm really excited to start fresh - I'd been feeling kind of stuck for a while, so this is nice. It's honestly a relief to have settled on this decision. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone, but it's for the best. I promise it'll be worth it! I will finish up what I have and post it to my itch.io page, but it'll remain unfinished.
Thanks for sticking around and reading this! I know I don't have many followers, as this blog is mostly for my own use, but for those of you that do care, thank you so much for your support.
I'm back from my little hiatus! Holidays were super busy, but I managed to get a lot of good work done. So let's just get right to it!
Over break I managed to:
Fix the pick up/set down mechanic
Change the "Press E to Interact" UI with a flashing logo
Completely overhauled the dialogue system
Made new material for forest grove walls
Made modular grove wall pieces for easy construction
Coded base system for the first forest grove puzzle
Added basic inventory variable in game instance
This was actually quite a bit of work considering how little time I spent on it! I think taking a bit of a break helped my burnout, because now all I want to do is keep working lol. So hopefully I'll have more impressive updates for the next few weeks. I also think I should take this as a lesson to take time off from CQ every once in a while, just so I don't get sick of it. This means I might have some more hiatuses in the future, but not as long as the holiday one, and not super often.
Here's the recap video (it's a bit longer than usual, go figure):
Anyways! What's coming up in this next week?
Main focus: Dialogue and scripting
I would love to get the dialogue system complete! You can see in the video that I've found a much more organized way to go about it compared to my old system. A few things I need to change/add are responses (a new feature that I'm really excited about!) and scrolling text. I also need to fix up the animations a bit.
With dialogue responses, the game will feel more immersive for the player. Right now all you can do is listen to what the capybaras are saying, but it felt impersonal since you couldn't choose how to respond to them. They just didn't feel like they were talking to you, more like they were talking at you. So, I'm excited to implement this new option!
This also means that I have to rewrite a bunch of dialogue to take advantage of it, so... that's gonna take some work as well. I think I'm also going to work on optimizing the grappling hook if I have some spare time. I just really need to get these base mechanics done, and it'll be smooth-sailing from there.
Before we start, I just have to mention that I'm writing this from my laptop since I'm away from my PC today, so I won't be able to provide any screenshots/videos today. Sorry about that!
I do also have an announcement that I'll get to at the end of this post!
Let's quickly go over what I've gotten done:
Started research into a more effective and simple dialogue system
Started fixing the master Capy blueprint
Got some 3D modeling done (Ruins gate, player's house, new-and-improved grove walls, and a few various props)
Not bad, especially with how busy I've been lately. I wish I could share this stuff visually, but I'm not at home right now. Use your imagination!
Alright, what's up next?
Main focus: Well, nothing, actually!
This is where my announcement kicks in. (TL;DR near the end of this post)
So, I have a bad habit of always keeping myself way too busy. It's always a struggle to provide meaningful updates when I don't give myself the time or priority to work on CQ. Additionally, life is about to get really busy for the next couple months, what with the holidays coming up so soon.
On top of that, I've been job hunting for weeks now and I haven't had much success. So, I started taking a course to prepare for a role as a data analyst, and the course is going to take lots of time out of my week to stay on track.
All this to say, I'm going on a semi-hiatus. I'm going to keep working on CQ when I have the time, I just won't be posting about it for a few weeks. After this post, you probably won't hear much from me until early to mid-January.
Don't worry, I'm not giving up on CapyQuest! I just need some extra time these coming weeks, and so progress will be slow. This does also mean you'll get a nice big update in January!
TL;DR I'm not going to be posting much until January, but don't worry, I'm not abandoning this project. The full demo WILL get done!
I hope you'll continue to support me when I get back to posting! Thank you to those of you who are sticking with me, it really means a lot.
I got quite a bit done without having much visual evidence of it, so I didn't make a video for today, just a couple screenshots. Here's a run-through of what I accomplished:
Fixed/finalized pick up/set down system
Added foliage to the mountainside level
Optimized the interaction system
Optimized a TON of BPs, replacing lots of casting with interfaces
Wait
Oops
Uh oh
Accidentally broke the pick up/set down system
It'll be a super easy fix, I just got too tired last night to do it. I'll probably be working on that today!
All that aside, here's some screenshots of the new foliage!
Very nice! Well, what will I be working on this week?
Main focus: Fix the Capy parent BP and overhaul dialogue system
I don't know when or how, but I discovered while playtesting that I've somehow messed up the capybara parent blueprint. I've also been wanting to redo the dialogue system because I made it almost completely from scratch (I only used like one tutorial to get the scrolling/typing text effect), and I was a little college baby when I made it, so it's janky, over-complicated and hard to understand.
In the past I took a lot of pride for doing everything myself with minimal help (and I still do to a certain extent), but I've since realized that there's no reason to not use resources and interact with the dev community to solve issues or create mechanics.
Other than that, I'll probably be doing a lot more optimization this week. I just need to start being more careful about it because I keep going too far and breaking things lol. Good thing I've been backing my work up a lot more lately!
TL;DR: it's okay to not know everything! Accept help when you need it!
I managed to get some time-consuming (but important!) things done this last week. The main change was sculpting and painting the landscape for the mountain pass level. I also worked on a new and improved graybox for the forest grove.
Once again, I'm having issues with some mechanics. I'm going to see if I'm able to access my old code from the broken version of CQ to figure out how I did the pick-up-set-down mechanic again. I just can't get it to work for some reason.
Oh, here, have a video!
Alright, and this coming week?
Main focus: A little of this, a little of that
Not very specific but I just want to get some miscellaneous stuff out of the way. At the top of my to-do list is:
Make a new grove wall asset
Add foliage to mountain pass level
Finish pick-up-set-down mechanic
Optimize grappling hook spawn expenses
I don't want to put too much on my plate, but I'm going to get as much work done as I can!
I split the giant, open-world level that housed the two small areas and created two new, separate levels for the mountainside section and the forest grove section respectively. I still need to sculpt and paint the landscape, which I'll try to remember to do this coming week!
Also, I'm almost done recreating the pick up/set down mechanic. There is one single node holding me back that for some reason makes it impossible to set things back down, so I'm trying to find a way around that. I really wish I could look at my old code since it worked fine, but alas, it's broken beyond repair.
A few other things: I made a level transition, so when you walk through a hollow tree actor, it fades to black and starts the next level automatically! And I made a simple loading screen as well. All of this you can find in the video below (That's right - I finally made a new video update!)
Alright, what's up this next week?
Main focus: Persistence and time management
A little more avant-garde of a goal, but let me explain. I've noticed that I'm consistently putting off CapyQuest work and it's been leading to disappointing updates and slow progress. I always feel bad having to explain on here that I've gotten so little done in a given week.
So, instead of a specific mechanic, model, or feature to finish, I'm going to try to work on CapyQuest for at least one hour a day this week. I'm not as concerned with deliverables as I am with getting back into the habit of giving this project the consistent attention it deserves.
So, little story time. I was trying to optimize and organize CapyQuest and add some new features this last week. I guess I cleaned house a little too hard, and... my game won't open anymore. At least, the most recent version! I have backups. But I did lose a bit of progress. I didn't back it up as frequently as I should, so I've lost the pick up/set down feature and some little things here and there.
Could be a lot worse!
So, while I bring myself back up to speed, I'll be optimizing in several ways as I go. I'm splitting the mountainside level and the forest grove level into their own separate levels. Previously they were sharing a single open-world level, which is a big waste of resources and just a headache to navigate as a developer. So now they're their own, much smaller, levels! Hopefully this will help the game run a bit faster :)
I've also been doing some deep research into UE5 optimization. Since my game is so graphically simple, it's not really a huge need, but I want this demo to be accessible to everyone, no matter how powerful their computer is! This is also a good way to practice using RenderDoc so I have experience for future, heavier projects.
Anyways! What's facing me this week?
Main focus: Catch up
I'm focusing on getting my game back up to speed with where it was a couple weeks ago. This won't take long, just re-doing the pick up-set down mechanic, re-sculpting the landscapes for the mountainside and grove levels, and while I'm at it, more optimization! And this time I will remember to back up my work!!!
I do also have a few extra cool things that I'll be ready to share next week, so stay tuned :)
