Circus Horror Game

A blog documenting the development of my circus horror game.

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July 2nd: Hey! I’m not dead! I’ve been working on drafting out a story/puzzles for the game, and I really can’t post those online. Here’s a small portion of the opening of the game!

[circushorrorgame-blog]

June 10th: I fixed some issues with the camera, and made the camera more accessible to use. I also added a small change that makes the footstep sound effect change depending on which tile the player is walking on.

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June 3rd: I finally fixed the bug that wasn’t letting me have multiple choices during dialog sequences! I spent some time looking very carefully through the debugger, and after some time I was able to find the issue. Now I can move forward and work on fleshing out a demo! I’m so pumped! (I also added dialog noises)

[circushorrorgame-blog]

Update

May 31: I’ve been stuck for a couple days on a bug that is seriously starting to irritate me. I am trying to make a way to let the player make decisions. For some reason, the object I am creating to make the decisions won’t actually appear. I’m doing my best, but this is the first roadblock of many.

[circushorrorgame-blog]

May 27th:  I decided to work on my monsters today. I think these guys are pretty spooktacular, particularly the Stiltwalker. Overall, I’d rate this squad 8 spooks out of 10. If any one of these guys ran at me in the middle of a game I’d probably lose my mind.

[circushorrorgame-blog]

May 26: I decided to work on creating some basic actors today. Now I have a system (albeit a poor system, but it still works) in place that lets me script out npc movements using timers. Combining this with my dialog boxes and some camerawork, I made this small mock-up for an intro sequence. The characters find themselves on a bus headed for the circus! How fun! >:)

[circushorrorgame-blog]

May 25th: Decided to work on some non-coding things today. I added sounds for when the player is walking/sprinting. I also added a flashlight that will turn on at the press of a button. Finally, I made some tiles for the rooms in my game. I don’t show them off here, but I made some dirt/path tiles since most of the game will take place outside.

[circushorrorgame-blog]

May 24 (pt 2): I decided to do a little work to try and find what I want my game to look like. I like these new sprites, but they’re still subject to change. I added in Green’s sprites so I could differentiate between the player and the interactables. I also made it so the game will freeze every moving entity while a dialog box is active.

[circushorrorgame-blog]

May 24: Today I created a very simple version of a monster that would chase the player. It is smart enough to find its way around obstacles, but can’t yet work out how to get around L shaped walls. I think this type of monster could be implemented without needing to fix that issue, too. I haven’t decided what I want the thing to do when it catches the player, but I’ll figure that out eventually.

[circushorrorgame-blog]

I decided to draw some concept art for the game. 

[circushorrorgame-blog]

May 21: Today, I worked on getting movement and dialog boxes working. Since this is going to be an RPG, I wanted the dialog boxes to be fairly customizable. I can decide what sprite, what font, and what color I want the dialog box to use. I also added a sprint key. 

[circushorrorgame-blog]

Beginning a New Project

Today, I am beginning a brand new project that I am pretty excited for! I’m going to try my hand at making a horror game akin to that of the games Ib, Mad Father, Witch’s House, etc. Although I don’t have much experience in the horror genre, I hope to work diligently to make a game that is spoOoOOky and fun! -SeeWolf