#last sprout

[regal-bones]

[last-sprout]

Last Sprout Dev Diary - Nov 22, 2024

Hello sprout folks! I'm Valerie, or @oneominousvalbatross, and I've been working on Last Sprout since July, and I'm wildly excited to share some of the things I've been working on with y'all.

Ignore that Twiggs' hat falls off that's natural.

I'm aiming for a Dev Diary once a week on Fridays, and I'm just gonna be giving a brief look into making a game! I'm learning how to do a lot of this stuff live, so I'm sure there'll be a ton of massive rewrites and changes. I have probably a dozen huge systems that are already built that I'm not going to be getting into in this post, since I'm already half a year or so into development, but I'm sure I will find space to include them later!

XP

I spent most of my time figuring out exactly how we wanted to represent XP in the world. We were pretty certain that we wanted XP to exist physically as a substance you picked up, so I started with a system from a previous build.

In that version, we just created a bunch of XP objects and scattered them into the world, then had some code that scooted them around. Of course, that means that we're tracking an individual unity GameObject for every single instance of a point of XP which is, uh, slow.

This is what we call 'suboptimal.'

So obviously we needed to not instantiate an entire transform every time we needed to spawn XP. Even if we re-used objects that would just be prohibitively expensive for an object that really just needs a position.

I'm not going to go over each step in the process, but after experimenting with GPU instancing to just draw a bunch of XP objects at once, eventually I landed on extending Unity's particle system, since it has a lot of the settings I wanted access to.

To make the XP move how I wanted, I wrote a pretty simple process that iterates through all the little blobs and checks how close they are to a designated collector, then uses an exponential decay function (with thanks to Freya Holmér) to make them move towards Twiggs.

I think every game should have an action that can be best summarized by making the noise 'SHWOOOOOP.'

Parrying

Parrying was a good deal simpler, but it still has its issues. Essentially, all a parry needs to be is a hitbox and an animation, with some callbacks to enemies to let them react to the parry. Whenever an attack hitbox intersects with either a Parrybox or a Hurtbox, it checks its tags to see if it's interacting with the appropriate entities, to makes sure enemies aren't hitting or parrying each other constantly. If it passes the test, it calls GetParried() on the intersecting object.

GetParried(), idiot.

For the basic behavior, parrying just interrupts the attack in progress and knocks the enemy back by a set amount, but there's room in the system to add all sorts of neat effects, which I'm sure we'll be taking advantage of in the future. It's been a challenge to juggle the various kinds of hitboxes, but it'll definitely be worth it going forward!

Of course, between all these bits there were a ton of bugfixes and little experiments, but that's a topic for a later dev diary!

[regal-bones]

GLITZ (Glittering Liquid Internal Titration Zone) and GLAM (Grape Liquid Aeration Machinery) are modified Typhoon units that can be found in the Lounges of the THESPA-02. GLITZ units carry champagne for the esteemed guests of the luxurious cruise liner, and their carbonation technology keeps drinks fresh and fizzy. When it’s time to celebrate, a GLITZ unit will be the first to pop bottles and toast to good health! 🥂 GLAM units carry wine, their internal systems always swilling, decanting, and showing off the beautiful robe and decadent flavours of today’s wine. A sommelier through and through, GLAM units will talk for hours about a wine’s history, production, and of course, price. 🍷 These two seemed to be malfunctioning even before the crash, and with time their processes dulled, speech slurred, and they are - quite frankly - a little bit tipsy.

For more information, check your nearest information terminal to see unit specifications, duties, and more importantly the cocktail menu.

You can support me on Patreon for £1 and see concept art, assets, and snippets of story for the game!

[regal-bones]

Throughout the world of Last Sprout, you will discover ancient items of great power - RELICS. These items will flesh out the lore of the world, as well as unlocking certain gameplay features 🗡️🗡️🗡️

You can support me on Patreon for £1 and see concept art, assets, and snippets of story for the game!

[regal-bones]

SWORDTEMBER DAY 28: SPROUT

The Plasma Shear, of gleaming ichor and last sprout 🌱💧 “…The nursery bots are equipped with a small plasma tool that can interchange to suit their current task - shears, shovel, rake, you name it. They are also fitted with a rudimentary rubble clearing blaster, to remove any debris that might get in the way of their work, and a grapple that will help them scale difficult terrain. With this flexible set of tools, and the bot's own ingenuity, I’m confident that they will be able to face any challenge they come across, no matter how hopeless it may initially seem. C:BIO/SPROUT/LOGIN/GREEN_THUMB/MEMOS/“NURSERYMk1SPECS.doc”/

A hero’s blade. This is another @last-sprout weapon, if you want to learn more about the game, check out this post here!

Yesterday’s sword!

You can support me on Patreon for £1 and help me make stuff like this!

[regal-bones]

SWORDTEMBER DAY 10: SPACEFARING

The Captain’s Blade, of doomed voyage and unwavering compass 🐋🩸 Presented to the captain of the THESPA-02 on the day of its maiden flight, this ornate piece is a ceremonial sword modelled after the look of the ship itself. This blade cut the ribbon the day visitors first stepped aboard the interplanetary cruise liner, and is now proudly on display just outside the captain’s quarters, like a ship in a bottle. If at any time during your visit you wish to see the model, passengers can take the elevators from the leisure centre up to the control deck, where you can spy on the inner workings of our cruise from a distance. Perhaps you might spot our loyal captain on its way to the command centre, ready to steer us into the great night sky. Be sure to wish it luck! It’s a long journey ahead!  Middle Quark Cruises: off-world travel, done in style 

Another sword from @last-sprout , this blade is found in the grand wreckage of the cruise liner THESPA-02. Excited for you guys to one day be able to explore those ruins, and find where this weapon is now.

Yesterday’s sword!

You can support me on Patreon for £1 and help me make stuff like this!

[regal-bones]

SWORDTEMBER DAY 9: GLISTENING

Horseman’s Mantle, of wet eyes and crimson ichor 👁️🩸 “> Don’t look away as you drive your blade into my still beating heart. Look me in the eye - feel my pain, my fear. My breath comes in shorts, wet rasps, your face flecked with my blood.  > To be with you here, at the end, as the horsemen ride and the oceans boil. It is everything I wanted, it is everything I dread. My eyes flicker shut, and I catch your gaze. Unfeeling, unblinking. In a churning sea of meat, an endless nightmare with no rest - that gaze is the thing that terrifies me most.” - Musings of the flesh

This sword is from @last-sprout - a crimson blade, like The Visage of the Leviathan from last year. Such hatred flows through those veins, and behind wet eyes the unmistakable glisten of fear…

Yesterday’s sword!

You can support me on Patreon for £1 and help me make stuff like this!

[regal-bones]

SWORDTEMBER DAY 1: UPGRADE

The Inventors Blade Mk. II, of folded light and gleaming ichor 🌱🩸 “This was long overdue an upgrade.  My personal growth in understanding how Ichor works and interacts with our technology has allowed me to enhance the strength of the sword, essentially tempering the blade. Whereas its predecessor was prone to “glitching” and had a weaker, segmented body, the Mark II is a single unified blade of folded light.  The emitter can now hold multiple charges, allowing for six distinct unsheathings before needing to be refuelled. This revolver system can be reloaded with a vial inserted into the sliding hatch above the active chamber. Empty glass casings will be ejected from the rear of the weapon, which I can hold onto and refill when I get back home. As for the plants, I’m not too sure about how they got here. The more time I spend ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■, the more linked I feel ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■. I feel like it knows me - are these plants my own creation? Or something it has given to me as a gift, plucked from my own subconscious? I’m close to understanding how this all works, I know I am. I can feel it in my chest.  For right now, I’m gonna focus on the fact that I have a cool new laser sword, and go test this thing out! (for research purposes, of course) :] ” C:BIO/SPROUT/LOGIN/GREEN_THUMB/MEMOS/“10reasonswhyishouldbuildalasersword_2.doc”/

It begins !!! I am so excited! You guys will see stuff earlier so happy early swordtember :D this sword is from last sprout, an upgrade to an existing sword of mine that you can see here! I hope ur as excited about this month as I am! (also go check out @last-sprout ! A couple of this years swords are gonna be from that universe!)

You can support me on Patreon for £1 and help me make stuff like this!