I got a little ahead of myself with trying to set up frequent updates, even if it's mainly for myself! Just didn't have a lot that was interesting to see going on and got a little sick in the middle.
But I've recently finished the course I was working through and started finally putting together the most basic form of game:
I'm sure it's going to be "Functional, but ugly" for most of it - though as long as it's actually functional, I'll be happy for now! I plugged in Cake as my sprite and they're working as intended, walking included, though the angle I drew them in is not quite right for the isometric I aim for. That's alright! But I've got the idle, walking, and dead animations set up on a basic level.
The health and experience bars work and it's possible to level up, even if it doesn't mean anything yet. The tilemap is strange to work with (The assets here are from Kenny.nl! Whatever I use for prototyping that I don't make myself will probably be from here, but I'll still mention it). Colliders work with a little finagling so Cake can overlap with the walls but not walk through them.
I think I'll pause to make a few WIP prototypes for the UI, just because the basic boxes are so lifeless. It's easy to get particularly overwhelmed so early on, when there's so much to do!
A week later and lots of progress! It's all still basic, of course, but lots of new stuff!
I made and implemented a little bit of a new UI to experiment - successful that it works, less so in that I hate it, lolol. But still better than boxes!
The health HUD is too fine. I wanted to see how something with thinner filigree would look, and it could be better, for sure. The bars are... okay, but could be more legible. The toolbar on the bottom annoys me. But these are all very valuable, and I tried not to spend a whole lot of time making them since I figured they'd be replaced (maybe more than once!)
I made a new overworld sprite and character sprite for an actual NPC. Which, on that note, I also made an experimental new PC sprite. Cake is fun and I learned a lot making them, but the style just isn't vibing for me here (and, tbh, would take wayyyy too long for me to animate properly).
Additional things I've added:
Began the finite state machine for enemy behavior.
Made enemies face whatever direction they're moving (this was a surprising pain)
Implemented a waypoint system for NPCs.
Built the leveling-up system that currently includes 4 skills (Farming, foraging, crafting, and combat). It's set up to add more when I need to (and I will need to).
Added some UI screens for the Skills that update accordingly with experience and level.
Began making the skill tree system.
Made a player stats editor for testing.
Till next time!
It's been a hot minute, but I decided to dust off this account. I've never been a huge poster, but I've recently decided to learn more about game dev by... making a game, and I wanted somewhere to put my progress just to see it as it comes along. So that's what you'll likely see in the near future!
I'm still very new to it, but I've been diving into Unity and C#. I also made my first animated sprite! I don't yet know if I really need all directions, but I made it to practice and learn, so meet Cake:
For a first try without much of an animation background, I thought it wasn't too bad! The bottom two were the first I did and are the most awkward. There's room for improvement overall (and I was frustrated I liked the sketch versions better, haaaaa).
I spent some time reading about some animation basics and the concept of 2s and 3s - this was animated in 2s - and I'm wondering if I can mimic pixel art with fewer frames without actually doing pixel art, which isn't my jam to make.
I've got a few different things going on, project-wise, so I didn't get a lot done last week. This week was a few more sprites, which gave me a bit of trouble. I'm trying to remember this are just first drafts, but it's important to me to get the vibe as close as I can to what I want to start with.
Still working on the combat modules, but I've started playing a little bit with trying to figure out the scaling I want to work with in game. Since it's hand-drawn and not pixel art, there appears to be a little less information/tutorials readily available, but I haven't had a chance to really deep dive on it.
Made some notes on some features I deem 'must have' and some that are 'would be nice to have'. Brainstorming character story lines and how the relationship mechanic should be laid out, because I know me and I like character relationships in my games (and romance!)
A productive week! But as I learn more and start to expand, I inevitably come across bugs and likely inefficient code that I have to fix, so those factor into what I get done.
Can now enter and exit new locations/scenes!
System will remember where you entered the scene from and place accordingly instead of in the middle of every new place.
The crop plots can now save between scenes! For anyone unfamiliar, the majority of the objects in a game scene are technically destroyed every time you leave it, then recreated when you return, so there has to be a way to store this custom data and pull from it each time.
A clock/time system is now in place, tracking hour, day, and season.
Player can now go to bed to start a new day!
Added a prompt when going to bed.
Crops will now grow overnight if conditions are met.
Crops will now die if still planted after a season change if it isn't one they can grow in.
Players will now pass out after curfew and wake back up next to the bed in the morning. This is currently the usual 2am, but considering extending it (with penalties).
Added a flavor box system for clicking on interactable objects and getting a pop-up bubble with thoughts/observations!
Crops now have independent and individual grow cycles and lengths.
The indicator for planting crops now switches depending on if the hovered plot can be used or not.
Player can now walk amongst their crops and not trample them.
The hoe tool can now undo empty plots, and empty plots will disappear overnight if nothing is planted in them.
Watering can now functions appropriately. It will only work if it has enough water, and it can be refilled from a water source. It also has the system for updating how much water is used based on the tool's tier.
Watering can now has a bar to indicate its water level, which updates in both the toolbar and the inventory.
Watering can will no longer work if the plot has already been watered (Don't want to be making those extra trips to fill it up for nothing!)
BUGS:
New crops planted after leaving and reentering the scene would not save, only the ones planted in the initial scene. This was a slight headache, but fixed. I think.
The interaction icon only behaved correctly visually. Interaction was not actually limited by a range. Fixed.
Only sometimes, the toolbar would have all items selected on startup until the mouse wheel moved. Fixed.
The crops sometimes grew erratically, skipping stages and growing when they weren't supposed to (after the first bug was fixed, and only for crops planted after leaving and reentering). Notably, when one crop was supposed to grow, it triggered them all. Turns out I forgot to remove a loop from another loop when I was expanding. Fixed.
When dragging and dropping items inside the inventory, the watering can's fill bar would duplicate. Fixed.
NEXT:
I need to decouple my inventory. One of the previous courses I followed unfortunately taught to create it in a way that doesn't work for me. I've tried to fix this before, but there was some dependencies between scripts and I got overwhelmed and put it back, but I am determined to do it!
I think I'll also begin work on the dialogue system, as I feel I need to get that done before I want to mess with sprites or quests or flags.
I'm in the middle of recruiting someone to help me with some of the design work I don't really want to focus on, so that might also help some of the overwhelming art assets I need!
Til next time!
