#slamburrowers

[buddibeacon]

Shift + Ctrl + Z Speedart - February 1st 2021

⚠️ Signs always point the right way! Right?

Found a few players were getting lost in some of the one screen puzzle rooms, Needed to get a friendly arrow to point the right way. Looks like having a huge undo buffer in Inkscape made for some pretty cool content! Enjoy this each action time-lapse for the new arrow signs!

[buddibeacon]

My case for Inkscape - January 24, 2021

🌈 Glamorous Pastel Gem Tiles! I should take some home with me!

I made a new Tilemap of gemstone edged temple walls. Temples will be the Hardest levels in the game, Made for players who are really looking for challenge. These levels will require focus, reflexes and quick problem solving however remain completely optional. With that said I would like to talk about a program dear to my heart... Inkscape!

🧰 Don’t blame the Tools, Blame the Tool using them!

If you are a programmer and a terrible artist (Like Me) I can not recommend Inkscape enough (Or Illustrator but I will get to that later). There are some artists that can turn a blank Krita, Photoshop or Gimp page into a beautiful work of art while I can basically use it to make a digital game of Tic-Tac-Toe or draw childish symbols for cheap laughs. There are multiple reasons why I like it but the main reasons are...

1. Objects, Paths and Everything Nice!

I don’t have a drawing tablet and when I borrowed a friends I did not have the finesse to use one to the best of it’s ability, However with Inkscape everything is done in objects and shapes meaning you can make flat, material/flash looking art with just a little bit of know how with a mouse and some well placed copy/pastes. For instance let’s try make a simple version of the above Inkscape logo!

🏫 Take a seat, Class is in session.

With just 3 shapes I was able to make a quick mountain and once you gain an understanding of stroke, gradient and other manipulation you can get some great effects! Like below, I added a simple black outline and added two gradients to give the icon more depth.

2. Time to blow up! SVG and Scaling are your friend!

Simply put, .SVG files can be exported to any resolution needed for your project’s because it is all paths and objects! As you can see below zooming all the way into the above example in Inkscape will show the .SVG files in at work showing the path of the object instead of being a bunch of pixels!

🧈 Smooth as silk, Smooth as... Other smooth things.

3. It costs my favorite number, The number Free.

This is a hobby for me, I don't want to pay a cent before or after sale. If you have Illustrator I know that it can be a lot more powerful but I simply don’t want to pay the Adobe Tax of $20 a month for something I can get for free that is functionally the same to me. The free goes further than that however, Free as in Open Source but that is a conversation to have another time.

Well thank you for reading this far! I am going to crash to sleep! If you would like to support Slamburrowers the best thing you can do is Share and Like my progress to increase its reach!

[buddibeacon]

In Extension, An Extension - January 23rd 2021

🥊 Prepare to get a punch, Someone is in charge!

I created a new move! The Charge Punch. At the end of each level there is a mini-game where the Slamburrower winds up to punch through the rubble to the next level. However I slowly realized if he has the ability to perform a charged punch at the end of the level he should be able to perform it anywhere. So now if you simply tap the play area you will have a strong move to break even the strongest purple bricks!

📍 New Map Icons! Feel like going anywhere, I would love to take you!

Created New “World Map” Icons for levels! Green ticks signify you have completed the level while Gold means you collected everything and got the Par Time in a single run! Who knows? A map full of gold ticks might get you a little surprise?

🎨 Only for the most refined pallet!

I have made a bunch of awesome Tilemaps which has taken my debug maps from looking Shabby to Chic. I have made a total of 6 maps at the moment. All of them slowly rising in difficulty. Map making I think is the most painful of all the job at the moment as I extremely dislike designing maps. I much prefer to design the tools to create the maps than the maps themselves! However maps need to be made! The plan is to release the game with 21 Levels and 7 Temple level’s Which will require a massive amount of skill from the player, If you can even enter them!

Well that is all for today! I sent a test build out to a few friends and got some great feedback! If you would like to support the creation of Slamburrowers the best thing you can do is re-blog and share it with your friends! See you next week!

[buddibeacon]

Look me up, I’m kinda a big deal - December 8th 2020

Small update today, Been working on the world map. I have already made the majority of the systems behind it, However I need to make it all look prettier.

💼 Where are we off too this time?

These blocks are looking up data from a list of levels. For now they are being pulled from a script but I will update them to be pulled from a single .json file instead. As you can see it above it also shows how many stars you have collected and if the par time has been beaten.

🛬 Now arriving at LD_1

I’ve also set it up and error message if the level is not referencing a real level. Just to make debugging a little easier. I am hoping to have 32 levels total with 8 being locked being 100% completion.

[buddibeacon]

Crushed it, Literally - January 30, 2021

🛑 I cant let you go any further!

Not much to show for this week, I had to mess with the code for the player controller because I wanted to make it easier for the player to move. A few testers commented on how painful (some literally) to constantly swipe to go in a single direction. Now a single swipe and hold is all you need to keep going in a direction. (Although in the precision courses speed is king)

So if there has to be a lesson for this week, It would be TEST, TEST, TEST. Get a lab coat and perform science experiments on friends and loved ones to get that juicy test data. You can get helpful information from almost anyone by watching and listening to their questions.

[buddibeacon]

Come on and Slam - December 1, 2020

So, How about the last 31 days? If you think I am royally screwed... You might be right. However I have been crafting something in secret and it is time for the world to see.

May I introduce you to Slamburrowers!

🚧 Everything you see here is suitable for miners!

Been keeping this a secret, however on the last 31 day stretch I am hoping to still complete my goals. The majority of the base mechanics are complete and It is working great on mobile. Hoping to have it on the Google Play Store by the 31st!

👊 Come on burrower! Give it the good old One Two!

I have the majority of the progression and mechanics nailed down. The only thing left to do is make levels and art, The things that are fun to take screenshots and show the world!

I have plenty more to show in the next 31 days.

🧩 How will our hero punch his way out of this one?