The game: My Game Part 2 - (dev. log)

Last time I said I will discuss my plan for crafting and permanent death of the character considerations; like the game Don't Starve has, but I should start with my current development progress...

Game development progress:

I'm really excited about the fact that I managed to code a working Inventory system with drag and drop. You can drop items to the world, it manages stack size limits and if your Inventory is full it will leave the items on the ground. On top of this (after re-coding 3 times in GameMaker Studio) I figured out how to make it all work and interactive using the draw_gui() event instead of the normal draw() event, which is just awesome. Now my GUI (graphical user interface) or HUD (human user display) of the Inventory and player robot power source and oil source moves with the view window as the player moves, without any "jitters"!! Something it seems a lot of people on the GMC forums also struggle with. Then, also the robot player (Meemo) has floating text comments he makes for actions, as well as I added a tool-tip bubble for giving the player information on items in the Inventory if he hovers over that with the mouse. The mouse is used as a global movement and actions control, even though I do have arrow keys for testing this game will only use the custom mouse for its main control actions. Since it will be a relatively slow game (adventure) pace it should not be an issue or too overwhelming using just a mouse for all the controls. I believe the casual Gamer should enjoy it.

I also managed to squash a few bugs, or all that I know if...trying to keep it polished and clean as I go before I make the mistake of adding to many features too fast on weak or sloppy code base.

In other news:

My new artist just completed the first movement sprites on Meemo and then quit! since he over lanced his free. So I'm on the lookout yet again for a low pixel count pixel artists, for 32px by 32px spritesheets. If you are interested in this game idea, please email me at mornebooysen@gmail.com with subject: "Robocraft - pixel artist".

Whats next:

Crafting - oh yes I think all crafting should be done in one display or popup and not over multiple screens. As well as the crafting itself will be like an achievement system by allowing you to memorize recipes as soon as you first craft them to unlock it. Then in future you do not have to remember it, but just select the recipe to see an image low alpha overlay on your crafting table of what to place on it to craft it again. It will work without having to select crafting recipes also obviously. A little automation which I think will make the game more fun and easier to play, than say Minecraft's method where you always have to remember it.

Thoughts:

Why I think perma-death is punishing players. I think it is a mechanism that should be part of a game's difficulty setting and not permanent main game mechanic since it is very punishing and alienates so many players from experiencing full game content. There are so many way's to reward correct game play and to make cost of not "surviving" high but not kill all game progress like in Don't Starve game. Perma-death can still be there for bragging rights! So in my game I will probably let you only lose stats or upgrades, if you lose specific power levels in your robot. See higher tier machines or and upgrades will require more power and thus also better power sources.

Next time I will give you a screenshot of the pre-pre-alpha game, remember then I don't have a graphics artist. Hmm maybe a video will work better to display the mechanics I have complete. It is a bit early still to show a tech demo...lets see how it goes.

If you read this, I thank you and please do leave a comment or +1 google like so I can have a bit of encouragement.

Regards,
Boysano

The game: My Game Part 1 - (dev. log)

So last time I said that I will be sharing my thoughts on the game(s) I want to make this year, with this new found time at hand. Also I said I will give some views on games genre's I like and do not enjoy and why. This however will not make for a concise article so I will stick to the more fun idea of telling you what game I started to make this week, and what games inspired this concept since I'm influenced by what I can associate myself with like any other person who seems sort of sane. (Note: I do not like overly violent and offending games, and I would like games to add more value to real life concerns and non-gamers in general...)

This is a game which I don't only want to make, but also want to play! Inspired by the new survival game "Don't Starve" and also thé all too popular sandbox game "Minecraft". Yes yes, know you all moan what a cliche...but I really like these genre and hope to add to it... Also, since when I mentioned I want to make another crafting survival game a year ago, my friends said "but that's already done!" and then the "Don't Starve" game came out and I was like 'hmmm'...if you want to do something then just go for it! Believe in yourself, set high goals and you will figure it out as you go...just start!

So, it will basically be a survival game, with crafting and fixing (maybe) as the main mechanic and with similar perspective as Don't Starve, but with more Minecraft crafting style. This won't be a sandbox like Minecraft, thus it wont be about building and destructible terrain. It will be more unique; akin to the movie Wall-e! Yes, so I want to combine a movie and a few games I really enjoy; to make the casual game I want to play. Then also share the process or game with others. If in future I'm successful and you like it then, hey, maybe you will even help me make the game itself successful in whatever way. 

So since I decided not to try and become rich out of this, I now feel much more confident to talk about my game ideas here and please help me with more ideas from you so this game can really rock and knock my own socks off! I can do with all the creative help possible, for character ideas, crafting recipes, and so forth since I'm way towards the analytically inclined side of my brain. So for now I will dabble in saving the human race from itself and flex the creative muscles as much I can in this project. I'm really excited about it, and I do think it will appeal to others! Also; versus my other idea of making a retro turn based 2d TCG (Trading Card Game) with a Greek mythology theme...it should lean more itself to a game with some weight.

The way I went about my design is to first dream about it, to the point where I want to tell my friends about it, and they get excited..and then there comes a point where I start to forget all the great ideas I started with. This is when I know to start my journal, or good old pen and paper game design step. Also here and there I will prototype some ideas with GameMaker, but I've learnt I'm way more efficient the days where I program a feature or concept, only after I journal about it in my idea book. Helps the brainstorming you see, and I can separate days where I'm frustrated if I struggle with programming from creative spurts on the paper. It's like mathematics in school - don't try to work out the answer in your mind and write it down...you will discover it faster if you write more steps out on paper towards the answer -  even in this digital age.

So you probably want to know more about my game, hey! Since my skill set is programming it will either have Minecraft basic graphics on 2.5D and non-isometric (fake 3D which is just 2D with [depth = -y;]) graphics. So far I actually have a demo main character in nice pixel art, made by a new artist I found on GMC (GameMaker Community forums). The main character's name will be Meemo (my Wife helped to select his name) and look very similar to Wall-e the robot in the Pixar film. 

The plot will be very similar to the movie, and almost continue from where the movie left off the intro while he was about scavenging and recycling to waste on Earth. Note I never actually played the Wall-e games. Then you must scavenge and explore the random world for items to help you craft amazing machines with a wonderful purpose in mind, all the time worrying about your battery power and oil consumption... See you must help the human race from finally destroying our beautiful planet Earth by our greed for fossil fuels and cheap energy. Humanity was careless, and was it not for your creator who changed your AI to goals of reducing carbon footprint and rescuing the environment by cleaner fuels for power and earth rehabilitation - all will be lost for mankind! You along with little Meemo, will be our redemption.

I've got some interesting changes to the crafting mechanics of the games which inspired me, and currently I'm busy with coding the Inventory system and still a bit stuck with drag n drop between inventory slots. I've got Meemo rolling around the random generated world animations and all in GML (Game Maker Language) with very basic biomes working on a really flat earth. Path-finding works, with mouse controls, but for some reasons the [depth = -y;] setting breaks the solid object detection? At least I got a cute piece of code to help Meemo collect or farm items in the world. What is really promising is the use of Surfaces in GM made the game really fast at over 200FPS so far, with also deactivating instances which are out of game view! (GM users will now that we use views in the larger game rooms, and only show the view in a port on the screen) 

So far I don't yet have very specific crafting recipes planned, or game world environments designed, hoping to find a very creative pixel artist to help me with this design concept...But as soon as the mechanics are polished well, I think this is just content which can be added easily with the graphics and text develops. At least I have a good grip on energy technologies and the impact of fossil fuels from my working experience as a chemical engineer. I hope to make a positive impact on people, with a fun game!

Thanks for reading this until the next part2, when I will update you (probably over weekends) with this as a {dev}elopment (b)log. In the next part I will share my progress and what I plan for making crafting more fun and less work and how perma-death can be less brutally implemented so that you don't punish your player with it...

I'm back and so much changed...

So I want to start by apologizing for the lack of blogs, see blogging is not just new to me, but life has taken a rather busy but exciting turn for me...

I've gone through an emotional time lately since as per my original posts I promised to share with you how it is to make small games for profit with Game Maker Studio (which is easy to do doable and for this you can follow the crazy dude TrueValhalla's posts at http://www.truevalhalla.com/blog/); while still having a full-time professional career. Unfortunately I realized I wanted more out of life than just that, and that my skill-set in making games (which is one of my life dreams still) need to level up a bit first. (I've played with GM8 and GMS for 2years now only) Also on this note, don't try to tackle HTML5 games if you are not ready to persevere through some bugs and having to deal with large optimization requirements in your code as well as limited use of functions you may use in GM, and don't bother making TDS or huge movement based CPU hungry games - until you master a game with a decent player base on Windows.

I did a lot of introspection and decided its time to take it to the next level and find the passion inside myself, find my inner child and nurture it again a bit. 8-5 grind at work can be dangerous for your health...so yes I resigned! I had a very successful career as a Senior Chemical (or Process) engineering position at a large factory, which I'm very grateful for - but I want to make games! And also not just for profit, and maybe in the same time make games more relevant for the "real life" or non-gamer world out there... I will probably elaborate more on these ideals in a much later post.

So here come the difficult news to my readers whom only read this because of financial drives. From now on I'm leveling my game making experience with game ideas I want to make and want to play. I do care if its successful, since time is precious and that gift comes expensive. I'd like to say I don't care, but that would be a lie. I can be a bit idealistic...so don't take too much offence or hold me to it...I'm sharing and if your inspired by it...that will make me happy. And if I sound down I will appreciate some cheerful or positive criticism from you for sure. If you still want to make money, and know how I could retire or take a year off at age 30 and support my wife also, well then just say so and I can easily give you that life secret in a 1 comment reply. (That's if you have a working salary, for the most part). Sjoe (Afrikaans slang for "darn" or "golly" ), I digress and get distracted fast...

So this life change explains my hiatus from the blog and mini game release world the past 4 months, as we packed up and left a small town Secunda, Mpumalanga (South Africa) to move to the beautiful entrepreneurial and creative (also tourist) capital of South Africa. The most south city in Africa, the continent. My close friends you can read those more personal and somewhat private adventures on the other blog my wife runs...

The good news, I've already set up and settled in a nice new 4bedroom 2bathroom home (renting) in Somerset West, Cape Town...only 5minutes away from large malls and creative produce markets and most importantly the Ocean in a town called Strand. I share this because South Africa is truly a land of milk and honey, and should be the next indie game dev equivalent to silicon valley. Yes here I work from home, and was fortunate enough to make use of Yoyogames offer to upgrade to the Master collection. Still however struggling a bit to get the new YYC compiler to actually show up in the product. 

Also I must say, deciding to make game for fun and value instead of financial gain, has really liberated me. "So don't try this at home kids, ha ha." - I'm just joking.

Right, so please don't expect income reports yet, but rather game design ideas, etc. Oh, yes I came last in my first ever game JAM on GMC (wanted to neglect saying this, but in the spirit of honesty), man that really is embarrassing since I'm not use to failure! I really recommend it to you all. It made me feel like I leveled up once, and got me some much needed community reputation. It also taught me some hard lessons in the game development world, and that you must still think of the customer and not yourself. Thankfully in this blog I may rant as I please, well until I offend the wrong person.

Luckily I found some good friends in the South African game dev community here at http://www.makegamessa.com/ ! Please check it out if your a local. I hope to see this grow significantly for our country.

So on with my adventure to try and find willing and affordable game artists to make my dreams a reality, at least the pre-alpha technical demo I hope.

Thank you for reading my rant. 

In my next post I will start by sharing my thought on the game(s) I want to make this year, with this new found time and adventure at hand, games genre's I like and do not enjoy and why, etc.