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