next »

[marcgfx]

Debugging the wheel enemy throwing dirt into the air. Originally this was just intended for the death animation, but I might just randomly throw some dirt...

[marcgfx]

As always I am juggling too many balls and changing/breaking as much as I can. I originally had all buildings available to be built at all time, but the choice was simply overwhelming. so I've introduced a blueprint system, where you first have to gain the blueprint of a building to create it. This will likely lead to more focused creation of buildings, but it might reveal unexpected synergies.

I've also added power as a resource for buildings. The standard of deactivating everything if power is exceeded seemed way to punishing, so I have a linear falloff of building efficiency. In this image you can see a usage of 87 with a power supply of 57 leading to a building efficiency of only 40%; But at least everything still runs.


I've created even more buildings. This usually happens when I am not sure how to continue, so I just make more stuff... the 3 biggest buildings are missing here.


A bunch of new peons have also been created, these 3 came to life just yesterday. Peons are the units that can appear in large hordes. They all have different movement patterns.


The stats have been enhanced by remaining/total, so you can now see how many buildings/units you lost in a level.

[marcgfx]

UI... for me, a challenging subject. Portraying so much, conveying a plethora of information clearly.

The Multi-Dimensional Exchanger (aka Random-Shop) allows purchasing new upgrades for a fee. Now, there are orbs that can be placed on the robot, consuming a slot. They enhance stats such as FireRate, FirePower, ShotRange, ShotSize (important for explosions), or even HP, SP, etc. Orbs in the upper slots apply to the entire robot, while orbs in the three weapon slots affect only the corresponding weapon. Placing a FireRate orb at the top grants a +10% bonus to all three weapons, whereas placing it in a weapon slot gives a 20% bonus to all weapons in that slot. Orbs come in various qualities and prices, with the first two upgrades in the shop being of the lowest quality.


The Robo Configuration screen now allows placing orbs. In this view, player color and the complementary color (also in the background image) are predominantly used. I had to experiment quite a bit until I was satisfied with the design. In the open slot (outlined in gray, three side by side), you can see the following: 1. active on this slot, gradient bottom right in red. 2. active on another slot, cannot be placed. strikethrough. 3. in another slot, but an action. Can be placed on this slot too.

Below the slots, there are stats about the robot, where the player can dynamically see the changes when rearranging orbs. What's still missing is an information display for orbs/upgrades, possibly upon selection. I still have hundreds of texts to write.


I created the characters with Midjourney/Photoshop some time ago. They are tentatively included, but inserted for these screenshots. I mainly had the backgrounds generated this morning (10+ that are randomly used).

[Bird of Paradise]

Just encountered your devlog and tried the HTML version of your game: very fun to play and a fantastic sound-track! 

[marcgfx]

@Bird of Paradise: Thanks a lot for telling me The demo is related to version 1, what I am working on now will either never see the light of day or turn into version 2.

[marcgfx]

So I'm going to ditch the AI backgrounds and character portraits. Feedback has not been great, most think it doesn't fit the style. I actually like them, but it's probably just me enjoying something new/having something else to look at.

I guess it's a good thing, as the AI art would get me in trouble with Steam and possibly other issues. But at least it was nice for prototyping and experimentation. I even went as far as having chatGPT create cheesy lines for the Indian captain. I found it quite entertaining.


Back to the important stuff... With the addition of Orbs my available elements for item slots has grown drastically. I originally wanted to add some kind of scrolling, but this proved to be a challenge to just come up with a solution for keyboard/gamepad. So I just ditched the idea and everything just gets very small. Unlikely this will ever happen, but at least it's probably solved? Looking at this image, I might just be able to group similar items... as is mostly done in inventories.


So I've tried grouping and it does look more manageable. Problem is multi-player. I can't update the view another player has on the fly, so this idea kind of just does not work. Back to the big list of items I guess?

[vdapps]

Hey, that's tons of options.

Regarding AI, we can expect (if it's not like that already now) Steam, itch.io shovel-ware with tons of AI generated content. It's tempting to use, but I guess nice fullscreen backgrounds will loose any value for player very quickly. For me it makes more sense for smaller assets with some hand-touch post-process.

[Alain]

So I'm going to ditch the AI backgrounds and character portraits. Feedback has not been great, most think it doesn't fit the style. I actually like them, but it's probably just me enjoying something new/having something else to look at.

I also think they clash quite a bit with your style and your decision makes a lot of sense.

[marcgfx]

Hey, that's tons of options.

Yeah, I've possibly gone too crazy on the options. But I still have the feeling the game might be missing something to allow the player to make specific "builds" that work well.

I also think they clash quite a bit with your style and your decision makes a lot of sense.

I guess so although I did think it might be interesting to include some kind of narrative with characters. But I do have enough to do without that.