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[Way to Yaatra]

Devlg 20: First prototype

Hey! How it is all going? We hope the best the situation allows us. Today,
we are going to talk about how the idea of the game goes ahead and we will travel
six months in the past to see how it was the first prototype.

It all started with all the members of the team making a prototype
of the game individually for a month.

After this, it would be debated which idea and prototype looked better,
to from that moment begin to work as a team.

The idea chosen was the so-called spear game. At first it was going to be a
fairly closed platform in terms of levels and very focused on puzzles.
But we opted for a metroidvania, very Ori and the blind forest style.

This idea was not successfully carried out, so we opted to mix traits of a metroidvania
with a pure platform like Super Mario.

So we currently have separated levels, but with a duration appropriate
to the game style and with unlockable abilities along our way,
apart from collectibles that enhance the player's exploration.

Here is an example of the transformation, hope you like it!

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

[Way to Yaatra]

Devlog 21: Checkpoints

Hey! We are back to the devlog thread! Today we are going to talk about
the checkpoints in the game and how it works.
First of all, let's see what these checkpoints look like in-game. For the art of these
we decided to be very consistent with the history, so they can currently be seen in this way.

So, how these checkpoints work? Well, we will find several within one level.
In this way the player will be allowed to gradually overcome this level and save his progress every certain challenge.
When the player passes over it, the checkpoint will be activated and in case of death,
the player will reappear at the last checkpoint where he passed.

Then, the game's save system works in relation to the checkpoints. When the player leaves the game,
through the option to continue, in the main menu, he will resume the game at the last checkpoint through which he passed.

Finally, to give feedback to the player that they have managed to pass through the checkpoint, we decided to introduce
an animation for these and a different sound effect for each time the player pass through one. In this way we also get quite a feel in the game.

Here is an example, hope you like it!

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

[Way to Yaatra]

Devlog 22: Game controls

Hey! This is the next devlog of the week and we are going to
talk about the final game controls and decisions that have been made about these.

The first thing we will talk about is for which devices the game controls will be adapted.
Controls are currently available via Xbox controller and keyboard and we are working on
the process of adapting the controls for the PS4 controller.

The game, despite being adapted for the keyboard, is specially designed to be played with a controller.
Here we leave you an image of the current distribution of the controls in a controller.

On the other hand, we are going to explain various decisions about why the controls with
the controller are distributed in this way.

First, the firing of the spears is in the RB but, once we release the button
instead of pressing it, because in this way we can see the preview of where the spear
that we are going to shoot will be nailed.

The next thing was to change the button to remove the nailed spears
from button Y to B and change the grab objects button from button B to X, for greater user comfort.

Finally, the skill selection is located on the left trigger, selecting the skill with the right stick and the firing of the special spear with the LB button to be related to the normal spear. Hope you like it!

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

[Way to Yaatra]

Devlog 23: Translation

Hey! We are back with a new devlog, today we are going to talk about the translation
in the game and how we are doing it.

Currently, we are a team made up of members with Spanish as their native language,
so from the beginning we decided to translate the entire game into English in order to reach the widest possible audience.

During the development and until now the possibility of translating the game into the EFIGS system (English, French, Italian, German and Spanish)has been raised, but for the moment due to the time we have available for the launch,
we have focused solely on translation into English, apart from existing Spanish.

So, for the translation into English, the idea of ​​doing it by ourselves has been raised, however, we have opted to hire a person, who has English as a native language for a more professional result.

In the current state of the game, the ability to switch from one language to another from the main menu instantly is already integrated within Unity. We have achieved this in the following way: within an excel the game is written in the desired languages, this case English and Spanish.

From here, we have made a script that allows us to choose between the English or Spanish column of the excel document, through the LoadDialogue function.

Here is an example, hope you like it!

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

[Way to Yaatra]

Devlog 24: Work system

Hey! Let's continue the devlog thread, today we talk about the system we are following
to work as a team and what tools we are using to carry out the game.

The first of all is to talk about what engine we are using to make the game, the option chosen was Unity.

We chose this engine due to several reasons, all the members knew how this works plus any other, for example, Unreal Engine. On the other hand, we had the support of one of our teachers within the Unity environment, since he has extensive knowledge of it.

We continue with the tool that we started using to be able to manage the repository in Git, which was Sourcetree, however, we decided to put it aside because it generated several problems. So, we decided to go for Unity Collab, a management tool within the engine itself that works excellently.

Unity Collab has allowed us to work several at the same time without any type of conflicts and with an easy to understand and manage interface. We decided to pay a monthly fee for a more extensive service of this tool.

Finally, regarding the communication system, we are using a discord server to carry out the weekly team meetings and assign the own tasks to each team member through hacknPlan, an organization tool through a web page, specifically intended for video game development.

Here we leave you an example of how Unity Collab works, within our game.

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

Downloading changes:



Uploading changes:

[Way to Yaatra]

Devlog 25: Dialogue creation process

Hey! We are back with the devlog thread, today we are going to focus on the process that we have followed to create the dialogues that the player will face based on the narrative of the game.

First of all, it was to make a summary of the entire history of the game to be able to carry out these dialogues more easily.
From this, a list of the most important events that were going to happen was identified and made. From this moment on, we began identifying that we wanted each character to say depending on what event they were in, always taking into account the pacing of the narrative regarding the level design previously carried out.

The process of creating dialogues to tell the story begins, but always in a subtle way, through the milestones mentioned above.

Finally, two types of revision were carried out, one focused on the background of the characters, which we want them to tell, how they feel, how to communicate and once that is achieved, a polishing of those dialogues by checking the spelling section to give it a finish totally professional.

All this section we apply within the game through a relationship of the Unity engine with an external excel document, which allows us to modify or correct any point quickly and easily.

Here is an example of what they will look like in the game, I hope you like it!

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

[Way to Yaatra]

Devlog 26: Level design

Hey! Welcome back to the Way to Yaatra devlog thread, today we are going to talk about the process that
we have followed to create all the levels and how we applied this on our game style.

We started talking about the main idea of ​​the level structure that was going to be in the game. At first it was going to be a metroidvania style, due to the thought of creating levels that communicate with each other and that had a sense, regarding the route or areas that could not be reached within a level until a new skill was found advancing within the game. This led us to backtracking within the game itself, as occurs in Ori and the blind forest.

However, we left this idea behind and decided to carry out a small mix of concepts, reaching the situation we are currently in, where there are a total of 22 levels. Within these, we will find a total of 3 unlockable skills that give us new spears and a combat with 3 different bosses, at the beginning, middle and end of the game.

Once we had the structure, it was time to follow a method to design these levels and that they were both fun for the player and that they taught well all the elements that we wanted to show the user. To do this, we follow the design structure called Kishōtenketsu.

This summary structure proposes to show one or more elements in a simple way to the player to from that moment begin to show it in an evolved and expanded way, and in turn make evolutions to said expansions.

In this way, consistent and solid levels have been achieved and most importantly, fun to play.

Then, metrics were carried out to be followed exactly to be able to carry out these challenges in a professional way and with a fair and consistent finish for the designer and the user.

         

Finally, before implementing the designs in Unity, they were carried out in the draw.io tool to be clear about how they would look before introducing them and see if these metrics were well applied.



Here we leave you an example, we hope you like it!

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

[Way to Yaatra]

Devlog 27: Polishing phase - Unity Shape


Hey! We return to the thread of devlogs, today we are going to talk about the last phase of development in which we find ourselves, which is, the polishing phase.

During this phase, our objective is to offer the best mechanical and visual results of the game, although the mechanic is already well-established and we are focusing on the visual.

From this moment on, in order to decorate the levels, we have changed our method. We have moved from dragging props and creating visual art for a level to using a tool within Unity called Unity shapes.

Through this tool, we can design both the platform and the base vegetation of the soil that will appear according to certain parameters. This has facilitated this task and is generating quite optimal results for us.

Finally, for the decoration of details on a small scale, we continue with the traditional method of selecting the prop and placing it where we like the most.

Here we leave you an example of how this works and how it looks within the game, we hope you like it!

You can follow us here: https://twitter.com/WaytoYaatra

[Way to Yaatra]

Hey! Lot of time since the last post, just we want to say the development of Way to Yaatra is oficially finished!

We are available on Steam for free:https://store.steampowered.com/app/1305730/Way_To_Yaatra/

Hope you like the game and feel free to leave a review about what you think of the game.

See you at Yaatra!