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[William Chyr]

I think it looks much better right now! Not too much, not too little 

Everything in moderation is the key!

Definitely the best use of volumetric lighting I've seen in a while!

The interlockables seem a bit off with their graphics (mostly the gradients I guess?), compared to everything else, though.

The interlockables are still a work-in-progress. Right now just trying to make sure that players can get the visual feedback they need - is the interlockable active? which direction is it going to fall in? etc

[Kombiice]

Did you think about something similar to Portal's gels yet? Would be a nice puzzle addition. Would especially be interesting because of gravity fields! 

[Zorg]

I just thought of imaginary rails for the giant interlockables, along these lines:

[William Chyr]

Did you think about something similar to Portal's gels yet? Would be a nice puzzle addition. Would especially be interesting because of gravity fields! 

I don't think I can do the liquid effect - doesn't seem like it will work well with the Manifold Garden's art style.

The water in MG is very stylized, and does behave sort of like the light bridges in Portal 2.

I just thought of imaginary rails for the giant interlockables, along these lines:

Imaginary rails? I'm a bit confused - do you mean having the lines run along the side of the interlockables for visual purposes? Or is there a mechanical function?

[Zorg]

Imaginary rails? I'm a bit confused - do you mean having the lines run along the side of the interlockables for visual purposes? Or is there a mechanical function?

No mechanical function. Visually only. The lines could show the preferred direction of the interlockables, without using color in the inactive state. The "imaginary rails" would be clearer if the lines could be cavities (i guess), but cavities clash with the wiring mechanism you described earlier in combination with interlockables. (Additionally, cavities would probably create too many hard edge lines.)

[DarthTrae]

Looks great!! I can totally imagine this taking place inside of the player's mind.

[William Chyr]

No mechanical function. Visually only. The lines could show the preferred direction of the interlockables, without using color in the inactive state. The "imaginary rails" would be clearer if the lines could be cavities (i guess), but cavities clash with the wiring mechanism you described earlier in combination with interlockables. (Additionally, cavities would probably create too many hard edge lines.)

Ah, I see what you mean. That could work. The problem is it might lead to pieces of the interlockables getting caught on other things. I will try it. Thank you for the suggestion!

Looks great!! I can totally imagine this taking place inside of the player's mind.

Sweet! Glad to hear that :D

[William Chyr]

Devlog Update #299 - 05/18/2016

Programmer Search, E3, Interlockable Wire Lines

New Programmer

The search for a programmer is finally over! I've found someone to help me finish the project. They will be starting next Monday. I'll be doing an official post here introducing the new team member!

E3



I will be returning to E3 this year with Manifold Garden! I actually didn't think I would be going this year. Only got the news last week, which is quite late. I'm super excited to be showing the new build of the game.

E3 last year was a ton of fun, albeit incredibly exhausting. I received a lot of press from being there last year.  Looking forward to seeing what happens this year.

Indy Pop Con



From E3, I will be flying straight to Indianapolis for Indy Pop Con, which begins the next day. I'll actually be catching the red eye, and going straight from the airport to the convention center to set up.

This will be my 3rd time at Indy Pop Con. I was there at the very first one back in 2014, and it's really exciting to have seen it grow over the years.

The great thing about this convention is that there's a really decent size crowd, but still small enough that you can have conversations with people without feeling totally overwhelmed.

When I was there last year, there were players who had been there the previous year, and it's really great getting their feedback on the game after a year. Looking forward to seeing the returning players and meeting new ones.

Indiecade Submitted



Submitted Manifold Garden to Indiecade just in time for the regular submission deadline. I've submitted the game to the festival the previous two years, but didn't get in. Hopefully third time's the charm!

Rock Paper Shotgun



Manifold Garden featured on Rock Paper Shotgun today! And such a wonderful headline too.

This is very special for me, as during the early stages of development, much of the feedback that I received was that the game looked very generic. It's so great that now the art style is now making headlines!


Twitch Partnership

I applied to Twitch for partnership. Unfortunately didn't get it. I've heard it's quite common for people to get rejected the first time though, and applying doesn't hurt future chances.

Will definitely be continuing to stream development over at: https://www.twitch.tv/williamchyr

It's been an incredibly positive experience so far. My current schedule is Monday to Friday 3pm CT / 20:00 UTC for about 2 hours.


Interlockable Wire Lines

After a week of struggling with the code, I finally got the interlockable wire lines working. On the interlockables, the wires actually light up bi-directionally.

[Impmaster]

I don't get it. Why does the regular game look so different from those gifs where you just fall infinitely. Are those gifs just touring the scenery? Are the arrows in that last screenshot invisible to the player?

[Mark Mayers]

Indy Pop Con
This will be my 3rd time at Indy Pop Con. I was there at the very first one back in 2014, and it's really exciting to have seen it grow over the years.

The great thing about this convention is that there's a really decent size crowd, but still small enough that you can have conversations with people without feeling totally overwhelmed.

When I was there last year, there were players who had been there the previous year, and it's really great getting their feedback on the game after a year. Looking forward to seeing the returning players and meeting new ones.

Do you think Indy Pop Con is worth the trip?
I was invited by one of the event organizers but unfortunately I don't have the funds to attend
Maybe next year!

Good luck with all your events, sounds pretty crazy.

[William Chyr]

I don't get it. Why does the regular game look so different from those gifs where you just fall infinitely. Are those gifs just touring the scenery? Are the arrows in that last screenshot invisible to the player?

I'm not sure what you mean that the gifs look different than the regular game. There are different levels in the game - some with more focus on architecture, some with more focus on puzzles. The last screenshot is of a new level for which I haven't made a gif where you fall infinitely. However, it definitely is possible to fall infinitely in that level. The giant blocks are a new mechanic that I've just got working again.

Do you think Indy Pop Con is worth the trip?
I was invited by one of the event organizers but unfortunately I don't have the funds to attend
Maybe next year!

Good luck with all your events, sounds pretty crazy.

For me, definitely yes. However, it is much more about playtesting than it is about press. They're putting more focus on youtuber and streamers recently, but there isn't really any traditional press that goes.

The crowd there is really good, and because of the size and the con and the number of devs, people aren't overwhelmed or constantly rushing. As such, they're more likely to play the game for a longer time and have time to stick around for conversations where you can ask them about their experience.

Coming from Chicago, it's a very short trip, and the round trip bus ride is only about $40 or $50.

I would imagine it's comparable to something to Boston Festival of Indies, but 3 days?

[sidbarnhoorn]

This keeps getting better and better, love seeing all the updates come by through Twitter and FB.

[Kombiice]

Nice update!

With hearing about all the conventions on which you'll show off the game, I got a question: Is there any chance of seeing it on Gamescom this year?

Would be amazing for me (And other German gamers)!

[William Chyr]

This keeps getting better and better, love seeing all the updates come by through Twitter and FB.

So glad to hear that, Sid!

Nice update!

With hearing about all the conventions on which you'll show off the game, I got a question: Is there any chance of seeing it on Gamescom this year?

Would be amazing for me (And other German gamers)!

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be attending Gamescom. The trip across the Atlantic is just too much (both in terms of cost and time). However, I am looking to begin beta testing the game soon, so you'll likely get a chance to to try it before too long.

[Kombiice]

Beta testing? Sounds good! 

[William Chyr]

Beta testing? Sounds good! 

Yep! I'll be posting more info here.

[William Chyr]

Devlog Update #300 - 05/20/2016

Itch.io Refinery, Design Klub

itch.io refinery



Itch.io has just announced the itch.io refinery, a customizable system of tools for developers to distribute beta versions of games and get useful feedback.

I'm proud to say that Manifold Garden will be one of the first games to be using this.

I'll be starting beta testing of the game soon, and refinery came at just the right time.

I think itch.io is doing a really great work in the game distribution space, very much like bandcamp is for music. It's still a very small audience compared to Steam, but they're really putting control back into the hands of developers, and I think that's awesome.

Design Klub


_{(photo courtesy of Rob Lockhart)}

This past Saturday, I had another session of the Design Club (or rather, Design Klub, as the slack group is called). If you're unfamiliar with what this is, it's a day long session where a bunch of game designers in the Chicago area get together to work through various design problems in their respective games. I organized the first one in January of 2015, and you wrote about the experience here: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=37314.msg1101273#msg1101273

The games presented this time were:

Codemancer
Tumbleseed
Aerobat
Sausage Sports Club
Manifold Garden

I presented 2 primary problems for Manifold Garden, based on my observations from Indiecade East

1. How can I establish engagement for the player beyond the puzzles within the first hour? Namely, the puzzles and architecture are engaging for an hour, but then players are starting to question "why" they are playing the game. This is where a narrative or sense of mystery needs to be set. How can I do that within the first hour?

2. When players enter the area for the double gravity cubes, it feels like a let down, especially after coming from the infinite stepwell level, which for many people is the highlight of the first hour of the game. How can I make the double gravity area not feel like a let down?

Regarding the answer to the first question, I'm going to withhold that for now, as it would spoil the game

However, regarding the second question, Thew Yeager, the dev of Aerobat, pointed out how the intro to the double gravity section is just a simple room. You come from the infinite stepwell level, which feels incredible and open, and are then presented with a small enclosed room with a button.



As you can see, it doesn't exactly scream "exciting!"

I decided to move the portal outside of the room, so the player has to do a bit of searching around to get to the entrance, but I think visually it is much stronger, and feel like the game is scaling up rather than down:

[Kombiice]

Got a question: Is the "60% state" still actual ?

Thanks - Kombiice 

[William Chyr]

Got a question: Is the "60% state" still actual ?

Thanks - Kombiice 

It's probably close to 70%, but it's hard for me to know for sure as it's my first game and I haven't been through this process before.

[Kombiice]

Thanks for the answer!