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[qwercus]

Today I polished the plot-selection menu a bit, added a title screen, and added some music and a digging sound.

Picture of the plot-selection menu:

Link to the title/menu music:

http://tindeck.com/listen/bvxh


At this point I'm going to focus on completing a minimal version of the game.  So that basically means polishing up what I have already with perhaps a few additions here and there.  I want to do this so that I have something completed before my internship ends so that I can share this game with my coworkers.  I could add a ton of features, but I'd rather have a few really polished features than a hundred half-assed ones.

So that means I will:
-Create all the different plots and balance their difficulty with an appropriate time limit.
-Polish the artwork.
-Finish the music and sounds.
-Fix bugs

If I finish those tasks ahead of time, I may add new features before I reveal this to my coworkers.  However, I plan on making a lot of improvements after they've seen it.

[qwercus]

I've worked a bit on the numbers at the top of the screen.  I added a dandelion (symbolizing all weeds) next to the total-weeds-left number, I replaced the strikes-remaining number with three leaves, I placed a stopwatch next to the time remaining, and I shortened the time to only include one number after the decimal.

I also added grass around the plot.

I'm currently looking into how to go about creating, modifying, and reading a save file so that the player can close the game without losing their progress (which plots they've completed/unlocked).  I've done simple input/output stuff before, and I've created very basic save files before.  But I'd like to do more with it this time.  To give you an idea of where my understanding of this area is at, I just learned what serialization is.  Sort of.

[qwercus]

Today I did some code polishing based on some feedback I received from a friend.

In an attempt to decrease the initial loading time, I placed most of the images in a single .png and placed it in a single class so that it only needs to load once.  Although this did nothing to decrease the loading time, I'm sure at the least it's good practice and will likely improve efficiency in some other way.  The real factor in loading time seems to be the audio/music files.  Perhaps I'll find a way to load them and other resources only when I need them instead of when the game launches.  Not sure how to go about that yet.

I fixed a bug in which the digging sound wouldn't play if you moved while holding space.  I also fixed a bug in which the timer that starts when you hold the space bar to pull a weed doesn't restart when you move to an adjacent plant.

My friend pointed out that the screen size was perhaps a bit large.  After reducing the size by 25% and comparing it with the original size, I came to agree that it was indeed much too large.

Now to continue working on that save file...

[ZASkaggs]

Man, you've made a lot of progress since I last saw. Things are looking great.

[qwercus]

Thanks, and good to hear from you again! :D  It's exciting to be able to constantly add to and improve it.  Every week, it looks different, and it's fun to look back on all the progress that's been made.

Update:

Last week I managed to put together locked/unlockable plots and a save file that records how many plots have been unlocked.

This weekend I threw out the placeholder title screen and replaced it with a real, pretty one that includes a menu.

Next, I need to finish setting up all of the plots and create some sort of congratulatory event for when the last plot is completed.  Then the game will technically be a complete game, and so I will at least have something minimal to show my coworkers.  After that, I will polish the plot selection menu, perhaps add some more music/sounds, and maybe even add some new features.

I've decided I will reveal it to my coworkers on August 13th, since that will be just before some of them start to leave.  It's also the day of a symposium in which many of them will be presenting on independent research they've been conducting over the summer.  It seems like a solid date.  It's just over two weeks away! 

[qwercus]

It's been about a week.  Here's what I've accomplished.

- New plot selection menu that doesn't look like crap.

- New sprite with pulling animations

- Credits

- New success/fail images