Hey guys!
OK so I was supposed to start discussing the 5 main tools in Gastrocove today, but I think I need to frame this discussion first with the core features of Gastrocove. So maybe tools will start tomorrow.
The Gastrocove PitchGastrocove is a simulation game where you place blocks down on an island in order to transport food products to the ports which are located on the coast. Doing this earns money so that you can create larger transport lines and gather products deeper into the island.
Gastrocove FeaturesI wanted to make sure that the feature set in Gastrocove remained razor sharp. I did not want any half baked features thrown in because they sounded good on paper. I have been making software for a very long time and "feature creep" is not something exclusive to the game industry. My company sells a few main software applications and if you spend enough time in them you will see the features that are honed to perfection (the ones that MOST people use) and the ones that are functional but very basic - the ones that sounded good but were never fully fleshed out.
The core feature in Gastrocove is getting food products to the ports along the coast.
In the screenshot above you can see a spawner which is the translucent block near the palm tree that is producing coconuts. The coconuts will drop from gravity and are landing on a belt which we setup pushing them into a combiner tool which bundles them up into containers and pushes them towards the orange port which is the goal point.
The main game loop in Gastrocove is placing blocks and letting the interaction between them bring food products to the orange ports.
Complexity and IterationOK with the game goal clearly stated, let's talk about the way that I have expanded upon that concept to flesh out the game.
ContainersAll food products must be in a container before they can be delivered to a port. Combiners are the tools which take a food product and place it into a container. In the picture above, the combiner is at the corner of the assembly line.
Food Product SpoilingFollowing along the lines of containers, food products spoil and the rate varies. For example coconuts will spoil (and disappear) after 10 cycles. In order to prevent spoilage, you have to get the food into a container.
RecipesRecipes are food products that are formed by taking 2 or 3 food products and sending them into the combiner at the same time. For example, pineapples + coconuts + rum -> pina colada. Combiners can take in either the raw product (not in a container) or the product in a container when making recipes so you don't have to JUST send in raw goods into a combiner.
AgingFood products can be aged inside containers, for example grape juice will turn into wine if the container that it is in ages a certain # of cycles before being delivered to the port. This creates a situation where you can create a longer production pipeline to delay delivery in order to earn more money.
TemperatureThe combiner in addition to having 3 input ports also has a temperature control on the top (you right click to toggle temperature). There are 3 temperatures, Cold, Room/Normal, and Hot. Changing the temperature can change the product produced when combining. For example, Coconut + Hot Combiner = Toasted Coconut.
DistanceThe best products grow further into the island. If you think of the island as a circle, the very center will have the best ingredients but will also require the most blocks to get them out. A big part of the strategy in Gastrocove is determining which products to transport to which spots on the island to maximize profits. For example if a high ticket item requires strawberries and chocolate and strawberries grow in the top left of the island and cocoa bean grows in the bottom right and goat milk is only available in the center, what is the most efficient path to get those products brought together, combined, and delivered to the port?
Block CostEvery block except for the container has a cost associated with it. For example, the belt costs $1 for every cycle and the combiner costs $5 per input only when combining. There is no up front cost, only a recurring cost. Consider these blocks as a service (BaaS)
Spawners/AnimalsRaw products (e.g. Coconuts) come out of spawners. Most spawners are just attached to something in nature like a tree or a garden, but we also have moving spawners in the form of animals. Animals such as goats, chickens and ducks will wander within a set bounds and occasionally drop food products (e.g. Goats drop goat milk). The island is pure vegetarian (as am I) so no killing of animals!!
OK guys, well that's all for now. Tomorrow I will start talking about each block in a little bit more detail.