Development state video #3 — 07.05.2017

Well, it’s been a while

Both since my last post, and since I originally uploaded the video. There’s been some issues, not directly related to the game. First, my previous web hosting provider decided, that it’s acceptable to have Error 500 thrown in my face for three days in a row, so I had to migrate the site, the DNS, all that jazz to a new provider. Thankfully, it seems to do the job just fine.

Also, we were assigned group projects on my uni. And as it is common with group projects, it quickly turned into a solo project. That’s why I’ve been kinda distracted trying to get everything to work correctly.

But regardless, let’s get to talking about the video! I’ve tried a new format, with added text, to explain what exactly are you looking at. Let me know how you like it. You can also notice some framerate issues here and there, and it’s the fault of me running the game on the same process I’m running the editor. On a Phenom II X4 840. I assure you, that when you run the game standalone, it’s butter-smooth.

Functional loading screen

Basically, exactly what it says. It’s a loading screen. It tells you what exactly is being loaded, how many tries it took to load it, and a total elapsed time of loading. Currently, the loading times are at ~11s, and they shouldn’t get any higher, due to the way the spawing algorithm is made. Which is, in my opinion, acceptable. But do feel free to leave your feedback as well!

New HUD

Looks a little bit more refined, in my opinion, than the previous hud with boxy, blocky bars. The goal was to have the health bar move on an arc, as the shape would suggest, but to do that I needed a very precise gradient on that arc. And what do you know, Photoshop doesn’t allow creating gradients that follow a path. My only option would be to create a linear gradient and bend it manually. However, this method doesn’t give the precision I need, and would lead to the cut-off edge being wavy, and a non-uniform progress of the bar.

Still, something to overcome. Hopefully.

Also, added a list of pickups you currently have to be in the bottom-left corner, and changed the font of all the text on the UI, to look more computer-ish.

Diegetic weapon HUD

Not much to say about it, honestly. It was there already. The only change I made, was adding maximum ammo as well, and changing the font.

Loot chests

Same old, same old. Although I would like to make new models and textures for them sometime in the future. They look fine right now, IMHO, but not as fine and finished as they could. Their physics are hella wonky too. I’d like to fix that.

Doors

They close behind you when you enter the room, and open when you clear it. Couldn’t be simpler. I also put glass in them, that becomes translucent only as you approach it. It’s a nice effect I managed to create, and expect me to overuse it. There’s a problem with that, however, since – as you’ll be able to observe later – what you see through the glass is distorted. And not in a good, cool-looking way. Some objects simply become displaced when seen through it. I hope to fix it soon.

Minimap

Yes, it is wonky. No, it doesn’t have the correct rotation. It will, though. It has to. Also, it’s just a a picture that a camera hanging above the player captures, chroma-keyed to be translucent. I’m currently thinking of a better solution.

Shop

Just a green, glowing ball. It’s just a placeholder, because I needed to see if it’s even spawning. It is. In the future, it’ll be a place where you can exchange your credits for other consumables, or maybe even buy upgrades. We’ll see how it goes.

Treasure room

One per floor, will spawn a guaranteed item or upgrade. It does sound kinda generic, so I’ll try to spice it up a little. Perhaps hidden compartments you can open with keys, that would hide chests or more upgrades? Perhaps giving you multiple items to choose from? We’ll see.

Boss room

Red Cone can’t hurt you, but it also can’t be killed. I kid, I kid. The bosses will be better, than a glowing red cone. They’ll also give you an item when you bea them, and will open a path to the next floor.

Afterword

A season of exams is approaching, and for a good while I doubt I’ll have enough time to progress an awful lot. After that, however, summer break starts, so I’ll have much more of that time. I hope to at least have some basic enemies, rooms, and items ready by the time the break ends.