August 30, 2024 || Week 4
Project: FIRST GAME || Time remaining: 335 days
Goal: Finish a very small scope, simple game in one year and then release it to Steam.
How?
- Creative Exploration & Learning - 3 months <-- (((We are here)))
- Primary Development - 6 months
- Test and Bugfix - 3 months
- Release - Research and schedule a time for release plus additional testing and feedback.
Why did I write this? To keep myself accountable and have something to look back on for progress as well as reference point and resource for anyone on a similar journey.
Work Log 4
Time spent: ~15 hours
Progress: Learning
Morale: High
1. Multiplayer Replication
Started messing around with multiplayer, learned about replication. Got replication working for 4 little cats.
https://x.com/compositionkat/status/1828180706045935847
And that's pretty much it!
2. Hats - 2D anchor Sprite Sockets
Found out I can add "Sockets" to my sprites such that I can then anchor some other sprite at that point. You do have to add the socket to each frame of animation. (Easier with right click Asset Actions > Edit in Property Matrix, but you still need to manually adjust each frame after adding it.)
This is neat because now I can have a hat.
3. Scratch the surface of GAS
Here are my notes:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WenWc6UwpVMesXH6JnSVcHRkKdt5nGt1mD9LB_2Dktw/edit?usp=sharing
Useful resources:
https://github.com/tranek/GASDocumentation?tab=readme-ov-file#intro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyyUPqdZQfU
4. More concept ideation
I don't think a multiplayer battle format is what's in store for these cats. I had some ideas for some interesting text-spell-casting cat wizards or hellcats that need to input up up down down left up right etc. combination to call down space lasers--but! I don't think it plays well with my parallax jumping concept. (How can you effectively target? Can't you just jump to a new layer easily before an attack? How to you keep high action if there are so many layers, won't you just chase each other around?) I'm just not convinced player battle is the way to go for these cats. Puzzle related concepts seem to be the most fun so far. I had one idea for "All -Dogs- Cats go to heaven" where you end up as the only cat in Heaven (for some good deed you have done for your dog house-mate) and decide that Heaven needs more cats. So you go recruit a bunch of cats from hell and sneak them into heaven, with a trailing snake of cats you need to navigate up through twisting tunnels and ethereal clouds to heaven without losing any.