Game Development

Share some progress, text or screenshots of some development on your game!

A few weeks ago, I started on a basic tutorial for developing games in Godot: "Ultimate Instruction to Godot 4" on YouTube by Clear Code. My goal was to not just finish the tutorial, but to build on it and create a small game with semi-professional standards. Here is said game, my first attempt not only at developing in Godot, but also my first attempt at creating a game.

If you know what you are doing, a playthrough is around 20-40 minutes, more on higher difficulties. On easy, it is possible to be reckless, while on higher difficulties, the game forces you to be quite considerate of your resources.

As this is my first game ever, I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback. I hope that, if you try it out, you will have as much fun with the game as I had making it!

Share some progress, text or screenshots of some development on your game!

From GameFromScratch.com

Comparing two approaches for creating floating UI like health bars, text labels, damage numbers, ... using either world space UI or screen space UI.

Both approaches have their pros and cons and can be useful in different situations.

In this video I use Unity and UI Toolkit, but the two approaches for creating floating UI are also relevant in other game engines (Unreal, Godot, self-made, ...)

If you are using Unity and UI Toolkit you might be interested in a Unity Asset Store package that greatly simplifies creating such floating UI. https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/slug/275047

Horn of Balance - an indie 2D zelda-like

I'm developing 'Horn of Balance', a 2D zelda-like featuring 12 non-linear dungeons, 2 interconnected worlds and a TON of secrets.

Right now, the project is live on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hornofbalance/horn-of-balance) and we've almost hit the funding goal with just 24 hours left!

There's also a free demo on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2738140/Horn_of_Balance/) and Itch.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have!

@gamedev

Share some progress, text or screenshots of some development on your game!

Technological progress once swept games into the retro bin within a few years, but no longer – publishers must learn about how to support, not destroy, their older titles | Opinion | GamesIndustry.biz

If you dig action platformers or pixel art graphics, hope you check it out!

Have a bunch old game ideas collecting dust. I’ll never get to them, so I Thought I’d post some here for anyone to use however they wish.

TL;DR Whenever a target area is about to leave the screen quickly fade in your spooky object.

I think this idea is best understood with a concrete example, so I'm going to be using the cliche monster-in-the-mirror bit so we can understand each other better.

So visually it would work like this: When I'm in the bathroom looking around slowly, nothing happens. Look in the mirror nothing happens. But if my look reaches a high enough velocity, so I know that the mirror will disappear off the screen in a fraction of a second, I fade my monster character onto/into the mirror so the player will only see the monster with their peripheral vision. When/if they look back there's no monster.

Mechanically: For this you'll want some threshold on the outside borders of the screen that would determine the possible trigger range. You'll take the position of the mirror object and transform it to screen space to see if it's in the trigger threshold. If it is in the trigger area and the mouse velocity is high enough, trigger spooky event.

Another (probably more efficient) way to do it would be to just calculate the screen space position of the mirror and assume a continued average velocity over the previous n ticks and when the future projected position is greater or less than your screen resolution, trigger the event. Obviously include a sensitivity value so you can adjust it to your preferences.

Have a bunch old game ideas collecting dust. I'll never get to them, so I Thought I'd post some here for anyone to use however they wish.

Summary:

Origami, is a 2D puzzle platformer where the player uses space manipulation and light to solve puzzles. The player can fold the level, as if the level was drawn on a piece of paper. Other puzzle elements, such as glass lenses, prisms, water, and mirrors allow for light and color manipulation. These elements all build on each other becoming more complicated as they move through each world.

Had a working prototype a long time ago. Feel free to steal the code here: https://github.com/Herkimer5801/Origami

Original Game Outline:

A world inside a fold

• Level 1: Basic fold puzzle - This teaches the player the idea
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple fold puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world added and subtracted

• Level 1: Basic color puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world in the dark

• Level 1: Basic light puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world upside down

• Level 1: Basic gravity puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world through the lens

• Level 1: Basic glass puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world well lit

• Level 1: Basic prism puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world so wet

• Level 1: Basic water puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world of color copies

• Level 1: Basic light puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world dlrow A

• Level 1: Basic mirror puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

A world in the next dimension

• Level 1: Basic 3D puzzle - Teach the player a new mechanic
• Level 2: Large scale, but simple puzzle - Show the scope of what can be done
• Level 3: Blow their minds

World 1:

Is focused on folding. The main idea that we are trying to get across to the player is that the space around them is variable. They can manipulate it to get things closer to them, or them closer to it.

World 2:

Is focused on overlapping. Adding and subtracting the world around them to manipulate the colors to get the desired result. The idea that if the fold the red elements over the blue, they will get purple. If they take red away from a white object they will end up with a cyan color.

World 2 Level 1:

We will introduce buttons in this level. The player will need to fold a red, green, and blue button all onto the same place so they can step on all three at once. This will also align the three lights in the scene filling the ‘empty’ platform the player needs to stand on to get to the next level.

World 3:

Is focused on lighting. It takes the concept of World 2 to another level, allowing the lights to affect the color of the objects. So if a red light shines onto a white object, it will become red. If a blue light shines on a green object it becomes cyan.

World 4:

Is focused around folding gravity. Gravity will change direction to fit which way the level was folded.

World 5:

Is focused around glass. Glass will serve the purpose in this world as platforms that break when they are folded. This restricts where the player can fold without breaking the glass. Glass here in this level will also interact with the light focusing it into laser beams that allow the player to send light across the level.

World 6:

Is focused around glass in the way it adds or subtracts light. In other words: Prisms. They can create rainbows or take a rainbow and turn it into white light. This light of course affect the world and the player as it did in the previous world. Prisms simply build on the idea of playing with light.

World 7:

Is focused around water. The water will act in a very similar manner to prisms, but only creating rainbows. Water will also (hopefully), wash the color out of platforms. This gives the player a ‘color eraser’ they can use to empty platforms of the wrong colors.

World 8:

Is focused around copies of the player. So when the player makes a color fold, they create a clone of themselves in that color. The idea is to combine this with gravity and color specific collision to require the player to move through the levels by adding and subtracting color to get to areas they wouldn’t otherwise. Every ‘clone’ is controlled simultaneously and with the exact same input.

World 9:

Is focused around the idea that the player can hold up a mirror to the level, and move the mirror to change ½ of the level. They can use the mirror also to reflect light. Mirrors will come in the form of folds and also as individual platforms.

World 10:

Is focused around adding a 3rd dimension.

Star Chasers is an arcade-like space shooter game that I've wanted to develop for five years now, after I had a dream about it.

So in that game, you play as a fashion-obsessed adolescent named Stella Capella, who pilots a ship soaring through outer space where she shoots...things. Her motivation is to follow her grandpa's footsteps, who was a captain during his prime.

The story goes like this: Stella got a 1-week suspension from school after she was exposed for spiking the principal's coffee with whatever that drug was. As punishment, Stella's mother forced her daughter to work in the local tea shop she runs.

During a restless afternoon, Stella went on a stroll around a junkyard and found an abandoned ship. Finding out that it still works, she redesigns the ship and goes crazy outside of Earth with it only to come across danger.

Share some progress, text or screenshots of some development on your game!

TLDR: Flutter made its debut at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, showcasing the progress made in building games with Flutter. Over 15,000 new mobile games have been developed using Flutter in the last year. Flutter offers advantages for 2D casual games, such as being open-source, having a rich plugin ecosystem, and supporting cross-platform deployment. The future of Flutter game development includes expanded resources, smoother deployment on various platforms, and exploration of 3D capabilities.

Share some progress, text or screenshots of some development on your game!

This is kind of huge, isn't it? I've been seeing this engine around for a while (it was still in closed alpha I believe) and it seemed really well done. It's a Godot fork that's intended to be a simpler experience like Roblox, where it has visual scripting, handles all the multiplayer itself, and allows you to create worlds collaboratively with friends and co-workers in real-time.

The only thing people seemed iffy about was monetization and its closed-source nature, but now that it's here and FOSS, anyone think it might blow up and be a great introduction to game development for beginners and kids?

I'll probably test it and see how it is later, but it does seem like it's still in alpha.