Posted April 10, 2023 by Bright Flask
#2d #action game #combat #samurai #indie #japan
The big goal for March was to rework the UI. I wanted to go through all the screens and make them more consistent. The plan was to make the layout and behavior final while making the visuals better.
I already had a consistent structure across the project. In total, the game has 29 screens and 3 popups. Even though I am using prefabs, and it's all done the "right" way, it was a lot of work to go through them all. Still, it took me longer than I expected.
Shop - Before and After
Title - Before and After
In terms of layout, I focused on a consistent setup. I decided to have the Title at the top left, a selection right below that, and info to the right. I have zero artistic skills so I need a simple and modular approach.
Since I already had a scriptable object for UI settings, I added one field for the Header and another for the Body font.
Then, I created a script that hooks up a target text component to the font on the settings scriptable object.
With the font setup, I needed flexibility on the size. Looking at any writing tool, you can see that there are always multiple headers. I took that approach and also added multiple Body options.
The final result was fantastic. Since the font might still change, I can update all font references in the game from a single place.
I also created an area with all the colors I use on the UI. Unity has a built-in swatch solution, but I find it too cumbersome.
For each color, I have a descriptive name. Then I can use the color picker or copy the value.
I wrote the first draft of all 24 dialogues. For the most part, the dialogues will play at the beginning or the end of a level. Some will be story related, while others will explain a mechanic or unlock some content.
A few dialogues will play when you enter the shop for the first time. This way, I can give the player more context in a subtle way.
Writing all the dialogues showed me that the dialogue system lacked a few features. Also, it's a way of committing to what I have now. I can make adjustments, but I won't add a new dialogue or character.
Finally, some new animations for the boss got completed. The artist I am working with had a few issues with his PC. Because of that, progress has been slow. Nonetheless, I am happy working with him. I want to continue working together until the game is released.
For April, I plan to submit the game to Pixel Heaven and approach 3 potential publishers. I made a list with a few publishers that would be awesome to work together. I hope one of them is interested in the game and our plans align.
To increase my chances of success, I will playtest and iterate on the first part of the game.
Follow my progress on Twitter @brightflask.