Posted June 17, 2023 by FitzgeraldCabbage
I feel like I should've said this some time ago, but I always meant to end development on this game when 2.0 released. While there are problems with the game that I would fix if I didn't plan to stop working on the game after 2.0 version, there are other things I want to do and create in my life, and I will confidently say that I won't plan on setting my goals in the future off of Plants vs Zombies Maker. This game had a good run, and I'm not expecting much of it in popularity's sake, but I still cherish this game even if I don't choose to work on it anymore.
I guess I will explain the problems I have with the current state of the game.
First of all, the FPS the game is running at determines the speed of the game in general. You can mimic a delta_time feature in GameMaker, but it will always have that weird limitation that most other game development engines rarely face. GameMaker was always built for casual development, especially the version I use which is 1.4 (This isn't very optimal, but it works fine).
Second of all, the Zombie Wave Maker spawning mechanics aren't super intuitive. I purposely designed the Wave Maker to be unlike how the actual games work, so it can be simple and easy to predict. However, due to this, some levels can just be boring if you are too powerful, or too hard if you just don't have the right strategies. You really have to plan out the way the level will go, but on a positive note, like I said before, it is simple to implement and easy to predict.
Third, and last of all, there is a big lack of accessibility options. The Fullscreen key is tied to the F key, which most people wouldn't figure out in the first place anyway, and the frame counter for playing a wave always appears and you can never turn it off. This are pretty minor things, but Fullscreen can impact your game's performance.
Plants vs Zombies Maker may not get anymore updates, but I can either give the game to a small studio or dev, or it will live on forever in this form. I won't be mad either way, just enjoy what we have. On that note, the ZOMBIE EAT UR BRIAN !11 screen has a bit of foreshadowing for my next project. Stay Tuned....