Posted June 02, 2024 by Bob's Stuff
I've been up to lots of things in the world of Melkhior's recently - rather too many to keep track of to be honest. One thing of note which was recently added though is that, like the original version, all the rooms now have names - you can see them in the newely-updated screen shots on the main project page. (I've also updated the main description - I'm pretty sure the original game isn't still "coming soon"!!)
Originally this feature was very much on the "nice to have" list, but having freed up some memory where I'd over-allocated to certain features I thought it was at least worth investigating now, but I wasn't prepared for the difference it actually makes when playing the game. Suddenly you're made much more aware of where you are in the mansion, and so navigating around the place is made much easier, adding to the enjoyment of the game as I found that you learn the layout much more quickly than with graphics alone.
The name is usually shown top-center, but on the stairs that blocks the top door too much, and so in those cases it is left/right aligned as necessary to keep everything visible. The name is also usually coloured white, but in a white room it can somewhat disappear into the background, so changes to cyan. Having it coloured adds a bit more to the overall look of the game, so I've been wondering about colouring some other aspects of the room. Not the actual play-area itself - that'll stay monochrome as I hate the colour-clash that would result - but perhaps with some of the wall objects, like torches and paintings. That's all definitely a nice to have though.
The game as a whole is certainly coming along nicely though - I'm really pleased with the last few months of progress. I originally set myself a deadline of finishing it this year, or shelving it. You know something, it might just happen...