Latest Devlog posts over here: Day 31, Post Mortem

Hey all,

it's my third #devtober this time. Since I moved from GameMaker Studio 2 to Godot one month ago, I thought devtober is the perfect time to see what I've learnt so far, but also to practice it a bit more. Thus I'll start a new project here. It should be something simple this time, which can be done in one month. My goal is to get a playable demo/stable release running at the end of devtober, even though I'm a perfectionist when it comes to the development of games and I don't want to limit myself because of this special month. Thus the game will be as polished as possible and the work will continue after devtober. I also have an idea and a bit more for the game, now it just needs to be realized.

About me:

• I'm from Germany
• Studied computer science at university until I abandoned it
• started with game development in 2017, before: mapping and modding stuff for some games
• Solo dev over here doing coding, art and sound
• Took part in 1 game jam and 2 devtober so far 

Please follow my twitter for latest updates: https://twitter.com/TackRadGames

Other useful links: 

• https://soundcloud.com/not_falso

So now a bit about the game:

• standard Pinball game
• PixelArt, since I lack skills, it will be 1bit

Day 0:

You may ask now what I've so far:

• was already working on the first table, so I can concentrate more on the coding part

50% scaled:

Day 1 ToDo:

• finish the table in Aseprite (day 1/2)

Day 1:

Today I continued working on the first table of my flipper game. So far I think it looks pretty good.

Nevertheless I also think the outer circle needs some more work so the ball can use this one, but I'll think about it when the basic game play mechanic is working and I can test it.

50% scaled:

Day 2 ToDo:

• Table Aseprite (day 1/2) create sprites
• setup hacknplan
• setup git
• setup project in godot

Day 2:

Today I created all the sprites for the game in Aseprite, set up a git repository to commit my changes and an HacknPlan board to keep track of everything which needs to be done, have been done and to keep track of bugs. Last I imported every sprite into Godot and created the scene for the first table.
I also noticed in windowed mode there's a bug with the size of the pixel, at some point I need see what went wrong here.

Game screen:

HacknPlan:

Day 3 ToDo:

• Collisions
• PixelArt Plunger + Ball
• Coding: Flippers, Plunger & Ball

Day 4:

I'm very happy with the work today since the game play isn't this sluggish anymore. When I tested the table today after changing some things, it was much more common to get the ball in the upper half of the table. Nevertheless the table needs some rework, since there are problems/bugs.

Below you find a new game play gif with the latest changes:

Day 5 ToDo:

• Since I don't have this much time, I'm just going to think about a reworked table, because here and there are problems with hitting lanes

Day 5:

Since I wanted to rework the table I thought about different things:

• Flipper: extend them more, so you have a larger area to interact with the ball.
• plunger lane: change this one, because from time to time the ball goes directly into the left out lane
• top circle lane: needs also a change especially the entrance/exit, so it's much easier to to use this lane

Day 6 ToDo:

- change the table with the above points (Day 5)

Day 6:

Today I not just reworked the table a bit but also the flippers. I also changed some properties of the flippers and the plunger. Today's work is really something to behold. The table plays now much smoother and isn't this sluggish anymore. It's also much, much, much common now to hit the circular lane. I haven't touched the plunger lane so far, let's see whether I'll do it. Also the space between the flippers will become wider again.

But sadly from time to time there's a weird bug happening where collisions are not working correctly when the speed of the ball is too high, I have to take a look at this one day/ some days.

Here the current game play GIF:

Day 7 ToDo:

• work on the bumpers & slingshots
  
• day off (breaks are a MUST!)

Day 7:

This is not the devlog you're looking for.
Move along...
Move along...

Today I took the day off, because every good developer needs a break :-) So I just played some Pinball FX3 & Zaccaria Pinball. Maybe I also got some new ideas for the game. :-)

Day 8 ToDo:

• work on the bumpers & slingshots

Day 8:

Today I worked on adding functionality to bumpers & slingshot. I'm really happy how they turned out. I even added a visual 'effect' to the sprites so you have some kind of feedback.

Maybe at some point I also have to think about reworking the table again, but for this I wait until I've every element of the table implemented.

There have been also really funny moments, for example this GIF (infinite slingshots):

Here a GIF from the working bumpers & slingshots:

Day 9 ToDo:

• work on the drop targets

Day 9:

Today I was working on the drop targets. I'm again really happy how todays work turned out, that you can just hit the drop targets from the front and that they also have again a visual feedback like bumpers & slingshots.

Because of all the work in the last days my HacknPlan Board has become emptier and more empty with time. That's why I also thought about new task today which can be done in the next days.

Here again a GIF from todays work:

And a screenshot of the new tasks on HacknPlan:

Day 10 ToDo:

• Point/Score System on game element hit

• Really simple UI

(just something really small this time)

Day 10:

What's a game without a goal, without a score you may ask. So it's time! I present a really simple UI with a score system. \o/
I even found time to implement floating scores onto the table, for now they are in the center of the table until I know where to place them, but maybe they are also fine where they are.

You can even see how many balls you have used to far. :-) 

Here again a GIF from todays work:

Day 11 ToDo:

• implement ball camera

Day 11:

Not much to show today, sadly. Wanted to work on the ball camera, but instead I encountered so many problems with it which I have to think about first. Going to move the implementation of the ball camera to a later date after devtober, because I noticed this isn't really a task which fits into my idea of devtober and what I want to achieve.
Nevertheless I learned really much today, be it signals which have to be reconnected or that Godot can't tell the difference between "Left & Right Shift".

Because of that I only fixed some bugs today which floating points not being shown and gave the game some proper controls (even though not the ones which I wanted to have for the keyboard, see sentence above).

Day 12 ToDo:

• create sound effects in Cubase

Day 12:

Today I was creating some simple sound effects for bumpers, drop targets, slingshots & flippers and implemented them into the game. Maybe I'll work on them more in the future, for now the are okey I think. At least I learned something about audio in Godot. I'm not sure about the sound of the ball (which hasn't been created so far), but I think I'll figure something out.

Today a small video so you can hear the sounds, you can find it on my Twitter-Account: https://twitter.com/TackRadGames/status/1448041539553345545

Day 13 ToDo:

• Fixing Bugs

Day 13:

Today I fixed some bugs, including one weird one where the ball got stuck when holding the flippers up for some time. I also adjusted the collisions so they are more "pixel perfect". I'm quite happy with my work today, I also know what I'll work on the day after tomorrow.

Day 14 ToDo:

• day off (breaks are a MUST!)

Day 14:

This is not the devlog you're looking for.
Move along...
Move along...

Today I took the day off, because every good developer needs a break :-) Since I already knew what to work on the next day I didn't have think about something.

Day 15 ToDo:

• work on Spinner & eject hole

Day 15:

Today I had a really productive day again in Godot and Aseprite. I worked on two new table elements for the game and I'm really happy how everything turned out. Sure, here and there I'd change something, but this for another day.

So here they are: Spinner & Eject Hole

Here again a GIF from todays work:

Day 16 ToDo:

Tomorrow it will be quiet again round my project in Godot, since my "First Sprint" ends on HacknPlan today. Because of that I'm going the reflect the past weeks and get a new sprint up and running, so I can work on new stuff for the game.

Day 16:

Since my first sprint on HacknPlan ended yesterday. I was just planning new tasks for the coming week(s), so far I found 14.

I know these are not enough tasks for the second half of devtober, because of this I'm going to think about more once the sprint becomes more emptier.

And a screenshot of the new tasks on HacknPlan of what currently is planned:

Day 17 ToDo:

Let's work on two new table elements:

• Ballgate
• Ballsaver

Day 17:

Today I added some nice features to the game. I introduce: plunger lane ballgate & ballsaver.

Now, when the ball leaves the plunger lane the ballgate closes, so it doesn't return back into the plunger lane, this happened in the past occasionally. It opens again when the ball is lost.

The ballsaver will be activated when the ball leaves the ballgate and with be deactivated again after a set amount of time.

With some coding related parts of these two new features I had my difficulties, but solved them really well because of that it took me longer than expected. I'm happy how today's work turn out.

Here again a GIF from todays work:

Day 18 ToDo:

Since I have not this much time to work on the game in the next two days, I'll just concentrate on something small of my HacknPlan board.

• Main menu

Day 18:

Today I just worked on a really simple menu, in which you can switch between scenes. So sadly nothing to show off. I also noticed it takes longer than expected, because you can do so much more to it, e.g. Themes in Godot. Because of this I'm going to give this task some more days.

Day 19 ToDo:

• Main menu (Day 2/3)

Day 19:

Today I was also working on my menu again, this time I was thinking how I could design it best, without sticking to a tutorial. I also decided to stick to a really simple menu to have this part ready for the submission. After devtober the work on the menu will continue to have something "better".

Day 20 ToDo:

• Main menu
• Options menu

It's also time for a GIF again, tomorrow :-)

Day 20:

Today I was finalizing the main menu, so at least this part is ready for submission. At some point I will work on it again because at the moment it's a really basic one, but this sometime after devtober. In addition to that I worked on the options menu & the credits today, really like how both turned out. I really like this little gimmick in the credits screen.

Remember: "PixelBall" is only the internal name and not the final one

Here again a GIF from todays work:

Day 21 ToDo:

• day off (breaks are a MUST!)

Day 21:

This is not the devlog you're looking for.
Move along...
Move along...

Today I took the day off, because every good developer needs a break :-) I did nothing with exception of playing some Pinball FX3 go get maybe some new ideas for the time after devtober.

Before I do the next day off next Thursday the game have to be finished for submission, because afterwards I'll just set up the itch page with the game and write the post mortem so that in November the work can continue again.

Day 22 ToDo:

• work on bonus indicator lights

Day 22:

What's a pinball game without a way to get higher scores?

So here it is: the Bonus Indicator, the longer you play with one ball the higher your multiplicator gets to achieve higher scores on the table.

Really happy how it turned out, finally the center of the table isn't this empty anymore. Nevertheless more work is needed to have some great background to fill the table more.

Day 23 ToDo:

Finally:

• Highscores

Day 23:

What's a pinball game without something you can compete against? So here they are Highscores/Leaderboard. They will be saved and loaded up again when you restart the game.

Remember: This is not the final position of the leaderboard. In November/December this one will be moved to a table-select-scene and on the table itself you'll only find the 'next score above you', which you can compete against. I currently just put it on the table because there's currently no need for a table-select-scene with only one table.

Here again a GIF from today's work:

Day 24 ToDo:

• Droptarget groups

Day 24:

Even though I achieved what I wanted to do today, it wasn't my day. First of all everything took pretty long to code, maybe also I had no real concept how to achieve my task. Second not everything works as thought for now.

Droptargets get immediately reset as soon as these are down, sure I could solve it with a timer attached to the group, but I think it isn't this flexible. So I've to think about it again.

Here again a GIF from today's work:

(Hope you don't notice the two balls in the plunger lane, this has to be fixed at some point)

Day 25 ToDo:

• Rollovers

Day 25:

With today I have accomplished everything I wanted to achieve in Devtober.

Presenting: Rollovers, they come in two forms, buttons & wires. With this table element I also moved to a new system how the ball interacts with table elements.

So far everything is handled by the ball, be it the collision detection or the points you'll get. But with the new system, all of this is moved to the respective table element. So it's more flexible now and not this much dependent from each other.

I'm really happy about today's work.

Here again a GIF from today's work:

Day 26 ToDo:

• move table elements to the new system
• bug fixes

Day 26:

Today there was a lot of under the hood stuff, so not this much you can see.

I changed a lot of table elements to the new system, so the code is in their respective table elements and not anymore in the ball, which was cluttered with code on how a table element is behaving on a collision.

For the visible part: drop target (groups) don't reset immediately after a collision with the ball. It takes not some seconds until they reset.

Here again a GIF from today's work:

Day 27 ToDo:

• bug fixes
• adjustments
• make settings work

Last day to work on the game, which will continue in November

Day 27:

Because it was the last day to work on the game until the this one will continue in November, I tried to get the game prototype as stable as possible to be ready for release on Sunday.

The first task I did today was giving the settings menu some life, so far it didn't save anything you changed until now. Next I made some slight adjustments to some table elements and GUI. Lastly I fixed some bugs.

So far I'm really happy what I've achieved in the Devtober, more in the Post Mortem in some days.

Day 28 ToDo:

• day off (breaks are a MUST!)

Day 28:

This is not the devlog you're looking for.
Move along...
Move along...

Today I took the day off, just resting, playing some pinball games and getting ready for the last, really small part of Devtober.

Day 29/30 ToDo:

• Create itch.io page, screenshots, texts and so on

Day 29/30:

On these day I created the submission page on itch, currently it's a draft and will go live tomorrow as soon as I finished writing the Post Mortem.

I also learned about the creation of custom export templates in Godot, which was quite a hassle to get everything working. But in the end I could reduce the file size by 43%.

So be excited.

Day 31:

• Write Post Mortem
• make the submission public

Day 31 1/2: (last day)

Today I was writing the Post Mortem and worked a bit more on the project page to give it the final touch. I made the game page public and submitted to devtober, you can find this submission page over here: https://itch.io/jam/devtober-2021/rate/1254705

Day 31 2/2: (last day)

Devtober ‘21 – Post Mortem

This years Devtober was the best month of all the ones before, because I had so much more time to work on something, to learn something new. Because I wasn’t happy anymore with GameMaker since some years, I finally did the switch to Godot. So this Devtober is where it all begins.

State of the project:

In the past two Devtobers I always already had a project I was working on, so I continued with those. But not this time, no concept, no project files. There was just the genre of the game I had in mind. Because I wanted to use Godot for my game and I almost doesn’t know anything about it, just a bit of testing around in the month before Devtober, it was great to start without anything.

What went wrong?

This year it’s really difficult so find something which went wrong, since I didn’t know this much about Godot, you also didn’t build this complex ‘structures’ so you are not this susceptible to mistakes.

Still, I think the sounds I designed for the game went wrong, I’m really not happy about them, it’s also because I lack skill in creating those. But there’s always time to learn something and with this project I’m more eager than ever before.

What went right?

So far everything went right what I wanted to do. My goal this year was to learn more about Godot, so I concentrated myself more on the coding part than art or composing. Because of this focus I had in mind, things went much smoother this year.

I went from zero to 100 in one month. In the beginning I was still using from time to time tutorials, but this changed over the time in Devtober a lot. I was more independent of those during the time, until I created the code/mechanics fully myself. So yeah, now I’m at this stage again in Godot where I was in GameMaker before, to do stuff in the engine by yourself.

So I think I achieved my goal in this Devtober and I’m more than happy about it.

Now I’ve a polished prototype pinball game, which is working, with a leaderboard and so much more.

What’s next?

I will continue to work on the project, maybe not every day with one or two tasks each day, but more like something larger and to work on more complex ‘systems’ for the game, something I can work on for days.

Anyway the project must grow! Grow much further! I will again plan structured days and tasks which need to be done. Things have to be reworked, some new tables have to be created.

In case you want to be up-to-date about the project you can follow me on twitter.

The End!