Day 1:

Before the Jam, I started brainstorming for my project, now dubbed C3 - Crazy Cat Collector.  This game will be a simple platformer where the player takes control of the Crazy Cat Collector, and attempts to capture as many cats as possible, bringing them back to her box.  She will have to use a combination of platforming, as well as various skills to move the cat to her box, as simply carrying them all the way there will not work -- cats never cooperate.

Day 1, sadly, was spent mostly working at my job, so I didn't get to do much actual work on the game.

When I finally got home, I threw together some 'programmer-art' placeholders, and started work on the basic platforming engine.  I've got collision working, some basic jumping and moving around.  

I assure you, the graphics are [probably] not representative of the final product.  I hope.

Other than that, tomorrow is another day!  I'll be keeping up the Devlog here every day (I hope) to show my progress over the next 2 weeks.  Feel free to comment, I'm always open to answering questions!

I am really intrigued by the concept ! And for just having been able to work on it so shortly having programmed the fundamentals of movement is a great start. Excited to see more. :D

hey nice! love how you summarized your entire progress so far in a single gif. nice work.

Day 3-ish?:  Day 2 was a bit of a bust, due to extenuating circumstances... and Day 3 doesn't seem like it will be much better for the moment.  Full-Time work + some schooling is a pain.

Anywho, enough about me... you're all here to see the wonderful progress I've made.

Well... the answer to that question is... not much.  I read more documentation and toyed with my code some more to create the very basics of "collecting cats".  As I said before, this is super basic, and I intend to expand upon this a lot more once I have the time, but I wanted to put something into place for the moment.

Also, I drew a box sprite.  And you can't tell me it isn't great. XD

Anyway, like I said, very simple right now.  My intention is a bit more complicated:

• Animated Sprites
• Moving Cats
• Obstacles
• Cats fighting being moved by you
• Using tools to lure them around
• Allergy:  Cool concept I'd like to introduce is that the Player Character is actually allergic to cats; the more she interacts with them, the more severe symptoms appear.  This can be mitigated by finding/using allergy medicine.  

It's a work in progress, but I'll get there.  11 Days to go!

omg..... i love this allergy mechanic

Day 3.5-ish?:  

I am home from work... it is around 1 AM, and I am feeling like gamedev.

I booted up Gamemaker, and got working.  I was really feeling the allergy mechanic, so I wanted to start work on that.  I figured keeping track of it with a basic number was the way to go, and have that number dictate the chance of symptoms appearing.  

I decided to introduce a UI at the top, which will show Collected Cats, Allergy Meter, Timer, and likely an Item Slot (for things like toys, etc?).  

Also, I've introduced the Allergy Pill; it will not likely be as effective in the final release, but I was able to code it to reduce Allergy to 0.  

Also, you might note that the cats have a name above their head now. I intend for each cat to have a unique name, and I was hoping to enlist other Jammers in putting together a list of names for them.  Perhaps named after your own pets, or just something you come up with.  As long as it's not inappropriate, I am likely to use it.  If you'd like to recommend a name, please use the link below, so I can keep it altogether.  You can add your username, and I will credit you in the credits.

https://goo.gl/forms/KXX4QyxJaI2zUlEu2

Anyway, Day 3 was fun.  Goals for Day 4 include an actual Allergy Effect, and likely shoring up some of the other mechanics, such as picking up the cats, etc.

Day 4 (Early):  Well, just got home from work... it's after midnight... and I feel like working on something.   But, well... not anything specifically related to what I was working on before.

Sooo... onto the Cat Temperament Mechanic!  

As I think I explained in my first post, you can directly pick up the cat to bring them to the box, but they tend not to be agreeable in regards to being picked up.  There are risks, including your allergies, and well... angering the cat.

Obviously, you'll want to use other means of moving the cat, such as using toys or food (to be implemented soon!).  However, here's what I have so far... in the whee morning hours.

First thing you may notice is that I have put in a Debug Menu on the left, to show the various stats by numbers.  This makes things easier on my development end, and will not be available in the actual game.

Next, we have a little cat's paw in the top right corner, crafted by yours truly (and his epic "art skillz").  

After picking up the cat, the anger stat will begin to increase, and as it reaches certain threshholds (30, 60, 90), claws begin to protrude from the cat's paw in the top right.  This is to give the player a general idea of how long they have until the cat attacks.

I don't have it implemented yet, but my intention is that, when you reach 100 anger, the Cat will claw the player, increasing their allergy meter substantially, as well as forcing the player to drop the cat, who will then run away (and have to be recaptured).

I know it's not what was on the immediate agenda, but my brain doesn't always cooperate, so this will have to do.

Thanks for reading, I'll likely make another post at some point after I wake up in the morning, with hopefully more progress!

Not quite the day update, but I thought it was hilarious when I was testing "Sneezing" as a function... and it did not go as intended. XD

Rumors say that she kept sneezing until she reached the end of the world...

:') See you later space catlady

You're doing a great job! Here's a tip: with black outlines, try to keep them to like 1 pixel or two wide at all times, it'll help make the sprite look cleaner! You've done a lot of coding so far though, well done! 

Day 7: 

Uuugh... 

Today's progress was... pitiful.

I worked at my job most of the day, and when I got home, I found it hard to motivate myself.  I eventually dragged myself into attempting to draw a Cat-Lady sprite.

I'm not... too devestated by the idle variation, but I drawing the walking legs is a lesson in futility.

Below is my progress so far (very WIP), but it will have to be all for today, as I am... quite exhausted.

Anywho, thanks for reading, and come back tomorrow for more C3 Devlogs!

Day 9.5:  

Today is mostly just the second half of Day 9... and while I should be working on level design (and I will, I swear!), I actually ended up just working on more mechanics that I'm introducing in Level 1 (Tutorial Level).

This time, I made a Switch that can affect other blocks within the world. If you find yourself stuck and unable to progress, perhaps there is a switch somewhere that will change the world around you, so that you can?

As you can see with all the floating letters/numbers, the Switch is linked by a common variable to other blocks; right now, it can make those blocks inherit gravity, and fall.  But I'm thinking allowing it to make them float, move in different directions, vanish altogether, etc.

I'm not going to make many more mechanics, as the game jam is in the home stretch, but I wanted to add a little more puzzle before I move solely to level-making and bug-fixing.  

DAY 10 GOALS:

• Title Screen + Maybe Mini-Intro to Show Story (might just be text-based)
• Sneezing Tutorial + Voluntary Sneezing
  • Voluntary Sneezing:  Sneezing grants a lot more horizontal distance than normal jumps, and can be used to jump over larger gaps.  This should require you to intentionally increase the allergy meter, and may or may not require allergy medicine or something to do at will

Anywho, thanks for reading, and I'll catch y'all tomorrow for more Devlogs!

Day 11 Progress:  

Unfortunately, basically no progress today.  I ran into a major glitch that prevents the player from dropping cats, either willingly, or when they sneeze.  Kinda game-breaking, since that's important to various platforming and puzzles I was going to make.

Since I don't have a cool visual for that, here's some infini-cats, from my attempts to test/fix this glitch.

DISCLAIMER: No cats were harmed in the making of this GIF.

Day 12 (Early): In the whee hours of 2 AM, I have discovered the solution to my glitch!  Thank the lord, I didn't want to give up on this project.

I don't have anything to really show for it, but for those interested, in gamemaker, there are (I think) two functions for creating instances of an object.

I was using instance_create_layer, and for some reason, this was causing me to be unable to drop a cat if I have used the "room_goto" function. 

I switched over to instance_create_depth, and it seems to work 100% correctly.

I have no idea why this is the case... but maybe one day I'll figure it out.  Until then, I'm just happy I can continue my project.

Now, today is Valentines day, so you probably won't get another Devlog until Day 13, but I promise, it will have some progress!  We're in the last couple of days... so it better!  

Until then, peace out!

Day 12 Update:

Welp... this may be my last devlog, depending on time constraints.  

I fixed the critical bug, as noted in the last devlog, so now it was time to do level designing.

I am almost done with the tutorial level, and I started working on the second level of the game.  This one will introduce the final mechanic (that I am halfway through programming), the sneeze-jumps!  

I don't have any video of it working yet, but here's a preview of level 2, as well as the explanation for the mechanic by our favorite Tutorial Cat.

I may or may not make a devlog tomorrow for the final day... if not, I'll see you on release day for Crazy Cat Collector!  

Have a good night everyone!

Day 13 Update:

Just one day more...

Alright, have the final mechanic fully programmed into the game, so I just have to flesh out level 2, and the general fine-tuning (and end screen), and we will be done.  

This was one fun project to make, I have to admit. I look forward to fleshing it out as a full game when I get the chance, and have the time.

I'll drop one last GIF below to show off the final mechanic, controlled sneezing.  After you obtain the Allergy Pill, the Crazy Cat Lady can control her sneezes to project her during jumps, giving her more distance.  This will be required for level 2.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all on release day!

My game has been submitted officially!  Please feel free to play, and comment on the page.  Accepting all feedback.

https://alarikun.itch.io/crazy-cat-collector