#0 Day

25.06.2021

Theme was announced - I still have some time to think about that, but I already have the entire board full of ideas and stuff. My true work will start tomorrow... This thread will be the place where i will store my progress - i will try to update it daily (maybe more often), but I ain't making any promises.

#0.1 Day

https://some-of-nothing-arts.itch.io/soar-to-freedom

I have set up project page on itch.io and made name+logo. It is not the best in my life, but as it is 1st logo it is good enough.  I made final project idea: RPG + Survival + Parokur in 3D.  I set up my plan - i have list of things that i want to have in game after 2 weeks. Main key is that all things have to work together and this could be pretty challenging. In the end i should have playable game. Ofcourse there can be some bugs and I'm sure that i would rather make new  mechanics then repair broken ones - it is all about time.

Dilemmas are everywhere around! Should I build key mechanics on start and then make chenges in them to implement other things or just do everyhnig in the same time? After some time i can end with  none fully done mechanics or without idea how to implement some  or with tone of bugs. Dilemmas are everywhere around!

For example save system: I can write it on start and implement it to all of scripts and stuff or just make it in the end stage with risk of not having it at all. But... Maybe save on level loading is not bad option... At last i will have to store only player data with id of level.

Ok , I think that I can't do anything more untill start of the jam so I'm out  for now.

I think that i should post info in new post every day - not stuck all stuff in first post cause i will be on last page of jam forum... So here I'm...

#1 Day

26.06.2021

In 2h session which started with start hour of the jam I made: minimap, player movement, some debug stats (i know that some of them are not working now :P),  alert manager and simple stats script which is going to be base for all other scripts. Main problem was doing all quanterion stuff which were based around minimap - I successfully scripted them with ancient art "mistake by mistake" which means that you have to give random numbers until this thing works. Now it's time for break.

#1.1 Day

After full day of work (with sleep brake of course) i made a lot of stuff: debug console, movements sounds, interaction, better minimap, working ui, levels & exp and some cheat codes & commends. That was long day. My only problem with that project was that VS crashed few times and i got some errors and crashes inside unity (I have i9 - that means it should work despite anything! :D) Plan for tomorrow is to repair broken things like this debug stats which aren't working by all day, some errors with spelling errors in debug console and repair parkour mechanics. If all things will go as planed i could start to do main gameplay, quests, story and all things around that.

Ohh... wait.... I have to do inventory system, quest system and all others systems too... and fight/sneak mechanics :/ There is going to be much more work that i saw on the first look.

 #2 Day

I have repaired some bugs (damn you line 460!) +  made some new things like: fps counter and intractable doors. But...  Until this moment of the day my main work was just planning stuff which i need to do next.

 #2.1 Day

I spent rest of the day on work with lightning and shadows. Much of this time has been put in "quality" and "performance". I have weven switched to URP (what forced me to repair even more bugs)to get better results.

 #2.2 Day

#3 Day

I'm starting to think that i lost one day somewhere...

Today I started to work with lights and fog. You can see results here:

It's sad that for me programming is always going faster then all other things. Maybe I should do only programming stuff and end up with something like dwarf fortress? That game is brilliant but it lack one thing that 50-60% of population wants - graphics. Games with bad graphic can't be sold as good as they could when they would have good graphic - despite brilliant story/gameplay/other things. I want to make good game. So... I need to do graphics, sounds, and all other things. If my game would lack some elements it will be going to be just bad game... Main story can be done fast or slow - same as quest, level and a lot of other things - but not graphic, lightning or stuff which I'm doing now... If I will have some spare time at the end I'm going use it all on this things which I can repair/upgrade, but if not there will be some bug and missed opportunists which will be small or wouldn't affecting gameplay as it is.

#3.1

Progress is much slower now, but its still here. I made good looking minimap icons and started to work on shop, inventory and loot mechanics. It's aint much but its honest work.

Saw this in the Discord. Loved the new fog/depth added. Spooky!

#4 Day

I started to work with Journal and Quest System (JaQS - I like my creativity with that name), but there is not much to show cause mainly this is code based stuff so player can't see it.

#4.1 Day

I have switched back from URP to vanilla - there were some things that i want to use but URP do not support them (like normals maps). Additional i published playtesting demo on project site (https://some-of-nothing-arts.itch.io/soar-to-freedom).  Now I'm going to complete loot  mechanic and JaQS then enemies and other stuff like character progression.

#5 Day & 6 Day

I have no idea how but i lost 1 day in magical way. 6th day was lost too - at last i know what have i done this time... 

I have done images for social icons and keys:

Also I started to work with menus + translations + save system and all that stuff but my health situation did not allowed my for more in length of all day (If you are filling like you have hangover but you haven't drink at all this mean that this day is not good for gamedev).

# 7 Day

Today i have to complete all tasks that i started but they are half way done. It's going to be a productive day.

# 7.1 Day

Now i have fully made Main Menu - background is animated and all buttons and stuff are clickable (but some have no implemented mechanics). Most of the settings works as they should - even in game and between scenes. They are separate music for menu and game (which sadly is not done by me cause 2 weeks is not enough time to do everything...)..

Everything is in need for some POLISHing - like panel with controls (sorting and stuff):

I'm calling the end of the day cause im done. Tomorrow there is plan for that JaQS stuff which is waiting for me from day 4... And there is still one scene to add as intro menu where player can choose language (something like in stardew).

+ new playable demo was added to the project site.

# 8 Day

Today I have done a lot of things:

- translation system - now i can implement more then 1 language to the game

- sound settings - now all effect should have proper volume.

+ I have started to implement items, fight system and inventory

Its all for now. JaQS still is not fully done :/

#9 Day

Despite JaQS i have started to work with tutorial in the starting level:

And i started to work with lang files to do translations possible:

#10 Day

So... Im working with JaQS again - potions mechanic is progress.  I have built second tutorial level where there will be more parkour. 3rd tutorial is going to be about fight - or i will pack it in to 1st tutorial. I addition i have added smooth level transitions. I the end i think that i will have no time to implement progress save system so probably it will be added after the jam (like FTL which as i remember haven't save system on the release).

#11 Day.

Unfortunately, not much has been done today. Well... I need to find more time because the deadline is close and I'm not near the end. There is a good chance that after the premiere I will be forced to just release some features (this game will be really  POLISHed - like Cyberpunk: P)

#12 & 13 Day

Well... I had big ambitions but they doesn't matter now. In the end i will have only tutorial with all mechanics which i only have to copy paste in something like million times to make good game. 2 weeks aren't much - like when you want to complete game solo (complete in terms of "make" not "play").

So in last days of this jam I will work only on repairs and upgrades of current stuff (for example today i fixed loading and levelup system). Still in my game  there is no story at all - not even in version which is going to be last for this game jam (but after that there still gonna be update of course). I know how it should look but there are most precius parts then story. Key to good game is gameplay if i want good story i will get a book or film so its good when game have good story but id doesn't matter if gameplay is bad (or there is none of it).