Hi again folks, Andrew here with the third devlog on the game Typr, my brand new project.
For information on what Typr is you can check out the main page here on itch.io, it gives a good representation of what I'm trying to build and hopefully those extravagant devlogs will keep you around!
Links
Discord Server for Active Development: https://discord.gg/nArn9Mk
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/altraydigital/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AltRayDigital
Email: altraydigital@gmail.com
Preface
This week we had in store Prototype 3.0.. I worked on completely fleshing out both modes' mechanics as well as reworking some of the older implementation where it didn't couple well with the current one. This week concluded the work on the "Prototype" and as the next week comes by we will enter the proper development of Typr!
Main Features
- Implemented difficulty stages for classic mode
- Implemented difficulty stages for gibbrsh mode
- Added GUI stats such as total words typed etc. (will add more in the future)
- Implemented basic end game screen
- Reworked time reward from static to depending how many letters a word has
Classic Mode
As I worked on classic mode I started implementing different stages of difficulty. Right now, in order, they are as follows:
Quotes -> Artistic -> Academic
So for your first 5 paragraphs you will only receive Quotes. Then for your next 5 you will receive Quotes and Artistic (song lyrics and poetry) paragraphs and then after your next 5 you will receive Quotes, Artistic and Academic (formally written sentences) paragraphs. Please note that 5 isn't the final number but only an example. This will give a bit of variety as the player progresses through the game mode as well as offer an increasing challenge as both Artistic and Academic are usually different from Quotes, the first being informal and the second being very formal as well as containing scientific words and respective scientific field terms.
Gibbrsh Mode
After I implemented the different types of paragraphs on Classic Mode I went to Gibbrsh and designed its own difficulty curve as well. Seeing as Gibbrsh does not have paragraphs of its own but randomly generated words, I broke down how these words are formed exactly. The game on Gibbrsh starts off with 3-6 letter words formed only with the lowercase English alphabet. As the player completes words, at some point he will enter the next stage of difficulty which contains 5-8 letter words formed with the lowercase English alphabet as well as digits sprinkled in between. As he continues he will at some point reach the last stage of difficulty which has 8-14 letters in its' words and uses the alphabet, digits as well as the symbols on the keyboard. These numbers will of course be adjusted to be balanced but as it stands, this is how Gibbrsh will get harder and harder the more you play.
Time Reward and Score Mechanic
Completely reworked from being static to being adaptive as the words get bigger. The time reward is no longer given on a fixed note but rather the reward is per letter. So for example if a word has 3 letters and the reward per letter is 1 second then the total time rewarded will be 3 seconds. As I built the system I also added a combo mechanic. As you type the word, with every correct letter a number goes up, if you reach a specific amount of correctly typed letters then you gain a combo bonus to your score. For example when you first start playing you have a combo bonus of 1 meaning the exact amount of time you have left when you complete the word gets added to your score, however if you reach a specific amount of correctly typed letters then you gain a higher combo such as 1.5. This modifier gets applied to your time before it gets added to the score so in the example of the 3 letter word and you have 10 seconds left, you would still gain only 3 seconds of time but instead of getting 10 points added to your score you will get 10 multiplied by the current modifier so 10*1.5 which will net you in total 15 points. This combo however gets reset back to 1 whenever you mistype a letter, this will give an incentive to the players to also type correctly and not just spam the keys until they get the word right.
End Game Screen
Added a simple end game screen whenever the time runs out on both modes. It shows how many words you've completed, your longest streak of correct letters as well as your score. You can also navigate the game completely from inside the application! You no longer have to exit the game when you're done, you can simply press Esc when you're at the scoreboard and the game will take you to the main menu to play again.
Conclusion
And... we're here, we've finally completed the prototype! Version 3.0 of the prototype marked the completion of all the basic systems the game needs to enter proper development! So these devlogs will steadily become more focused on art and sound design as we move forward with the project. I'm really proud of what I've achieved so far and these devlogs really helped me keep on track and have a steady workflow. I have also received a few questions regarding the development of the game and I am thinking about making a Q&A alongside the next devlog. If you have questions as well then don't hesitate to contact me either on twitter, facebook, or on my email, links are at the top of the page!
This marked the end of the third week of development!
Thank you for reading and see you next week,
Andrew