I really like the audio tick suggestion! It would be a simple extra function call, since it already tracks when the slider value is changed. Such a great way to make it more responsive!
I agree that naming the tab "Story" would probably make more sense. I think I finished the help menu at 2:00 in the morning the night before it was due, haha.
The scrubbing detection definitely could use some refinement. I started with a naive implementation, which worked fine enough in the editor, but certainly could be more elegant. If I get around to updating the game, that's probably where I would optimize first.
Keeping the inputs layered is really good advice. The jumping/fast-falling could've easily been adapted to multiple different inputs. Godot allows you to create input maps, but I stubbornly used the default input maps instead of creating my own. I don't know why I never changed it other than getting used to it, and forgetting it was weird, haha.
I think you're onto something with pausing outside the viewport. I think it would've helped the pacing to have the end-of-day summary be its own screen instead of a pop-up menu. That way, you can review your day while having a more obvious time to purchase upgrades. I do like the riskiness of attempting to purchase upgrades mid-day, and the risk/reward trade-off that comes with that. However, you make a great point that there isn't enough downtime.
I actually had each of the upgrades have its own tooltip, but they take too long to pop up, haha. Even more reason to create that end-of-day screen. If I had more time, I would also replace the welcome pop-up with a skippable step-by-step tutorial. I found myself having to explain more details than I should when having my friends playtest, haha.
I want to thank you again for playing and providing feedback! Super cool of you to take the time to do so!!
Hi! Thanks for playing! You can use the arrow keys to control the burglar. You can hold the up arrow to increase your jump, and the down arrow to increase your fall!
I never really thought about UI as a state machine, but that makes complete sense! I like to use Godot, which handles scene states via signals. I totally see a way I could start managing signals like a state machine.
I really like composition, so hearing you use components made me very happy. I still have a long way to go to have 15 years' worth of components, haha. I made a few non-UI components for this project, but I might make some UI ones for future projects. Godot 4.7 is around the corner, which will add some cool offset UI features. Maybe I'll wait for that before I start a project like that.
The game balance struggle is real, haha. I like your advice, though, as I ran into the problems you mentioned. I think my game would've benefited greatly from saving the minigame implementation until the end. I was certainly getting tired of my game by the end of the game jam, haha.
I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions! It's not every day you can gain some insight from someone who's been doing this for 15 years!!
Process of creating UI that doesn't spaghettify itself as it scales
Animating UI Elements
How much time is spent, and how much is reused
Managing Game Balance
Do you create spreadsheets or just wing it?
Any insights would be amazing! My submission was also UI-heavy, and it cost me a bunch of time to properly manage and connect it. I'm super curious about how you did so much in such little time.
Super cool to read through this!! It's inspiring to see your process and the tools you use! The amount of work you got done in a short time is super impressive!
