04 - Machines Do Stuff
Welcome back internet peoples.
With another action-packed week, we’ve gained some serious ground and have a plan for moving forward. This week our group has been busy finalizing a lot of new changes and switching over to new tasks. Here’s the breakdown…
Li - Has been working hard to implement a lobby system because after all, we are making a coop game and what is a coop game without a sweet lobby to hang out in?
E - Has swapped off of art for this sprint and instead pivoted to making particle systems, camera shake, and other effects aimed at creating a reactive experience for players. Every game needs some juice.
Josh - has been hustling to create a new event-based input system that allows us to easily manage many controllers plugged into a PC as well as support keyboard and mouse.
Dorian - Has been working on sound.
With everyone working so hard I’ve been putting my feet up, living it up, and savoring a taste of the good life, is what I would love to have been doing. Instead, I’ve been working to implement working machines and I am happy to report TASK COMPLETE. Sort of….
So machines are working, and they’re cool, they’re just kind of meh, which is sort of a problem for a small game aimed at creating a fun unique experience. So after some discussion with the mentors and the group, we’ve got a new idea.
Moving forward we want to have more recognizable items that we are creating as opposed to generic factory… uh stuff? So I ask you, what is more recognizable than swords, shields, and potions? Not much! All of this to say that we’re pivoting a bit here, our factory is no longer a random factory in an industrial setting, it’s now an industrial factory in a fantasy setting producing goods to supply a kingdom! During war probably!
Additionally, we want to change our machines. In an ideal world, a player should be able to take a look at a machine and immediately tell what it is, or at least have a vague idea of what it does. These new machines should also interact with items in predictable ways but also allow players to make mistakes. Finally, we want to breathe some life into the game and give things a bit of character. I know, that sounds vague and unspecific but if the look for the machines we’re aiming for works out, you’ll be able to see the difference.
We’ve not yet had a chance to start work on this shift but you can tune in next week to check out the exciting new direction!