In Transit (a retro homage to paperboy optimized for mobile)

Dev diaries
#21

DEVLOG #006: Read it again again

UPDATE
I thought I would be working on the GAME OVER and MAIN MENU portion of my game this week, but I decided to take a detour into Render-town for lighting and “outline” effects. And holy shit, it’s heavy. I’ve read all the docs and got stuck half way through the tut (Grading shader tutorial) because my $200 Asus jamming Ubuntu 20.04 has not wanted to download Blender for two days. I am happy to report that despite not having the results, I kept reading (over and over) and do feel like I am getting my head around the abstract concept of the render target stuff. The code on the other hand is quite a bit. Honest question: Is there any way to complete this tut without Blender? Asking for a dope ass solodev…

NEXT
I am gonna have to keep chipping away at this render stuff. Its a deep dive, stiff and at times demonizing but I know if I am to move forward with my game with how I see it in my head, I gotta get that shit down down.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I am gonna have to keep chipping away at this render stuff. Its a deep dive, stiff and at times demonizing but I know if I am to move forw- just kidding. My final thoughts are simply this: You will have to read shit more than once. More than a few times more often than not. You will get it, lose it and get it again. That’s the dev life. Learn to enjoy the process and best of luck.

3 Likes
#22

Definitely! There is a built-in quad.dae file already in Defold. I think it should be mentioned in this tutorial, because Blender is used only for this

You have all basic meshes here:
image

P.S. Have you checked out my tutorial for using render targets by making lighting? Maybe it could be useful? :wink:

It has also an open source repository with an example:

PPS.
I never tested on iPhone and I thought you wanted to test a native solution, but from what I understood, you wanted to test a HTML5 version, but on a mobile device and your solution is really interesting :smiley: What I wanted to add it that perhaps a HTML5 published on itch.io could work for you too and would be simpler? (Sorry to stole your devlog! :smiley: ) that’s how I do it:

I have a test game created in my itch dashboard and it is a HTML5 project:
image

In the Uploads I upload a zipped folder that is an output when I click Project->Bundle->HTML5 in Defold and in itch I mark it to be played in browser:
image

Of course this game is a draft, so only visible for me and not on my public profile on itch:
image

When you save it and see your page you can either check it in your browser or copy the Secret URL (in the top bar) and send it to your mobile phone to check it there :wink:
image

1 Like
#23

There is a quad.dae in built-ins. No need to create one.

2 Likes
#24

fantastico!! thank you!

#25

WOW! This is a lot of information! Thanks for taking the time to share all this!

Fuck yeah, back in business!

No, I have not watched this one yet! I will be sure to check it out. It sounds like what I need.

Yes! I plan to release it as an HTML5 game for mobile with ads. After sorting out using terminal to launch a simpleHTMLserver I looked into setting up a a server from my laptop with my latest build. So now i just type my IP addy and bang, bobs your uncle.

I’m glad you did! This is some solid information! This is really what I love about the Defold, aside from being a solid engine, the community is so fuckin helpful!

1 Like
#26

DEVLOG #007: On a render bender

UPDATE
Slow week as far as getting shit done, but good week as far as getting shit learned!… So, I totally bombed my Grading shading tutorial Grading shader tutorial , it ran lousy with errors HAHAHA! but its cool. Rarely have I read something once and gotten it down 100%. Gonna dust off and try again later. After reading the docs and watching the few YouTube tuts there are, I am really getting how the rendering works. As a result, I am also figuring out theoretical “workarounds” that would suffice for Launch. I can always go back and add fancy features because that’s how games work now a days hahaha. It’s not 1985.

I’ve also been splitting my time with learning more about git, github and command line just to better at code ninjitsu in general. Dropped a little bit of dosh on some books on Ebay. One showed up full of mold, so I am going to send it back and order another copy for a For a Few Dollars More.

NEXT
I find myself in the middle of a crossroads. Should I keep going down this render rabbit hole, or should I consider taking a more familiar challenge for a little victory? To be honest, I have no fucking idea. Let’s find out!

FINAL THOUGHTS
Shit does not have to be perfect at launch. I keep forgetting that games can be supported and improved over time. “Finished is better than perfect.” is a mantra I picked up along my creative journey at some point. Maybe I lean heavy on it on weeks like this, but ya know what? Fuck it.

3 Likes
#27

DEVLOG #008 : From Redux to Remaster…

UPDATE
When I decided to port my game over to the Defold Engine, the motivation was to use it as a learning tool. I told myself I would not be creating any new assets at all. The goal was to use the original as a measuring stick and basically make a clone. That goal has changed.

I’ve been having such a blast with my game that I decided to pivot into a Remaster approach, making small quality of life changes along the way. Something lots of people complained about was my target indicators (especially at the higher speeds). Target houses had a 1px outline, and Non Target houses did not. I’ve decided to take a page out oh Paperboy and go with bright vs dark indicators.

devlog_007
devlog_007362×653 2.94 MB

NEXT
These houses are looking pretty plain, I’m gonna spend a day to jazz them up. I hope to end up with at minimum ten variations of each that are randomly generated. My pixel art skills have also improved since I first worked on this game so I will be cleaning them up and making them more readable as well.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Making games as a solodev reminds me a lot of making comic books as a sole creator. Yes, it’s a ton of work and you have to wear many hats, but the way I see it, you GET to wear many hats. Burned out on coding? Draw an asset, cant draw? Work on music or sound design. No matter what mood you are in, there is a task for you!

12 Likes
#28

DEVLOG #009: Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

UPDATE
I continued to upgrade many of the sprite assets in the game as well as implemented a few cool features that I think encourage replay this week. The rules of the game have changed completely and now resemble a Time Attack mode which is more forgiving than my previous Sudden Death approach. Now when the game ends, you are displayed an accuracy %, which I think is pretty nifty. Working with the GUI has also been a lot of fun once you get the hang of it.

Had a couple pit falls this week as well. The worst one is placement of a background sprite has gone rogue and is not going where I put it in the editor. All the others are cool, It happens to be the only non-parallax sprite. I’ll sort it out, I’m sure.

devlog_009
devlog_009360×654 1.21 MB

NEXT
I think its time to start researching scenes and how they work as well as lock in some of my mechanics like points and game speed and maybe some refactoring and tweeking up assets… So, everything. I am doing everything. HAHAHA!

FINAL THOUGHTS
Don’t let too much time pass between coding sessions and writing good notes will save your ass in case time does slip past you. I’m new to Lua and had stepped away from my code to work on other stuff and those notes really came in handy when it came time to jump back in.

8 Likes
#29

Great work! It’s fun to read these :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#30

Hey! thank you very much! They are lots of fun to write too! Documenting the process is also kind of motivating in a weird way.

1 Like
#31

DEVLOG #010: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

UPDATE
Lots of progress has been made last week! Crafted all my menu guis and now I just need to tie them all together with a little code. Collection Proxies are a pretty neat concept. It took multiple reads but I think I am getting it.

Almost every sprite asset has gotten some kind of “face lift” as well. All the homes were made from scratch and I subdivided the player animation to better reflect whats going on. The game looks much more cohesive as a result. I am really glad I took the time to update all the assets. I didn’t realize how “placeholdery” some of them looked.

devlog_008

NEXT
As stated in the update, I need to string all these pieces together and make em go brrr. I also need a pause button and if I can manage to get savvy enough with the Collection Proxies I will have a fun little surprise addition to the game. I don’t want to announce anything because theres a chance I fuck it all up and nothing come of it HAHAHA!

FINAL THOUGHTS
I have been hitting this cool pattern of research followed by implementation. It is very satisfying to be able to learn and grow my game in real time. The Defold community has also been very instrumental in my progress. Take time to find a workflow that works for you. Making games should be as fun as the game you are making.

3 Likes
#32

DEVLOG #011: I’m going through changesssss (of scenes)

UPDATE
Oh boy, what a time I have had full of dizzying highs and humbling lows. As stated in my last devlog, the time had come to play around and understand Collection Proxies. I need them to transition scenes as well as to get a pause button going. Of course I poured myself over the documentation like crazy, had about six tabs open going from GUI scripts to Message passing and of course the Collection Proxy manual. Shit was crazy, but it all finally started coming together when I discovered how to print script URLs buy adding

print(msg.url())

to my init functions. Write that one down, it will save you a lot of trouble later. I spent a bit of time re-naming a lot of my files and components to make it clearer to understand.

devlog_011
devlog_011360×654 478 KB

(obviously, this no how its suppose to look HAHAHA!)

NEXT
I got ways to go until I am done with Collection Proxies. But I do see a light at the end of the tunnel and I do find them to be a pretty neat and powerful.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Name your shit well. Be descriptive. I know you think you will remember what stuff is, and you may early in the development cycle, but trust me as you project becomes more and more complex you will start to mix shit up. For me main_menu.gui and main_menu.collection was causing me to go back and forth, not a big deal in the assets panel, but when you are trying to send messages, it can get a lil fuzzy due to abstract nature of coding.

6 Likes
#33

DEVLOG #012 : Build, Break, Repeat.

UPDATE
What a few days it has been… I struggled, progressed and struggled again. I suppose that is the nature of the beast we call Gamedev. I was finally able to wrap my head around Collection Proxies. I whipped up a Main Menu, Options screen and was able to launch my game. Then I realized something. Every time I made a little bit of progress, my game was taking longer and longer to boot… Suddenly, my game would not spawn objects… After a bit of research I found two paths… Increase my World Count or… figure out what the fuck is going on HAHAHA! Me being who I am, I chose the hard path. Turns out I did not understand Collection Proxies as well as I thought I did. Naturally I decided to re-read all the docs I could find, burn down this lovely thing in front of me and try again…

NEXT
I have all the parts of the game I need. Assets, Mechanics and most importantly, FUN! But… My game structure is shit. So I am going to refactor the fuck out of it and make it as efficient as possible before I continue to polish.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Failure is not a result, but rather a Game Over. Ya see, I grew up in the era of arcades. Every time the screen read Game Over, a moment later it asked me if I would like to insert another coin… and you better fucking believe I did insert that coin if I had it. So here we go…

4 Likes
#34

What a wonderful era it was… :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#35

Oh, indeed!

#36

DEVLOG #013: Slllllllooooooooowwwwwww mmmmmoooooooooooowwwwwwwww

UPDATE
Another fun week of development and learning in the books. I can happily report that I have most of an unpolished game at this point. I can go from intro → main menu → options → game → game over. Bringing it around full circle is going to require some doing! Really looking forward to completing the loop. A couple Devlogs ago I teased a brand new feature for this version of my game. I am very happy to announce that it is working like a fucking charm. In Transit now has …drum roll… BULLET TIME. After messing around with Collection Proxies I was able to implement without too much trouble. I really think casual players will enjoy this feature. It really adds to the forgiveness factor.

NEXT
Time to tie it all up. I figure I got to create some new global variables and reset others to bring the finished game session from a Game Over state to the Main Menu. I am also trying to think ahead as far as where I will be squeezing in some ads.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Plan ahead with your controllers and gui. I spent a lot of time this week tangled in some spaghetti code only to realize that the Message Passing feature of Defold is probably the way to go. Its a very wonderful feature that saves a lot of headache. I will take all these lessons into my second game, for sure.

5 Likes
#37

DEVLOG #014 Alpha Delivered

UPDATE
Exciting news! As you can probably deduce from the title, my little game In Transit has reached its Alpha stage!!! There is still no particle system and no sound or music, and there are tons of tweaks to fuck around with, BUT, I am here!! Every mechanic functions as intended and I am not pulling any errors (that I know of! HAHAHA). I managed to close the loop from every game state and all the Menus work. I was stuck af on the last thing I needed to implement which was the “Play Again” button. I really did not want to go to a new screen and instead wanted it to just kick back into gameplay if the option was selected for a seamless experience. Nothing was working so I littered my code with print() functions to see what was firing off (and in what order) and eventually I was able to backtrack what as going on.

Screenshot from 2023-12-18 04-23-17
Screenshot from 2023-12-18 04-23-171366×768 85.4 KB

I only scored 19300 on my own fucking game! HAHAHA!

NEXT
Test, refine, repeat. I think I may also need some playtesters! If anyone is interested in playing the Alpha version of this bad boy, let me know! Also, I am not exactly sure how to go about it HAHAHA. Should I upload this to itch.io? Host it on my website blackflypress.com? Any suggestions are welcome!

FINAL THOUGHTS
Phew, what a ride it has been. I use the hashtag #solodev like a badge of honor because this game has been mine to visualize and execute from the very beginning, but let me be clear for the record… There is no way this game would be this far along this fast without the wonderful contributions of this very community not to mention this incredible engine and its awesome devs. I am humbled by everyone’s generosity and truly see myself as standing on the shoulders of giants. More to come…

5 Likes
#38

Do both!

1 Like
#39

DEVLOG #015 Tweakin 2: Electric Bugaloo

UPDATE
As you know from my last post, In Transit has reached its Alpha stage. So why have I not deployed it yet for testing? Quite simply, there were some last minute quality of life adjustments to be made. Small things that I left for the very end such as Z-Order on a few sprites and figuring out a decent game speed. I really didn’t want to end up with a whole bunch of feedback telling me “Hey, the lights in the foreground spawn behind the houses in the background.” So I decided to just hammer that out before hand. I also adjusted the universal game speed thanks to my wife’s feedback. She does not play very many video games at all. I’ve played video games since the 80’s. Its easy to forget how acclimated I am, so she is a wonderful resource when I need to understand how a super casual player would react.

NEXT
I’ve decided to step away until after the holiday season to deploy my game. Frankly, I dont expect anyone to take time away from their families to play my game and offer feedback. That also gives me a little bit of time to sort out my website blackflypress.com and get it ready for my game. Its been a minute since I have played with html & css so this should be fun. BUT, I am also going to resist going down the rabbit hole and overhauling the damn thing. Stay Focused!

FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s very very satisfying to have the game finished to this point. It’s hard to explain. Part of my is also planning my next game, Hehehe. But that’s for another day. Take the time to look back on the things you have accomplished, and really appreciate the progress you make. Gamedev can be lonely and thankless work, so being kind to yourself is an essential part of the process if you plan to stay motivated.

8 Likes