Jeffgamedev's Gruedorfian Devlog
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Hi guys! I am working on an isometric multiplayer online role playing game.
Project Title:
Boxfort
Main Ideas:
- An easily-accessible online role playing game with fighting, crafting, trading, and friendship.
- Log on to mine some ores, gather some herbs, create some potions, craft a weapon or slay a cave troll.
- Level up your character, gather better loot, and become an epic adventurer!
- Move around barrels, crates, or any object you find around the world.
- Investigate every locker, trunk, or corpse you see! There could be loot anywhere!
- Set up camp in your ideal spot of the woods, and build a fort with your friends!
- Form a guild, build a guild house, and host world events!
- Go on epic cave dives with your friends and compete for loot found on dangerous foes!
- Target the casual and the hardcore players. Anyone sitting at a desktop can browse to the domain and start playing right away.
- A downloadable desktop client will be available to those who want it. I do imagine mobile would become a target as well, however I am prioritizing keyboard/mouse.
Main Features:
- Map System
- Inventory
- Combat
- Map Object System
- Gathering
- NPC
- Leveling System
- Map Editor
- Crafting
- Character Customization
- Auction House
- Chat
- Party/Group
- Data Population
- Friends List
- Multiple Characters Per Account
- Guild
Progress:
- Chat
- Map Editor
- Map Movement
- Map Object System
As of now, 4 features have been prototyped, and 12 core features must be prototyped to define a “complete prototype”, putting the game at 33% to prototype complete.
Then the game will move toward alpha, beta, open beta, and eventually release.Stack:
- The client and socket server are being built in Godot. The socket server is being used for movement, chat, and (eventually) combat.
- Crafting, inventory, trading, and auctions will be managed by a RESTful API. I have an API protoyped in Python+Django, however I need to get this onto a better ecosystem (ie off google cloud).
- I am using AWS Lightsail (lightweight linux vm) to host the socket server, and AWS S3 (static bucket file hosting) to host the client.
The current prototype is accessible via my personal domain: http://boxfort.jeffgamedev.com
Ultimately I’d like to get this project a new name and a fresh coat of paint. Right now I am using some stock graphics and ripped a Final Fantasy Tactics squire (lol).
The sky’s the limit here! I mean, within the requirements I’ve set out, anyway.
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Hi friends!
Here is what I’ve been up to on hobby projects since my last update:
A little progress on Boxfort. I’ve started embarking on the Inventory feature.
Now when pressing Tab, the inventory is visible on the screen in the bottom right. When mousing over a particular slot, it will be highlighted. This should lead into a similar system for equipping items.
This is only client-side work so far; eventually I will need to figure out where this data is handled on the internet, which will probably be on the RESTful API.
On other projects: I help @Hatchet with some of his projects, like Mannux! We have been scheming bringing Mannux to Godot, and I’m laying the foundation for us to move rapidly later. Pretty rough right now, no actual code has been written yet, but things are starting to visually be there.
It’s alive! I’ve also managed to get some sprites animating.
Here’s Tabby Breathing!
And here she is running!
Keep on gamedeving, friends!
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Hey friends! The past two weeks have been rather chaotic for me as I unexpectedly lost my job and have been on the warpath to finding a new one. I managed to miss my gruedorf timer, but papa @kildorf reassured me I will stop losing when I post!
I did manage to sneak in some dev time, most notably giving portrait sprite-work a go. Given the FFT-inspired vibe I was going for with the sprite, I decided to make a FFT-style portrait!
When I get some more free time I’m going to try drawing some more. I threw it into the game real quick in the inventory menu.
Besides this, the only development changes was a finnicky bug fix where the selected inventory tile would remain highlighted if you closed it while highlighted. Considering I’ll be unemployed next week, I’ll probably have more time to work on this stuff.
Thanks to all of you guys on here and Discord keeping me encouraged to keep going. Life is full of scrapes and bruises, we just have to keep going!
Until next time. Keep developing!
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Hey Gamedev friends! Most of my work the last week has been consumed by code test for job prospects. One of the tests ended up in a really cool result. Here is a screenshot:
This actually got me inspired to do some 3D development in Unity on my personal time - this is the kind of work I am looking for fulltime. Maybe I’ll find some time to do a personal 3D project.
Since I was on a Unity kick, I decided to open up my much-neglected yet very-hyped RPG, Circadian, and worked on a few small things in that.
I added lights to the “BIG BUG” tech company sign:
I fixed lighting settings on the monitors in this scene that were emitting a small green light:
I also managed to create a new character portrait for the Boxfort project:
That’s all the progress for this week! Seeya later Gruedorfs!
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Hey my gamedev friends! I’d be lying if I didn’t admit this was the busiest week of my life. I’ve had 8 interviews the past 3 days alone, and more to come. I decided that I would produce a small mobile space shooter game, just to get a small project done, since all of my projects scope are way out of control. Enter, “Star Weasel”, the wise-cracking Star-fox wannabe, destroying rogue vegetables throughout the galaxy.
I was able to spend a few hours making a rough prototype in Godot, and figure I should have this done by the end of the month, given that interview stuff slows down.
It was kind of cool though, in one of my interviews, I was on call with 3 creative peeps who said, “well, what have you worked on lately?” and I shared them my boxfort prototype; we all got online and ran around togethether while I explained how the prototype was made. It was awesome!
Hoping to find more free time soon. I’m just a sailor on a tugboat in a very chaotic job-search storm, right now! There are some solid leads, though. I’m hopeful for the near future.
Later!
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Heyo friends! Still doing the dash for a job madness, but I did manage to find more than a few moments to work on my space shooter game. It’s coming along!
New features:
- Dialogue text and animations with cute noises (Banjo-Kazooie style audio) whenever you destroy a carrot or take damage.
- Created new Ship graphic.
- Ship engine particle effect.
- Ship laser trailing particle effect.
- Ship laser shoot particle effect.
- Stars trailing in the background (particle effect).
- Improve input on desktop.
The game is also deployed to web with the latest changes as of writing this if you’d like to play it:
http://www.jeffgamedev.com/starweasel/
Until next time friends!
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Well, hello! It’s been just under a week, which is just in time for a Gruedorf. It seems my job search is coming to a close, so I can stop complaining about that! Received a few offers, and going to accept one this week!
In gamedev news, still tinkering away with my free hours on Star Weasel!
Check out this epic gif:
New features since last 'dorf:
- Carrots now rotate faster and also move in a sin wave pattern.
- Player HP % is now displayed in the top right corner and decreases when taking damage. Nothing happens at 0%.
- Implemented infinite scrolling background script and graphics. I should be able to have repeating levels as well.
- Implemented clouds to go overtop of the level mentioned above. Just using a quick particle effect.
Awesome! Keep on deving, friends!
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Whelp! I officially have a job! I’m starting a Senior Unity Developer position on April 1st! What a relief! Also, managed to make some updates to Star Weasel!
Star Weasel Changelog:
- New Enemy.
- Enemy Shooting.
- New Player Ship Frames: Lean Left, Lean Right.
- Improve colors of Weasel Portrait Sprite.
- Improve colors of Player Ship Sprite.
- Set Z index of explosions so they are always visible.
- Player takes damage and percentage of health is displayed.
- Create new character portrait, “Turtle”.
“Brewster Entertainment” is going to be the publishing entity for this game, so I decided to embark on getting an HTTPS domain setup. I managed to achieve this all pretty easily through AWS. I am now working on a site in VueJS, but in the meantime, https://brewster.studio is live with the latest build of Star Weasel until replaced by a site.
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GRUEDORF’D! After not posting for months, I’m here to undo my lose streak and regain control over my hobbies. Let’s just get to the good stuff then:
I did manage to work on my Earthbound-like RPG Circadian.
I honestly should be spending most of my hobby time on this one.During a Darkest Dungeon binge, I started playing around with the idea of a similar game and threw a thing together in Godot.
I actually took a step back on this and decided to take a more command line app approach to really nail down the mechanics. I have a little prototype simulating a battle:
I also started doing some baby steps into machine learning through the new ML dotnet libraries, as I spend a lot of my time in C# ecosystems now for work.
Heck Yeah! Gruedorf! Thanks guys!
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Forgot to paste the output for the battle simulation:
I actually took a step back on this and decided to take a more command line app approach to really nail down the mechanics. I have a little prototype simulating a battle:
Initiating Game Team 1 Alive Members: 4 Team 2 Alive Members: 4 Begin Round: 0 Chr5195 Attack Chr660! Chr660 Takes 9 Damage! ( HP: 28 ) Chr660 Attack Chr8010! Chr8010 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 27 ) Chr649 Attack Chr3124! Chr3124 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 23 ) Chr685 Attack Chr2782! Chr2782 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 24 ) Chr2782 Attack Chr8010! Chr8010 Takes 6 Damage! ( HP: 23 ) Chr8010 Attack Chr3124! Chr3124 Takes 8 Damage! ( HP: 19 ) Chr3124 Attack Chr5195! Chr5195 Takes 9 Damage! ( HP: 26 ) Chr5187 Attack Chr5195! Chr5195 Takes 11 Damage! ( HP: 17 ) Team 1 Alive Members: 4 Team 2 Alive Members: 4 Begin Round: 1 Chr5195 Attack Chr5187! Chr5187 Takes 9 Damage! ( HP: 25 ) Chr660 Attack Chr685! Chr685 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 28 ) Chr649 Attack Chr2782! Chr2782 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 20 ) Chr685 Attack Chr2782! Chr2782 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 16 ) Chr2782 Attack Chr649! Chr649 Takes 6 Damage! ( HP: 28 ) Chr8010 Attack Chr3124! Chr3124 Takes 8 Damage! ( HP: 11 ) Chr3124 Attack Chr685! Chr685 Takes 9 Damage! ( HP: 24 ) Chr5187 Attack Chr5195! Chr5195 Takes 11 Damage! ( HP: 6 ) Team 1 Alive Members: 3 Team 2 Alive Members: 4 Begin Round: 2 Chr660 Attack Chr8010! Chr8010 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 17 ) Chr649 Attack Chr2782! Chr2782 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 12 ) Chr685 Attack Chr2782! Chr2782 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 8 ) Chr2782 Attack Chr685! Chr685 Takes 6 Damage! ( HP: 15 ) Chr8010 Attack Chr660! Chr660 Takes 8 Damage! ( HP: 19 ) Chr3124 Attack Chr649! Chr649 Takes 9 Damage! ( HP: 22 ) Chr5187 Attack Chr8010! Chr8010 Takes 11 Damage! ( HP: 13 ) Team 1 Alive Members: 3 Team 2 Alive Members: 4 Begin Round: 3 Chr660 Attack Chr8010! Chr8010 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 2 ) Chr649 Attack Chr3124! Chr3124 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 3 ) Chr685 Attack Chr2782! Chr2782 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 4 ) Chr5187 Attack Chr685! Chr685 Takes 11 Damage! ( HP: 9 ) Team 1 Alive Members: 1 Team 2 Alive Members: 2 Begin Round: 4 Chr660 Attack Chr649! Chr649 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 13 ) Chr649 Attack Chr5187! Chr5187 Takes 4 Damage! ( HP: 16 ) Chr5187 Attack Chr649! Chr649 Takes 11 Damage! ( HP: 9 ) Combat Ended. Team 1 Alive Members: 0 Team 2 Alive Members: 2 -
I’ve been making steady progress on the Grand Onion, NES style project made in Godot.
The workflow to produce a NES style game is so seamless, that I’ve decided to enforce this restriction on any new game projects I just absolutely cannot stop myself from starting:
All new game projects MUST be a faux NES game.
I’ve been able to produce 2D graphics and maps rapidly that I’m happy with. In comparison, I slog through my high resolution RPG made in Unity.
The game mechanics revolve around a single multi-layered world, where the x/y coordinates all match between layers upward and downward. Right now, there is only the main surface level ,and one level down. It is coming along:
overworld
undeworld layer 1
a variety of new items:
new areas, new npcs!
more npc text, more item trading, the world is steadily growing!
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Hello my wonderful friends! My delinquency here is not to say I haven’t been working on indie game stuff frequently. Like Hatchet posted, I’ve been clocking a lot of time on the Mannux project.
I have a lot of irons in the oven right now, but I did manage to get inspired and rebuild my personal site. It’s deployed here: https://jeffgamedev.com/
There’s a “Play” page where you can play a bunch of the stuff I’ve posted here, as well as some others.I’m planning on completing Grand Onion this year. I have some ideas about how to monetize it, but I plan on making it completely free and without DRM.
Woohoo! Gruedorf!
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Time to stop losing.
I’ve been working on a game I titled “.V4MP1R3”. It is a single player, 2D, story driven game. I do not have any combat defined at this time, but I’d like it to be open ended and strategic.
The main inspirations are:
- Shadowrun (universe)
- Cyberpunk (universe)
- Shadowrun SNES (lots of gameplay/gamefeel)
- Shadowrun Genesis (shares a lot of the same grittiness/gamefeel)
- Tibia MMO (Oblique 2D perspective)
- Ultima VI (Oblique 2D perspective)
- Fallout (excessive looting)
This was also made for a gamejam semi-hosted on discord and I submitted around the end of September deadline. So version 0.0.1 on windows was birthed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b7FPniLAQ5r9lTYaxR9lwF-b6z_bCW01/view?usp=sharing
I plan on doing another release at the end of the month to keep up momentum. Until I have a newborn to care for which is coming up really soon!!
