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Progress Report
Swimming Puzzles, I Hate You
So, it's been a few weeks since my last update on One Hour. I meant to release a beta version of the game about a week ago after polishing the final puzzle, but I hit a bit of a snag. Said snag is that the final puzzle just isn't working at all.
Essentially the last puzzle is a swimming puzzle. I have the mechanics pretty well worked out. You have stamina, and only a short period of time that you can swim before drowning. There are also creatures that swim in patterns that pull you under the water for a few seconds if you touch them, wasting precious stamina. If you drown, you're sent back to the beach and you have to start over.
Unfortunately, the way this game works does not allow me to use the default player transfer method included in RMVX. Doing so resets the in-game clock, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a game that only gives you One Hour. The transfer method that I've created manages to bypass this, but it does have a small bug.
When the player drowns and resets the puzzle, any events that are on-screen at the time get stuck in place. They just... stay there. But it's just a static image that follows the player and floats on screen until the event itself reloads.
Warum ist die Blume hier?
Also, it messes with the move routes of the underwater creatures. I'm not sure how I want to fix this, but I know that I definitely need to fix it. So the beta will have to wait a bit. I might still be able to release this on time, but it's hard to say. Life gets in the way, and my only time to spend on gammak is on weekends now.
If anyone has any ideas for what makes a good swimming puzzle, please comment below, because frankly I don't like this puzzle, but I do like the swimming mechanics. I'll make do with what I've got, but I'm always open to new ideas.
Essentially the last puzzle is a swimming puzzle. I have the mechanics pretty well worked out. You have stamina, and only a short period of time that you can swim before drowning. There are also creatures that swim in patterns that pull you under the water for a few seconds if you touch them, wasting precious stamina. If you drown, you're sent back to the beach and you have to start over.
Unfortunately, the way this game works does not allow me to use the default player transfer method included in RMVX. Doing so resets the in-game clock, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a game that only gives you One Hour. The transfer method that I've created manages to bypass this, but it does have a small bug.
When the player drowns and resets the puzzle, any events that are on-screen at the time get stuck in place. They just... stay there. But it's just a static image that follows the player and floats on screen until the event itself reloads.
Warum ist die Blume hier?
Also, it messes with the move routes of the underwater creatures. I'm not sure how I want to fix this, but I know that I definitely need to fix it. So the beta will have to wait a bit. I might still be able to release this on time, but it's hard to say. Life gets in the way, and my only time to spend on gammak is on weekends now.
If anyone has any ideas for what makes a good swimming puzzle, please comment below, because frankly I don't like this puzzle, but I do like the swimming mechanics. I'll make do with what I've got, but I'm always open to new ideas.
Progress Report
Development Underway
Just wanted to create a Devlog for One Hour where I'll be posting regular updates on how the game is progressing. The game is well underway, and should be finished close to the projected release date!
Right now most of the mechanics are in place, and now it's just the mapping left to do. I've been working on the map for several weeks now, putting in several hours whenever I can. At this point, the tedium of detailing an overgrown forest is taking its toll, but I'm grinding it out and the result is worth the effort!
Development Screenshot
The way I'm constructing this map is by breaking it into several parts, then focusing on one part at a time. I started with an underground cave area, and did some creative work with Overlays and Hanzo Kimura's Ultimate Overlay Mapping script for RMVX. The cave is all on one map, but the interior is concealed until you actually enter the cave itself. That was one section, and had nearly 100 layers on its own, but I flattened them together to condense file sizes when working on the next section. I've completed three sections out of six so far, and the above screenshot is what I'm working on now. It is arguably the largest and most complex, with over 1100 layers so far, and each layer gets a little love and attention. This is an overgrown forest that will require a certain tool to navigate. Certain paths will be blocked off, and you'll have to hack your way through the undergrowth the find the correct path.
The way I usually create maps like this is to have a collection of trees that I use for resources (which I typically put in a layer group called "Treesources"), then copy that layer group and hide it. I then pull a random tree out of that group and move it into a new visible layer group, then place that tree adjacent to the previous one, going row by row to fill in the map. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed. I usually draw out a boundary that I work around, then once the map is filled with the trees I add layer groups for obstacles such as stones and logs, then another group for flowers and undergrowth. Finally once all that is done, I go through each layer and "dodge and burn" the layers to create some variety in the lighting on the trees. Once the map is fully detailed, I duplicate the trees into an overlay, erase the top part of all the trees in the base layer group, and erase the trunks in the overlay group. I then set the opacity of the overlay to 80%, but I include the overlay in the base parallax of the final image. That way, when a player walks behind the trees in-game, you can faintly see the player through the trees, but the trees themselves appear fully opaque.
Example. Can you spot the player behind the trees?
All that is just to say that this part of mapping is very tedious and time consuming, but I'm in love with the result, so it's worth it in my mind. I'll make some postings soon detailing some of the mechanics that the game will feature, and if you guys like seeing development screenshots, I'll keep up with those as well. In the mean time, keep an eye out for updates!
Right now most of the mechanics are in place, and now it's just the mapping left to do. I've been working on the map for several weeks now, putting in several hours whenever I can. At this point, the tedium of detailing an overgrown forest is taking its toll, but I'm grinding it out and the result is worth the effort!
Development Screenshot
The way I'm constructing this map is by breaking it into several parts, then focusing on one part at a time. I started with an underground cave area, and did some creative work with Overlays and Hanzo Kimura's Ultimate Overlay Mapping script for RMVX. The cave is all on one map, but the interior is concealed until you actually enter the cave itself. That was one section, and had nearly 100 layers on its own, but I flattened them together to condense file sizes when working on the next section. I've completed three sections out of six so far, and the above screenshot is what I'm working on now. It is arguably the largest and most complex, with over 1100 layers so far, and each layer gets a little love and attention. This is an overgrown forest that will require a certain tool to navigate. Certain paths will be blocked off, and you'll have to hack your way through the undergrowth the find the correct path.
The way I usually create maps like this is to have a collection of trees that I use for resources (which I typically put in a layer group called "Treesources"), then copy that layer group and hide it. I then pull a random tree out of that group and move it into a new visible layer group, then place that tree adjacent to the previous one, going row by row to fill in the map. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed. I usually draw out a boundary that I work around, then once the map is filled with the trees I add layer groups for obstacles such as stones and logs, then another group for flowers and undergrowth. Finally once all that is done, I go through each layer and "dodge and burn" the layers to create some variety in the lighting on the trees. Once the map is fully detailed, I duplicate the trees into an overlay, erase the top part of all the trees in the base layer group, and erase the trunks in the overlay group. I then set the opacity of the overlay to 80%, but I include the overlay in the base parallax of the final image. That way, when a player walks behind the trees in-game, you can faintly see the player through the trees, but the trees themselves appear fully opaque.
Example. Can you spot the player behind the trees?
All that is just to say that this part of mapping is very tedious and time consuming, but I'm in love with the result, so it's worth it in my mind. I'll make some postings soon detailing some of the mechanics that the game will feature, and if you guys like seeing development screenshots, I'll keep up with those as well. In the mean time, keep an eye out for updates!
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