Non-Named (More debugging)

[Filler]

Some possible finalized maps. Usually, I tend to swap around what I do when I get bored of one (IE: Making maps when bored of game logic, or writing when bored of map making).

I draw most of my maps on letter size papers, while using a mechanical pencil to ensure semi-clean lines (have had issues with standard, sharpener based ones). In my opinion, pretty much most of the maps should be seamless to prevent immersion issues (For example, if the left side of a loading zone was larger than the right, that would throw off some people)

I usually use different papers as different parts of maps, I tend to list arrows with the point (A1, for example) to plan out loading zones.

The maps themselves are edited in post to have better contrast in lines, so they're more visible in smaller res sizes.

What I need most is a proper work schedule, as mine is a massive mess.

[Filler]

More map revising on the forest area, this is probably 1/4 (or 1/5, or 1/6. Dunno yet) done now. (And yes, the areas in the game will be pretty small, don't want it to be overblown in size.

[Filler]

I've now decided this game is in development update stasis.

While I'll still be working on it, updates will no longer happen until told so.

[iyenal]

Don't lost motivation on this project. It's very promising and you worked already much on that, see there are 14 pages in this thread.

[Filler]

I've just been burnt out for working on the same thing for months on end, and I need something else to do for a bit.

It happens every once a while, but I think ignoring the fact I need to work for updating this thread makes more sense as a goal incentive, as that way, I don't have to show everything I make in a final form pretty quickly out of stress from someone saying "Hey, that looks bad!".

Yes, that choice of working has made me do some quality work, but it has also burnt me out far quicker with making content than I could possible do just working myself.

It's probably a better (and healthier) choice to make sure everything works fine while some playtesting has been done.

[Filler]

I think I honestly might cancel this game.

I have no motivation to work on it, no motivation to do anything with it, nothing has been touched for over a month. Making something this ambitious was a mistake, really.

[iyenal]

You can recycle assets you have done in this game, like sprites or events.
It happens to me also to lost definitively motivation, but in this case I archive it, and many after many months or years I come back to use some work I done, or just to tell "Oh I worked so much on this ! I must find a thing to do with"

[Filler]

At best. I might wait until the end of this month to see if the motivation comes back.

If so, the post after it will possibly be a massive update or so.

[Silversea]

This is normal. I've worked on many projects over the years, and on many occasions I lost inspiration to continue.

For me the best way to keep motivated is switch tracks. If I'm working on just code, I move to working on sprites and graphics. If neither of those are good, I go over the story and lore ahead of time. Sometimes you just need a few quiet days on something unrelated so you can get back in.

[Filler]

Some quick progress on a map after I got some motivation.



The gimmick here is that you would mostly only be able to see from the targeted lightsources. This will be done via overlay from a foreground layer.

[puggsoy]

I think I honestly might cancel this game.

I have no motivation to work on it, no motivation to do anything with it, nothing has been touched for over a month. Making something this ambitious was a mistake, really.

A bit late, but I would advise against making these kind of posts. Sometimes telling people you're considering to cancel actually makes you feel more obligated to do it. It's perfectly fine to say you're taking a break or feeling unmotivated, but as soon as you start talking about stopping or cancelling you need to maybe refrain from posting it (especially in this sort of thread) and seeing if you still feel the same next week. It's easy to make a snap decision that you'll regret later on.

Anyway, looks like a lot of nice design stuff. Keep it up!

[Filler]

Yeah, it was a pretty bad choice on my end. I have to say.

Most of it was due to bad allocation of my time. For the past month, I haven't been feeling that well, so I just spent most of my time sleeping, and I was tired all day. Now that I'm trying to escape that mindset, I think I can get working like how I did awhile back.

Speaking of so, I recently found out a simple form of optimization that I don't know how I didn't think about, which is to make collision based triggers into a list of positions that set the trigger, rather than collision.

For example: If the player steps onto the trigger to start climbing a ladder, it'd be easier on resources just to do a check if their X and Y positions match from a list of possible positions the trigger could be located at, rather than having both collision detection, and a simple check.

The downside is that all the positions for triggers would have to be written manually. The best way would be able to make a script that determines how many units on the map a trigger takes it footprint on, and draw each X and Y position onto a console. And then I can just copy it as reference for adding it in manually myself. The trigger would be removed after I have all the positions on the list finished up.

[iyenal]

Very good idea.
Many game engines implement trigger collision, also in 3D, where collision mesh are used (optimized models). You can also do sprites tilesets to save RAM and rendering process.

[Filler]

Another issue I've been having is a writer's block.

It's just hard for me to sit down for more than 25 minutes to write something up. I have ideas in my head, but I can't put 'em into words.

[Filler]

I've finally decided the writing style for the game, and I feel like with some more knowledge on writing myself, that the way I've organized writing is cleaner, and more organized for game development.

Once I've gotten the first real major parts of the story written up and finalized, I'll go back to drawing concepts and doing some more posts related to proper development.