The Games Foxes Play (github | original post)

Sigh, this was not a productive week. I barely made anything. Besides some bugfixes here and there, some lore descriptions I had missed, and code for a future "pushable box" object.

I wish I could say it's because I was busy saving orphans and leading righteous crusades against evil... But after someone on Discord said "hey, have you heard of Rift Wizard? It's really similar to your game's design in some ways!" I proceeded to spend all my limited daily free time trying to win it. I have a very addictive personality when it comes to optimizing "builds" or crafting synergies, and being able to choose any spell on each run was practically opium to me. I know that if I just used discipline and stopped, I would have had the thought of "maybe THIS build will do it" haunting me at the back of my head 24/7.

Don't get me wrong, it's a really good game, and has some great ideas. In fact, it's really motivating that a fairly low-budget, solo-dev game with amateurish textures is capable of forging such an interesting (and addictive) experience. I ended up winning it in the end, too, so the curse is now lifted from my soul.

Meanwhile, my music-making friend was an absolute beast and made two new tracks while I was out and about blasting pixelated monsters. He will therefore be carrying today's sharing post.

Lanterns is a horror-themed track. In the Roseic Circus branch, there's currently a segment where your FOV is reduced to 2 tiles only, while creepy arachnid creatures blink around, sneaking up on you for a stab, only to be gone the next turn when you try to retaliate. The main circus theme was way too happy for such an unnerving moment, and so, this theme comes to add variety!

A Core and its Keepers in a Field of Infinite Causational Possibilities is a soft, comforting track with offbeat and distorted elements hinting that perhaps not all is well. It contains a lot of the different musical motifs found elsewhere in the game. My composer said he wanted this one to be used as the final ascension theme. I think he is getting a little bit ahead of himself, especially considering the... discipline level of his partner.

Yeah, I don't know what is up with that ridiculously long title, or what it even means. He was probably laughing at me typing that full name in the code every time. You fool, that's what dictionaries are for.

It's really meaningful to me how much he is in love with the lore, the ideas, and is open to discussing the game 24/7 with me with nigh instant chat messages. Honestly, it's almost eerie. But, he really wants to see this thing happen. And now the evil wizards of the pixelated world are dead for good, so I have no excuse.

If any other addictive personality procrastinator like me out there is reading this - get someone involved in your project, even if it's complete strangers. Like in this thread, right here. Even if sometimes one slips up, having a community, or a partner you want to keep ties with really helps keep the project in the back of your head in those less proud moments.

I will be seeing you all next Sharing Saturday with some real content.

The most difficult part about game development, it's that eventually and inevitably, you will find yourself with a semblance of a game in your hands, that you will find fun, for you designed it according to your interests. And fun games are very, very distracting.

The most fun part about game development, however, is that you can nerf the enemy that killed you to the ground. Even then, I never got past level 13 in my own game, but I consider that to be a rather good performance. The journey there pleased me greatly, for sure.

The Games Foxes Play (github | original post)

First, I narrowed down my vision a bit, and dropped the "Edge of Reality" branch for now. I've struggled too much with the level generation, fried my motherboard a few times, and eventually realized a very large labyrinth just didn't work with the kind of game I was making. I got a prototype running, but it simply wasn't fun, and so I'm leaving it behind for now. Instead, I will focus more on the three other branches that are, on the other hand, progressing quite nicely.

Serene Spire now has its own music track, titled "Fly on the Wall", once again crafted by my esteemed online friend. This branch is a place of purity and immaculate zeal, and I really want to push the feeling that the player is not welcome in this holy place, while at the same time creating a sense of awe at how beautiful and synchronized the Harmony headquarters are.

Additionally, every 5 floors cleared in the Spire will now reveal a Fluffian Workshop. The Harmonic Tinker there is willing to give you a Modulator - a permanent upgrade - for free, under the condition that you leave their hallowed place immediately. In fact, the Modulator item is placed on top of a platform looming over a deadly abyss, in case the dialogue didn't get the message across. After grabbing the loot, the only way out is down.

Unless you happen to have the brand new Hyper-Kinetic Collectivist Thrusters I made this week, of course. I doubt the Harmony will be very happy about you using their own tech to steal their precious gadgets.

Roseic Circus has received its first few enemies: the creepy, spider-like Third Emblems of Sin, and the agonizing Ashsoul Screechers. In their presence, player FOV is reduced to only 2 tiles. They occasionally blink around, and so, you will be anxiously circling around in the darkness while dangerous foes may suddenly sneak up on you from behind, then be gone the next second. Screechers even have a knockback attack, which might punch you into a group of arachnids, or into the Glamorous Toxin that plagues the Circus.

Speaking of, the Glamorous Toxin will now gradually replace the music with a creepy drone the more intoxicated you become. It also kills you if you stay in it for 10 turns, and prints out an unsettling death message.

I've started work on the boss awaiting at the end of Faith's End, inspired by this comment from the thread I posted here a while back. It's a big robotic snake. Yes, I'm having too much fun with the thrusters. I've got plans for the actual mechanics, but for now, I've simply worked on getting the multi-segment AI to work. Squiggly!

For future plans, I'll try to ship this boss battle ASAP. It's going to have pushable boxes that shoot lasers. If things go my way. Very often, my design ends up too hard to implement with my shallow programming knowledge, and I end up making something completely different instead, sometimes even cooler than the original idea.