Dev Log: UI Day!

Basic gameplay is working, and I was having some difficulties deciding what to do next. I chose to do something easy and fulfilling, so it became UI day!

I started out with setting a panel prefab parent, but realized the layout wasn't what I was looking for. I hit up my old friend Miro to do some wireframing.

Basic UI panel wireframing

Once that was done, I just jumped into engine and started working. I completed the following:

• Set up main Panel prefab parent
• Set up Button prefab parent
• Created temp button art and simple 9-sliced panel backgrounds
• Scripted Panel string updater so I don't have to hardcode anything.
• Will switch over to a string db at some point down the road. I've been wanting to learn how to do that.
• Set up Main Menu, Pause Menu, Gameplay UI prefabs (scalable to UI size)
• Clickblocker included for things like the Pause Menu.
• Set up Signal/Receivers for gameplay and pause menu.
• Stroke counter functional
• Pause menu functional (timescale set to freeze gameplay.
• Main Menu > Gameplay > Pause > Main Menu flow functional

That was a lot for one day, but again, super enjoyable. I've missed just building/scripting. The end result looks like thiiiis:

What's up next? Now that I have the UI working, I'm going to focus on getting the level select/progression structure built. Once that's done, I can start whipping together some more test levels and tune the gameplay to my liking!

Until next time!

Golfing with a twist

I realized recently that I've missed just making games.

Sitting down, and building things. I've spent a lot of time over the past four years at various companies working on product development, design direction, documentation, tuning, balancing, and leadership skills... but not a lot of just building from scratch.

Well, now that I have some time again, I've started brushing up on my old coding skills.

2 days to prototype after I figured out Unity's new Input Manager, and I have something fun and playable! I'm trying to rebuild an old chestnut from earlier in my career that I never got to fully develop.

Next up is polishing the sticking, and adding some extra juice. I want it to feel absolutely perfect when playing on device.

A Look Back - Halloween 2015

I was poking through some old photos the other day and came across my Halloween costume from 2015: Zant the Usurper King (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess). I had this project in mind for years prior, but somehow 2015 was the year.

Made with foam floor tiles, contact cement, paint, and a crazy amount of planning. The armor set came together over the course of 2 months (Sept/Oct). The full costume consisted of the following:

• Shoulder Armor (foam)
• Helmet (foam)
• Mouth Guard (removable, attached by magnets)
• Robe
  
• Pants (sewed them myself!
• Gold Dragon shoes
  

My favorite part was the mouthpiece. Magnets place inside it and the helmet allowed me to remove and re-attach it with ease. I was initially going to do face paint underneath, but due to time constraints, I decided to go without. The helmet was more than enough. 

New Game Prototypes Underway!

I just finished a 6-month push to finish up the latest mobile project I was working on (releasing soon), and I've found myself in a bit of an existential crisis. Do I want to keep making games? Do I even like making games at this point?

Within a day, I found my answer.

I still LOVE making games!

I love making entertainment, and providing people with something they can unwind with and enjoy. Stories, ideas, and fun mechanics to share! Video games can do that like no other medium.

What I needed was to get excited about something I want to make. I revisited some old career goals, and realized that if I prototype each of them out individually, I'd have a cool suite of prototypes. But, if I smashed them all together afterwards, I might have myself a full game (Or, at least a vertical slice of one).

Career Design Goals:

• Make a perfect jump for a platformer
• Create a suite of fun, simple AI enemies
• Make my own simple combat
• Design and implement a dialogue system
• Design a fresh new metagame system
• Try out a craft or tactile art style
• Write my own game story

So, as we dive into the dark of December, I'll be spending time with my family, but also tinkering away on something fun, new, and hopefully very, very exciting!

Stay tuned!

Bag Boy - Grocery Item Art!

Fifty-three grocery models have now been completed. This is a sample of ~1/5 of the total list, but what I will be using for the time being. They'll get a nice texture treatment next week, then it's on to sprucing up the environment and UI!

The 4x1 raw fish turned out to be my favorite item to model.

Bag Boy - Art Update!

The past few weeks have been dedicated to solidifying art direction. The initial visual setup for my Grocery Dictionary is working, which you can see below with the new Roast Chicken item!

The starburst background changes color depending on the item's category type. 

This Roast Chicken is in the Hot Food category.

In addition to that, I have finished the first modeling pass for my Bag Folks. The next step is to rig them up for use, and start making some custom clothing and accessories. The game's custom character, and all NPCs will use this base.

Boxy, with just a touch of bevel. Just like everything else in the game.

Stay tuned for more art updates!

Bag Boy Update - Usability Changes! So Much Faster!