❎ Sunday Devlog 10: Beating Around the Bush
Welcome again to another Sunday devlog! The main thing that happened this week was Demo update 1.1, so let's talk about it a little more (you can read the original log here).
The new scoring system
At long last, the new scoring system is done but still needs a bug fix oh god, and I was able to complete it with some score displays that I'm very happy with. These didn't take too long to make, and I think they add a lot to saved scores!
However, this also came with the need for a data reset button, not just because it's an essential game feature but because I needed to replay levels a few times to see if score saving worked properly.
In the mobile phone game that we developed a year ago, Galacdrive, there was a reset data button that required being held down and panicked the longer you held it down.
This was one of my favorite UI elements I programmed in that game, so I decided to make a similar one for Parse! This is the result after a couple hours:
Not only is this UI pretty goofy, but it also ensures that the user really knows what they're getting into before they press P and wipe everything.
Visual effects
It's been in the back of my mind for a while, so for this update I decided to also add an extra "slash star" effect when you break a note. This is a thing that is common in games that focus on slashing swords, so it doesn't hurt to implement.
While the new effect overshadows the player's slash effect a bit, I'm very happy with how easy it was to implement in comparison to how good it looks. It took 15 minutes to make the asset, and around 40 to program it in and patch issues. For 55 minutes, this is a pretty darn good looking effect!
The looming thing™
While all of this has been fun to do, there is still one thing that lurks in my shadows.. making the new levels. While making all the functionality and backgrounds for the new levels has been fulfilling, actually making the levels is, to put it frankly, a very psychologically challenging experience.
In most level editors in games, you can place notes along the song and move the track back and forth. However, since Flowlab, this game's engine, doesn't have the ability to pause and play songs at specific points (yet), I can't make a level editor in-engine. Instead, I have to resort to making levels in Microsoft Excel.
Oh the horror..
Every time I make a new song, I need to play the song in my head over and over to make sure I place the notes in the right spot. Then I need to export it and add it into the game to test. Every song usually takes around 15 of these quick export tests.
While the clocked time to map a song is only around 3 hours, those 3 hours can be a big slog, especially when you aren't in "the zone". Thus, while I have been doing a lot with the game, the new level production has been severely lagging behind.
It's not all doom and gloom though - Demo update 1.1 marks the end of all of the technical work that needs to be done for the game. Aside from press and marketing (which will ramp up starting this week), I can now devote my full attention to making levels and the new skins, which is a big relief.
Conclusion
I'd like to note that these devlogs are likely going to get shorter leading up to release. There will still be weekly logs, but a lot needs to get done on the game, and I need the time to do it. I'm also dealing with an online class, and am juggling developing and reaching out/marketing, which is a whole thing lol.
Thanks for reading these dev logs as always :).
-Encabulated Games