Status Report #60 (Dungeon Select, Brainstorming, & File System)

I'm accomplishing a crazy amount of stuff this weekend!

     My development checklist is getting shorter! This coming week might just be the last for development! Once I'm in final testing I can rest easy and prepare for launch! Since I don't even have to wait for Apple this time I can do it whenever I'm ready. Amazon and Samsung might take a week but there's really not much to stop me from releasing in early November. I can finally get feedback from people I don't see in person and see what the world thinks of my first game.

    Look at all my business stats after the page break!

   Completed:

• Dungeon Selector
• Electric Gates Bug Fix
• Treasure Chest Bug Fix
• File Select Screen
• Character Ecosystem Ideas For Mobile Project
• Finished Pause Menu Details
• Crystal Heart Item
• Warp Out Of Dungeon On Completion
• Final Title Screen

     Lessons Learned:

• Finding a World Logic Reason For A Game Mechanic Makes A Game World That Much More Immersive.
• Listening To Theories Explaining Gaming Mysteries Can Lead To Great World Building Ideas By Filling In Logic Blanks.
• Adding Sound Effects To Every Interaction Really Improves Game Feel Via Feedback.

     This week's PCT GameDevs meeting had more presentations than before. Two others and I showed the projects we were working on (a Pokemon puzzle game, an RPG Maker project, and Unicorn Training) and showed a few tricks we learned to accomplish something in those projects. I showed how level loading in Unicorn Training works, and Mike (the clubs VP) did a basic overview of RPG Maker (which I never used before).

     When I was brainstorming ideas for the different monsters in my upcoming mobile game I was reminded of how I like wearing my designer hat most. It's just so fun to dream and jot down notes of how your fantasy world will come to life. It's like everything else is a means to the end of willing your idea into existence. I can't wait to spend all winter break dreaming...
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   Downloads:

     It's nice to see that I'm still getting one or two downloads a day for something on my portfolio. It makes me hopeful that even if Unicorn Training's free version never passes 2000 downloads, I'll still see a few people trying it for the first time. I'm not  counting on the paid version to do too well at all given how the $1 pay wall is pretty steep. Most people just want to play something for free and not get credit cards & store money involved.

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This ended up being a lot simpler than I originally planned.

     I can already tell that I'll spend at least a month writing down exactly how my code should be organized for my Pokemon game before I start coding and make a mess. Whenever I compile Unicorn Training I see a wall of warning text for my sloppy code that Unity doesn't like and my goal is to have none of that the next time around. It's mostly a product of me making things in advance that never get used, using templates for completely different enemy types, me adding last minute variables to cover oversights, and making variables for use on one object while said object gets the variable from another script anyway.

I added a Mute button and More Games button to the pause menu.

     As my roommates played Ocarina of Time throughout the week I was reminded of just how important audio is to the gaming experience. I was able to picture everything that was going on just by ear. all those nostalgic good feelings came flooding back and have me determined to up my standards for the quality of sound effects and music in future games.