Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #14 (Building First Demo)

Placeholder title logo, but it works for now.

     All is going smoothly for the upcoming build. I'll put a video up once the demo is ready for the BYOC. I really hope it does well. If I win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, I'll get a huge boost in gamedev hardware. The OUYA prize gets me drooling especially hard. It would be so fun to get BGP running on a console like that. Playable on my TV! A Yotes can dream.

Catch up on some gamedev adventures below.

BGP Roster Info #2 (Vinerva, Orscina, & Thestra)

Check out this wild crew.

     Time to talk about super-powered ponies again! These guys make up the rest of the playable cast for the upcoming demo. They have more weird and extreme designs as I experiment just how far I can take the look of a pony and still call it one. My goal was to see if seaponies, dragon fillies, and bigger horses still fit in with the rest of the cast. 

     For the most part they do, but there may be some tweaking left to do. The big one in the middle looks more overpowered than it really is, so maybe I have to tone it down a notch. What do you think of it? Get some more info on Orscina, Vinerva, and Thestra then leave a comment below.

Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #13 (4 New Ponies!!)

I'll be talking more about the bottom 3 on Friday.

     Pony designs galore! Also, crunch-time and tons of coding! The first BGP demo is on its way and has me feelin' hyped! My goal is to get this in people's hands fast and I'm sticking to that. I've never worked on a project this exciting before. This week was full of behind-the-scenes progress and spritework inching toward that first public build.

Look below for this week's accomplishments and discoveries!

BGP Roster Info #1 (Simber, Xenoir, & Sweet-Bot)

     Time to kick off pony introductions! I'll be making these playable characters in just 3 weeks so it's good to have an explanation of what I'm trying to get across out there. In order to turn these horsies into familiar faces I'll post a short description of each, where the name comes from, and what they can do. these won't exactly be ponipedia entries, but consider it a really rough draft that breaks the 4th wall.

     I'll be doing these 3 at a time as I get more sprites and solid designs to work with. As with everything else so far, things are subject to change at a moment's notice. Even the fully animated sprites may not be final.

Get info on the Simber, Xenoir, and Sweet-Bot ponies below.

Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #12 (Follower Ponies, Wild Encounters, & PvP Menu Plans)

I have plans to redesign those 4 item buttons.

     A lot of back-end coding went down over spring break and I have a lot of features planned out in detail on paper. Now it's a matter of blitzing through development to have something ready for the game design competition at my school next month. I just pray school doesn't get in the way too much.

Get a big progress report below the break.

BGP Battle Readability

     I want all the important decision making factors to be visible in battle. If you're poisoned, your pony should have bubbles by it's head and a toxic icon near the health bar. If it's raining and that boosts Aqua moves, the downpour should always be visible. If the opponent laid a trap, the trap needs to be seen by your pony's feet. If you have an attacked charged up, your pony should be flashing or emitting particles.

     All these things are important pieces of info that should be visible while the player selects his or her next attack. I just feel like it would really immerse you in battle and make what's going on above the buttons that much more interesting to watch. A big problem I have with turn based RPGs is getting bored after long periods. This is one of the ways I can minimize the chances of players feeling that.

Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #11 (TileMaps & Overworld Setup)

     Unity 5! Sure, it'll cost me $4500 eventually, but I'll gladly pay for the engine's immense help if I ever reach $100,000. Those are the terms of use and accepting them means I can make Battle Gem Ponies even better! Unity 5's audio tools open up a lot of possibilities for pony sounds and various effects. The particle effect upgrades should allow me to do some fancy stuff too.

Get some dirty details on what went down in BGP's development this week.

Oatmeal Mode: Post-Game Challenge

     I know that there are hardcore thrill seekers out there who want a serious challenge or NewGame+ content that's harder rather than easier. To satisfy that itch Battle Gem Ponies will have a built-in Nuzlocke challenge feature dubbed Oatmeal Mode. A challenge that will reduce you to mush. This is basically a permadeath mode where knocked-out ponies stay down and it's harder to add ponies to your team.

Find out what Oatmeal Mode is all about below.

Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #10 (Shaping Up Well)

     Development is going great! I'm on track to get the basics of the overworld roaming finished by the end of Spring Break. That means I'll have a little island to roam and get into battles on. Battles that actually calculate things based on my party's data, thanks to all the coding done this week. Once this demo island is playable I'll get started on adding a few more moves and polishing the battle scene.

You can find the usual status report information below the break.