I Think I Prefer Working With Grids & Tiles

     You know how in games like Pokemon you can only move along a grid of squares? How you can count each step and know where you'll end up? I think I'll be working that into my RPGs in the future. Collision boxes are always a headache and especially so with Unicorn Training. It's a good lesson and experience but I really want to work with something simpler to code. Most of my bugs come from collider box issues and it's what I've spent a large amount of time working on. I'd rather put that care into adding new things instead of fixing the simplest of features (the ability to walk around and not go through walls).

     Like TriGrid, I can just keep track of all the squares around an object and know if it's okay to move an exact amount of pixels each step. I can even snap to the next position with a little algorithm. Unicorn Training depends on free movement for it's arcade shooter style combat so there's no going back now, but it's really something I want for my future titles.

Status Report #46 (Redesign, NPCs, & Title Logos)

     I had no idea what to do when starting on the logo. So I really just typed it in a pixel looking font added some gradients, drew borders in MS Paint and put on even more gradients. At the end of the day I had a title image for Unicorn Training. Made one for Unicorn Quest too while I was at it. I also did a bunch of stuff this week! Check it all out below!

Unicorn Training Development Video #16

     It's been a while since I made a video update so here's some interesting stuff that hasn't been shown before! A town scene that isn't that one forest room I keep using! A nice change of pace. This also shows text boxes in action as I wander around the hub town of the game: Timber Grove.

    I show off just about everything that's set in code, glitches and all. This is a mark to see the game explode into production afterwards because with this out of the way it's time to draw out literally everything I plan to implement for the game on paper. That means drawing on graph paper for the rest of the week! And I actually love this part because I get to dream and build a world I can actually see (to write it is to know, to sketch is to see, to sprite & code is to feel).

Watch the YouTube video here.

Unicorn Training: NPC Ponies Complete!

     Finally done with these guys after 3 days. I was going to have a bunch more unique sprites but it was taking too long as is so I just started doing recolors of my current 4 designs. Two males, two females, no foals. My excuse for not doing little kid ponies is that Clover is the youngest pony in the forest so she doesn't really have any best friends or sibling figures.

    For the most part NPCs will wander around town, chill in their homes and shops, and an occasional few can be found in the wilderness attending to their business in dangerous territory. None of the ponies in Timber Grove are grand mages like Swirllock or Clover so she really has no deep connections with anypony there and spends all her time studying magic and waiting for the day she travels with Swirllock back to her hometown in Bright Valley.

    After importing them into Unity I'm running into some strange animation errors that I'll need to fix tomorrow because as of typing this, it's 2 AM, this took all day, and I need to sleep.