Dev Log for Sep 2024, Week 36:
Lofty Goal:
I’m mostly shooting for general progress, and maybe having some screens to show by the end of the week.
Monday:
Labor day happened to be this Monday, which is were I am right now (just got done posting the last log). This should signal the return of daily updates and progress. That said today was more about getting some smaller projects cleared away, like the split keyboard stuff. I have 1.5 sets built now, with the 1/2 built one probably going on the shelf until LED’s come back into stock. I’m fine with that one taking a backseat anyways, I mostly wanted to get the low profile version built so I had one for travel, and as a backup.
Tomorrow should be mostly about dev, with a small art project on the side (which I might try and put a dent into tonight).
As for the rest of the night I’ll probably try to get some UI work done on the game, or at least figuring out how I plan on tackling the UI, as it’s a large part of the game…
… Managed to get some in after all! I’m working on something akin to a scenario manager right now, which should be able to handle interactions like random events and combat. Hopefully by the end of the week (and this post), things will seem a little less cryptic.
Tuesday:
First off, this cats tutorial was awesome, and what tutorials should be (to the point):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWCFcv_Poc0
So, I gotta be real, my mind is racing on this new project. I’m thinking more and more I may switch over to working on this. In my defense, Deck and Balls was supposed to be a learning project in the first place, and I did learn from it.
But this touches on stuff I worked on before video game development, so it tickles more parts if that makes sense. I’ve managed to get more of it working, which has me confident I will have something to show at the end of the week.
development is kind of all over the place right now, I’m touching mechanics in all places to get a gameplay loop up and running. If I had one big fear, it’s that sooner rather than later I’m going to need to go through the code base and start cleaning things up that I’m doing now. I don’t think this is an over-optimization hole though, more of a get everything where it actually belongs sprint. Right now, I’m slapping code anywhere to validate functionality, but I can tell *that will work against me very soon*. Not to mention I need to start getting class documentation handled so I don’t get lost in my own code later.
I think this is all good stuff though, my motivations high for this project and I want to see what it’s going to turn into.
Wednesday:
Today was more about cleaning up documentation and showing off my progress to friends. I did get some dev work in as well, which was partial progress and a good chunk of that dreaded re-factoring I was worried about yesterday.
The documenting stuff was massive and will be ongoing for a while. I’ve got a decade of relevant notes I need to sort through and re-write to make sense with the new medium. It was a good refresher for older, well thought out mechanics, and an interesting review of ideas I had shelved because of their complexity that I can now approach again.
The showing off internally had two main goals: Primarily, I wanted to test the waters with people on what they thought of the concept. It’s been pretty well received, which is definitely good fuel for the fire.
Secondly, I needed to show people what I had so I could gauge how they felt about me migrating my efforts to this full time. Looks like I didn’t need to be too concerned, as it looks like almost everyone is on board with the new project and thinks it’s the better move.
I’m feeling better about being able to upload some progress pics/vids with this log, and I’ll probably get into the details of the project towards the end of the post. This is probably the most awkward way to handle this, but I’ll just blame the fact that no one’s reading these at the moment (Shit, at least I hope).
Thursday:
Today was a bit of a banger! I got most of the current code re-factored, and adding more functionality to the scenario management stuff. I got way more acquainted with how signals work too, so the over-arching goal of learning shit is still in full effect.
I think I was more worried about refactoring than I should’ve been. I’ve gotten better at writing cleaner, DRY’er (Don’t Repeat Yourself) code, and that paid off. Not gonna lie, I had to walk away from the desk a few times to think things over, but the answers are coming quicker every day. I was able to get almost all the current functionality of the project back in, and I’m confident that before the weekends done, I’ll have it all back in.
And that’s with getting new stuff in as well, including a grip of framework type stuff that should make content generation easier.
It was a big day, even though it may not reflect in this entry. Safe to say I’m getting more and more excited about what I might be able to pull off with this thing. With that said though, it’s about 1a.m., and I still have to juggle some adulting in, so I’m calling it.
Friday:
Got a grip done on the UI, started getting some of the other mechanics in too. Scenario management is off to a good start as well. I found a few crazy ass bugs though, so I have to figure out what’s up with that tomorrow. All in all, good progress though.
Saturday:
I plugged away on this all day! I’ve gotten time tracking in, which made me realize I’m shit at math and thankful for the internet. I also cleaned up more of the UI, so if I can get some raster images in there tomorrow, I should be able to start getting this into viewable shape. As a reference, this is what my event icons look like right now:
That’s especially sad since I’ve spent years as an artist and can 100% do better lol. I guess I’m seeing the appeal of programmer art. In my defense, the map in the background is all me, though it looks like it could use some touching up too, but you get the point. I’ve been at this like a maniac though, so I’ll touch base tomorrow.
Sunday:
I took today to relax and force some down time for myself. I’ve burned out before, so I try to be mindful of it whenever possible. All in all, I’m glad about the weeks progress though, and super excited to see where everything goes from here. I’ll probably spend some more time making small adjustments to the in-place systems, then it’s off to world map stuff. I imagine that will take quite a while, but thing’s should start really coming together there.
So, what is this?
Okay so I think I’m at a point where I can talk about this. Also, I pretty much need to if these dev logs are going to make any sense.
The project is called God Rail, and at a high level, I would either describe it as a digital board game with heavy tabletop role playing game influence, or as a virtual tabletop role playing game with dedicated rules, and heavy digital board game influence.
I’m working on this with a few goals in mind: First, I want to make a pseudo role playing environment that’s tied to the group. By this I mean I want to avoid that all too common problem where the GM gasses themselves out, needs a break, and as a result the players characters, the story, and the world get put on pause (with a high chance of just being abandoned).
Second, I want to make a rules system that is super-crunchy but doesn’t pass that overhead off to the players. As a video game, and assuming I do things correctly, this be possible, creating an environment where players make decisions and deal with outcomes, without crunching numbers on a per task basis. My hope is this makes for a game where the GM can roll out plot lines, manage enemies in battle, and screw with players. With players being able to spend time min/max-ing their characters, planning permanent world upgrades, and foiling GM’s evil-deed-iness. Maybe some pizza and beer in there too.
Third is mostly about testing hunches: I’ve used most of the VTT out on the market, and think that most are great for their intended purpose of translating pen and paper games. I want to test:
- Does a purpose built VRPG engine provide a cleaner experience to players and the GM?
- Can a VRPG focused on a single, complex rules set deliver something close to the TTRPG experience?
- Can a world built on player interaction, without reliance on solely the GM, still offer a personal experience?
- Is the GM job better with more guiderails? With essentially a digital GM overseeing the GM as a player?
- And finally, can I actually build all of this stuff?
So that’s it in a nutshell. No matter how any of these hunches get answered, I’m sure it’s going to be an interesting ride figuring it all out.
See you in the next one!