Welcome back. Another week’s gone by so it’s time for another update on video game development.
With just about a month to go, I’m focusing on getting a demo version ready for GDC this year and that means getting all of the basic systems for the dungeon up and running.
The first of these was treasure chests with items. These are currently saved for important items like weapons received after defeating a miniboss (which aren’t currently implemented but that’s my first thing this week). After finishing the fight or puzzle that triggers it, the chest appears and it works like another interactive object. Interact to open it and receive the item inside along with a message on how to use it. That little message is also a new addition to the adventure item class.
This was part of expanding the number of Interactive Items. I also created new child classes covering thrown objects like bombs and things like blocks that can be pushed or pulled. I plan to expand it to signs and other things that can be read using the same functions the treasure chest and item messages use.
The second was getting activators and the activated objects they activate implemented as well. Currently, the only activators are pressure switches activated by placing either the player or a block on top of it and they can only activate doors at the moment. I plan on adding in more objects that can be manipulated like that in the immediate future.
These all fed into more additions to level generation. I’ve added in new elements like spike tiles, pushable blocks and the aforementioned treasure chests as well as making additions for the new miniboss rooms.
For the miniboss, each time a dungeon is created, it finds a room somewhere in the middle of the path between the entrance and the boss room to be the miniboss room. It also selects a treasure from the list of ones not currently in possession of the player and sets it as the dungeon’s treasure. When the miniboss is defeated, a treasure chest containing the treasure will spawn in the room.
As I’ve said, minibosses aren’t implemented currently but I’ve found a few more sprites in my collection that I like for minibosses and will be adding them in as a basic set this week. I also plan on adding in more interactive objects like making spikes or similar hazards controlled by switches that the player can activate/deactivated to try and find a path through the room. This should hopefully culminated in puzzle rooms in the near future.
Well, that’s it for this week. Come back next week and see what new updates await. See you next week.
J.D. Kelly 