CoolBean

I did some finishing up on the game itself, then I edited a video to go on the website. I think it’s pretty cool if I do say so myself :) Overall, I think the game turned out really well for the time crunch I was on, and I hope you enjoy playing the game as much as I enjoyed making it. Let me know how many attempts it took you to beat normal mode lol

Voters tend to give better scores to web projects. Why? I don’t know, but my best guess is people can’t be bothered to download and run non-web stuff. This is obviously really bad for me, since I need to get good votes if I’m gonna get the multiplier I need. My solution: BUILD A WEBSITE! but fast becuase there are only 13 hours left in Flavortown at the time of writing this
The site also gives me the opportunity to make a flashy video to win over voters as well. I’m pulling out all the stops with the time I have left.

I got my friends to playtest, and I got a lot of valuable advice. A lot more mechanical depth and balancing has been added to the movement and enemy pathfinding as a result, and I think the game is significantly more fun to play now.

There are now two difficulty modes to add a bit more replayability. Normal and Abandon Hope. You will not beat Abandon Hope. Do not try. You are not ready. You will fail.

The game is now technically fully playable, althought there is definitely still work to be done to get it to be 7-8 star worthy like I need it to be. Next up is more sound effects/polish, functioning settings menu, and hardcore mode if there’s time.

Did some cruddy code cleanup, and fixed up the basic flow of the game. Oh yeah, and I added mega enemies that have a lower chance of spawning but are faster and more aggressive :)

I added coins and extra UI to facilitate my planned win condition since I only have a couple days left to work on this project. I’m going to make a door that can only be opened once you have enough coins, and you can choose to run straight for it or stay and try to collect more coins. (BTW, I added a proper title screen)

The enemies movement was really screwed up because my Godot 3d code sucked really bad, so I did some basic math to fix it. I also tried to give them a bit more personality and readability by drawing billboarded textures for them. Now it’s a lot easier to spot one before it hits you and to tell which one it is.

I decided on a visual style for the game, and removed the spheres because they don’t really fit it. Made a few textures so the walls wouldn’t be so flat and depressing.

I added a dash power for the player to get out of sticky situations, a very basic hit and health system, and I am working on adding a push power as well. I will probably also add coins and a win condition. Then it’s onto sound. I’m so tired.

I spiced up the visuals and added a second enemy type to constantly chase Glumbo and ensure he can’t stay in any one place for too long.

I coded some really aggressive enemies to charge at Glumbo at mach speed every three seconds and made them continually spawn in. It’s really fun to jump and dodge them, so now I figure all I need are some win and loss conditions and some additional elements to spice things up.

I got basic fps movment working in a 3D scene. GLUMBO IS BORN!!!!

I did a lot of work to tighten up the gameplay loop and make sure that the game was balanced enough to last at least ten minutes lol. I also tried my best to keep the spirit of spamming buttons since that was my favorite part of the old version, but I added some stuff to spice it up and make it more engaging. I can’t wait to see what people think of the new version of the game compared to the old version. I really appreciate everyone’s feedback!!!

I received a LOT of feedback from voters on this project, and I couldn’t help but take it seriously. So, I refactored the entire codebase to facilitate widening the scope of the game. I also took the liberty of fixing up the visuals and sound since that is a player’s first impression with a game.

I fixed the account creation issue by bypassing Tim’s website and making api calls directly. I also updated the account creation button so I can tell if someone is using an older unsupported version or not. I had a feeling, A HUNCH, that the devlog I had posted before would end up being the second to last devlog, and I WAS RIGHT!!!!!!

Game is kinda fun fr fr. Still slop though… I probably shouldn’t have put so much effort into the animations since I’m trying to get this out quick

Documentation is complete, bugs discovered by testing have been fixed, and I am tired. The project is at last coming to an end. There are a few more loose ends to tie up before I ship, but this very well may be the second-to-last (if not last) devlog. Thanks so much to my past self for deciding to try and learn Godot. It’s been really fun.

Documentation is going pretty well, although the process is a bit slower than I thought. The process is basically ping-ponging between my IDE, my screen recorder, and GitHub. I managed to get the getting started page for the editor done today though, so yippee

I finally got trigger moving working, then I fixed the context menu moving incorrectly when you zoom. That was the last big issue I know of at the time of writing this, so I added a few more UI elements I was missing for new users. It’s now time for the final step: DOCUMENTATION! I’m sure my friends will find a few more bugs I didn’t catch during testing, but other than that my focus is now solely on writing the docs. Then, the project will be complete at long last.

I added the missing fill command (whoops) and started working on touchups like making triggers movable in the editor. Pretty soon, I’ll be able to finish polishing, and I can start on documentation. After all these centuries… A SHIP IS ON THE HORIZON 🗣🔥🔥🔥

I added an absolute mountain of stuff today. I was absolutely locked INNNNNNNN. Instead of yapping about it all, I will just add a ton of screenshots.

Right clicking on a trigger will populate the trigger editor with its commands. I also refactored the theme system to account for creating new commands.

I finished the UI design for the trigger editor and started programming the backend for it. Also fixed some bugs that I found

I finally got level uploading fixed!!! I added a picture of the level working in the web version as proof (https://platformed.jmeow.net/level/79). The context menu buttons are fixed, so I’m working on the trigger editor. I think the design came out pretty good if I do say so myself.

I implemented the ability to rotate tiles after all this time lol. In the process, I broke the buttons so I’m gonna have to fix that. Tomorrow me’s job.

I started working on the context menu for edit mode. There’s a lot of functionality I plan to pack into it, so it took a lot of groundwork before I even started programming what the actual buttons themselves would do. Probably gonna rewrite half of it tomorrow anyways. I just need to finish this and trigger editing, then I can finally move on to polish and documentation. It’s the homestretch!!!

A lot of refactoring and Godot pain later, and selection dragging is finally here! Select some blocks, then click and drag to move them wherever you want. (Apparently, you cannot do [Export] Godot.Collections.Dictionary<int, Godot.Collections.Array>, or Godot will throw a hissy fit)

You can now edit the names and descriptions of your uploaded levels from the desktop client. I scrapped the theme I made before and created an entire customizable theme system for the desktop client! It took a lot of work, but it lets you make some pretty cool (and sometimes really goofy) color palettes. I think it really helps you make the client your own. Plus it’s more customizable than Tim’s theme system so HAHA I WIN

Selections are finally fixed! They don’t keep track of actual tiles yet, but I’m really happy to have the custom rectangle drawing actually working. I also took the time to make it so zooming actually stays where the mouse is instead of always scaling toward the left corner.

I didn’t have very much time today, so I did some clean-up work with the UI. I tried to consolidate the bajillion theme overrides into one theme where I could so making sweeping style changes won’t be so painful.

ok so level uploading was actually broken but i fixed it AND added a whole bunch of new stuff that’s possible now that there is login! You can delete levels, edit existing web levels, and also I fixed a bunch of code jank and ui stuff to display the new buttons and indicators. Level deletion is being a little wonky though, so I will have to look further into that. Luckily, Tim is working on API docs (finally. better late than never I guess).

THIS IS A HUGE UPDATE!!! I added the ability to sign in to your platformed account! Now you can see the levels that are saved to your account and upload levels you made in the desktop editor! PICTURED IS THE FIRST EVER DESKTOP LEVEL UPLOADED THE WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn’t get much time today, but I did what I could. I improved the settings menu and found a couple of bugs. One of those bugs has something to do with how I’m re-encoding rotation data from the editor and I’ll need to fix it.

The settings menu now works properly, although I only added one setting for now lol. I’m trying to focus on the editor and only programmed a settings menu so there is a user-accessible way to change tilesets. In the process, I unearthed a bunch of annoying bugs that took forever to fix either because of minor hard to spot typos or Godot documentation being better than Unity but still bad. All of this to improve the editor which FINALLY HAS SEMI-WORKING OUTLINES!!!!!

I added the 8-bit tileset to the desktop version, but that meant I needed a way for the user to switch tilesets, which meant I needed a settings menu, which meant I needed to program and design a settings menu (WIP). Oh yeah I also designed some tiles that were missing from the 8-bit set in Figma.

There are now shortcuts for several different functions. I also did some coding to support rotating existing tiles for the to-be-implemented edit mode in the editor (revolutionary, I know). Lastly, I added support for drawing arbitrarily sized outlines. I’m working on getting them to appear when a block is selected in edit mode, but it is proving significantly harder than I thought it would be.

You can now save a level to your levels folder or to a custom place in your directory. I also added play mode so you can test your changes without saving them to a file. Next up on the agenda is either going to be adding sign-in so you can upload your levels or working on the non-place/mass edit mode in the editor. Both are pretty daunting so I will decide in the morning.

I did some behind the scenes work on functions I will need for saving and editor play mode. I also added icons for buttons that were missing them, and I combined the save and export button into one. Me and my brother both went to grandma’s house again today, but I managed to get a bit more done.

I didn’t have much time today since I went to see a movie with my grandma, but I got undo and redo working together properly. Undo and redo move you forward and backward in the chain of edits, and starting a new edit breaks the chain.

I spent a lot of time programming edit history to support undo and redo. Undo is officially working, but redo is going to be a bit more complicated. I also spent what felt like a bit too much time catching all the different ways you should be able to switch between modes, but I hope all the time I spend agonizing over little details will make the first-time user experience more intuitive and less janky feeling.

I am slowly fleshing out all the functions of the UI and trying to make an intuitive design. Jack joined flavortown, so I’m all on my own for this one. By summoning my inner Tantacrul, I think I was able to make some improvements compared the web editor, but I guess you’ll just have to compare the two and decide for yourself once they are both done.

The editor is fully underway now. There was some backend code I had to rewrite for it to play nice with the editor viewport, but other than that, things are going smoothly. Below is a screenshot of the very first level to be imported into the editor!

The tile generation refactor is finally useable! There were definitely some… interesting bugs along the way, but loading times are now about 32x faster. The level “Part 2” (https://platformed.jmeow.net/level/28) took about 8 seconds to load on my school computer. Now it only takes a quarter of a second. The rewrite was a complete pain to do, but I’m super happy with it. Now the editor will be sigificantly easier to implement.

I am reworking the entire tile system from scratch to be more effecient by using Godot 4’s new TileMapLayers so I can facilitate lag-free editing on low end PCs. The only problem? I HATE TILEMAPLAYERS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! COLLISION DETECTION IS BARELY USABLE AND GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT A SPECIFIC TILE VIA COLLISIONS IS MISERABLE AND LAUGHABLY OVERENGINEERED.
I M L O S I N G M Y M I N D

A couple of bug fixes and improvements. No spoilers for you. SHIPPING TIME!!!

Oh boy. I have finished my AAA story. I put so much work in to finish it today (the Unity Hackatime tracker only tracks like half of my time spent on average). There are so many cool things I’d rather not spoil, so suffice it to say please try the game. I will probably upload a bug-fix devlog or two, then it’s shippin’ time. Thanks… for sloppin’ by.

Tim has been furiously adding and updating features as the March 31st deadline approaches, so I have been trying my best to keep parity. He will be shipping soon, and I can renew my focus solely on the editor which I have laid the basic groundwork for.
(sorry for the long gap between devlogs. there were some weird flavortown issues)
¯_(ツ)_/¯

Many incredible new features were introduced in this momentous update. There is now a skill tree (a staple in every AAA game of course), and lots of new content for the player to be immersed in. Boxman has also received a visual overhaul courtesy of my good friend, Jack McClendon, and a few dialogue changes.

My name is Walter Hartwell White, and this is my confession: I cooked. Just look at these screenshots. I am singlehandedly winning every conceivable award for this, and there is no convincing me otherwise. I will hear no complaints about excessive post-processing effects. Just get a better PC bro.

I added a genius-level mind-bending labyrinth that the player absolutely could not traverse without their trusty sidekick Boxman (I changed the name). Additionally, the game is now live on GitHub pages to demonstrate my unparalleled optimization powers.

Every good AAA game needs a companion to chime in with helpful advice to guide the player through the game, and I do not intend to break away from tradition. Introducing Boxman: Blocko’s sidekick and confidant. I have given him highly useful and deep dialogue to match his solemn appearance.

Using my expertise in level design, I created a bone-tingling, gut-wrenching, jaw-clenching, mind-bending experience. However, I am the most humble man alive; therefore, I will admit there is still some polish left to do before my piece de resistance is ready to be demoed out into the world.

I have begun my masterful journey to create the greatest AAA experience ever to grace the gaming world, beginning with the humble player character.

The My Levels button actually does something now!!! Click it to be taken to the magical land of an empty page. All you have to do is click the Set Levels Folder button to select a folder on your computer, and as long as it contains level .json files, LEVELS WILL APPEAR (☉o☉)

In the future, you will hopefully be able to save levels you like from the web into your levels folder.

I’ve been busy trying to keep up with the rapid updates that are coming alongside the new trigger system added to Platformed. Lots and lots of new blocks to add. At the time of writing, I have all three trigger block types and all four trigger command types accounted for.

Pictured is the level Trigger Happy, created by the lead developer of Platformed to demonstrate the capabilities of triggers. It is officially fully functional in my Godot client!(https://platformed.jmeow.net/level/44)

After much anticipation (by nobody), TRIGGERS ARE OFFICIALLY HERE!!! Also in this update are a few small bug fixes to movement.

I redid the whole UI to be easier to work with now that I have a better understanding of Godot’s UI system. I also added a preview page so you can see the ratings and completion percentage for a level before you jump straight into it. This page will also be a nice place to implement saving to My Levels. Godot’s UI takes a lot more code than Unity to get certain things set up, but the experience is still better in every way.

I completely rewrote the tile system. Tile is now an abstract class from which each type of tile inherits. This is in service of the upcoming trigger update to platformed. The rewrite also let me implement sound! Also included in this update are a couple of bug fixes to Godot things my Unity brain could not understand.

Lots and lots of UI/UX. The game now lets you browse uploaded levels just like the site, and click to play them. I finally added a feature the website doesn’t have: pausing!

Lots of little movement tweaks to get different levels working right. Pretty soon, I’ll be able to move on to adding features that actually justify this client existing!

Pictured is me getting to the end of https://platformed.jmeow.net/level/28 in the Godot client. This is the hardest level anyone has made so far, rendering it the perfect test of how accurate my movement code is to the web client.

I did a mountain of Quality of Life work. Better code segmentation, correct block rotations, custom block behaviors, small movement tweaks to match the web version, custom hitbox shapes for different block types, and a whole lot of other small things that together make all the difference.

The user interface is now functional and visually perceptible to the naked human eye. You can type in a level ID to load into that level. Next is to make all the special blocks work and to allow you to actually leave and load new levels.

I have officially become the greatest Godot UI developer in all of human history.

(but fr i figured out all the ui stuff i need. time to start implementing)

Movement now has acceleration, which brings it a lot closer to platformed AND just makes the movement feel a lot nicer overall.

Tiles can now actually tell what kind of tile they are. I made them change their textures and disable collisions accordingly

I added wall jumping. Feature parity went up by like 2%, but fun went up 1000%

Adjacencies are now working properly!!!

Blocks now know the directions in which they are surrounded by other blocks. I made a little test visualization to make sure it was working properly and i think it looks pretty cool :) Next is to get the blocks to update to the correct texture based on what blocks surround it.

DecodeRLE now returns a list of rows instead of just an array of ints. This gave me more trouble than I expected.