February 2024 Devlog

Hello Groundskeepers! Welcome to the February Groundskeep devlog. Gonna just jump right in on the things that I got done this month. Last month I outlined that this is what I would be working on in the coming weeks:

• Draw more (all?) NPCs
• Create more Town interiors
• Begin testing upgrades (Roll, Stronger Machete)
• Compose some more music
• Add sound effects
• Continue writing scenes

I'll go through these one by one.

Draw more (all?) NPCs

Done! For the most part at least. All of the main characters with dialogue paths have been designed. I may work on some more general NPCs that just hang around the town, but in terms of the main town cast, we are done.

      

Create more Town interiors

Also done! You can now walk into the main buildings within the town.

Begin testing upgrades (Roll, Stronger Machete)

I tried my hand at the roll but ran into some collision issues. I've found that if the player moves too fast, they open up the possibility for passing through the collision entirely. I attempted a few methods for this and it happened each time. I may be able to implement a safety check that pushes the player backwards if the overlap with collision, but for now I'm putting this on the backburner. The shop where you buy upgrades has been set up so at least the system is there once I get the mechanics figured out. 

Compose some more music / Add sound effects

I wrote two more songs to add into the game, at least temporarily. Right now one plays in the town and the other in the Mayors office. I don't want to delve too deep into permanent music tracks before I become more familiar with how the composing system works. Since the GB has such a limited sound and channel set, you really have to get creative.

I started looking into sound effects. I figured out how to use WAV files but they sounded so crackly and ended up so large in file size, I would like to go with another route. For right now I am using the free sound effects by Trominal (https://yogi-tronimal.itch.io/gbfx). I would like to replace these eventually if I can, though they are a solid start for me to add as temporary sounds.

Continue writing scenes

To be frank, I don't think I wrote a single scene this month. My focus was more on completing the art. The way I see it, the art creates the visual feel of the game and I'd like to have that done to influence how the characters personalities will play out.

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What else?

• Animated more character portraits
• Implemented base dialogue system
• Added an early buy and sell mechanic
• Created the first book test for the library
• Began creating the Florist puzzle minigame

Feedback session

Towards the end of the month, I met with a few close creative friends to show them where I was at with a game. It's been tricky to parse exactly how much to share with people and when. I don't want to get into the habit of showing something for the sake of receiving approval and not focusing on actually accomplishing things in the game. 

The session went well and ending up going over an hour. One lesson one friend shared that I think is incredibly valuable is that people's problems with a piece of work should be heard, but their solutions don't have to be the exact ones you choose. From those notes, here are some changes I am looking to make:

• Separate the beach area of the town onto a different screen. This will hopefully allow me some more sprites to use within the main town.
• Add NPCs into some of the stores. Help fill out so it's not only an owner in each space.
• Move up the portraits on the dialogue screens.
• Add some sort of dialogue button prompt. Like a flashing A button or something.
• Add a tutorial book to the main counter on the library.
• Increase the size of the listening terminal in the cassette store.
• Redesign Mayor's house to be larger on the exterior.
• Add flowers from the florist into the town.
• Help clarify the water space better. Maybe a slope like Pokemon, or someone fishing on the shore. May be solved with sea noises.

I wanted to take a break afterwards to let this feedback sit and decide how to move forward. This has lasted a bit longer than I intended and I am admittedly feeling less enthusiastic about development as of late. Not sure if it was overwhelming subjecting the game to feedback, I'm burning out, or it's all just becoming more real as I get further into development.

Looking into March, here are the things I am planning on working on:

• Finish animated character portraits
• Create at least one working level of the puzzle minigame
• Design a cassette menu and the ability to buy cassettes (for now without music)
• Move the beach to separate screen
• Create and organize blank scenes for Book pages and Art Gallery portraits
• Begin work on certain end-game areas
• Expand grass area to 9 total screens

That's all for now, thanks for dropping by! See you in March.

-Tyler