Gary's Blog

Gary here. This was the last week of the project. I added the last needed sounds and made the HUD look pretty. After fixing some bugs that popped up, I was able to submit it on time! Here's what the HUD looks like now - the bags change size depending on the number of items in them: Fig.1 - The new HUD And finally, here's a video of some gameplay from the finished game: This will be the last blog post, for this project. :( A report and presentation still needs doing however, so I'll be working on the last pieces of this assignment over the coming weeks. See ya!

Gary here. Penultimate week this week, which I've spent adding sound, music, and fixing bugs, as well as fine tuning some pixel art. You can hear some of that sound and the music in the video below: A pretty big bug I'd had for weeks  was that the character's walk cycle wouldn't transition properly from and to it's idle - I finally fixed it this morning! Bar any new ones that pop up, the game is now bug free! Next week is the final week of the project. I just have to: Make a better looking HUD, and Add the final few needed sounds. Once that is done I need to: Record a video of gameplay, Take beauty shots, Submit! I'll be very busy, but hopefully will manage to get everything done in time. Fingers crossed! See you then!

Gary here. I didn't have time to do sound as planned, but I was able to completely finish 15 aliens! Fig.1 - Complete lineup of aliens Which is your favourite? Here is a video of me capturing mine: In addition to completing the alien lineup, I also made a tutorial; to teach the player the controls and their goal to make food. Fig.2 - The tutorial consists mostly of just animated arrow keys telling the player what to press and where they should go. Adding sound and fixing a few bugs is all I have left to do for the project. Next week might be the last! Fig.3 - A cool new alien See you then!

Gary here. I've been focusing on the 'end-game' this week - what happens after the player collects all the aliens in their pen? Well, they must then attempt to tame the ultimate alien... Fig.1 - The last alien... Conversely, should the player fail to survive long enough to meet it, it's game over man, game over. I also made statues which block the player's way to the deeper parts of the forest, and must be given gold to break through to get to rarer and more valuable aliens. The mechanics for these statues were made all the way back in week 2! Fig.2 - The player giving the statue gold until it breaks And finally, I made a new alien. Isn't he cute? Fig.3 - Newest alien Getting close to the end of the project, I have just these things left to do; Adding sound, Making the user interface (particularly the HUD) look pretty, and Finishing as many aliens as time allows. I'll be tackling these things over the next week. See you then

Fig.1 - New character Gary here. This week I finally remade the character; I struggled to get the farmer + astronaut look down, so instead I went for a more adventurer/explorer look. Fig.2 - Finding the old character. And as an Easter egg (fitting for the season), you can find the previous look deceased somewhere in the game. The rest of the week was spent on UI. I did the title screen, main menu, as well as in-game menus such as the game over screen. I also added a save feature - in the video above, you can see me continue on a previous save, and start where I'd left off with the same amount of items and aliens stored in the pen. Next week I'm going to make more sprites and possibly start adding sound. See you then!

Gary here. This week I made the rocket, where tamed aliens can be sold for gold: Fig.1 - Rocket I also made the grinder, where tamed aliens can be churned up into delicious food: Fig.2 - Grinder I also worked on the mechanics for a couple of new aliens, like the new alien in figure 1 and 2 who just needs a tweaked idle animation to be finished. I didn't have time to do the character as planned, and hope to squeeze that in to next week in lieu; however, I will be home for Easter so I won't be able to do as much work as usual. Time I do have to work will be spent between making the user interface, and writing the report I have to do for the project. See you then!