I will use this community post to document with Updates what I am taking care of in the next days and will transfer a summary into a devlog at the end of Jam as the IMGJ is asking for.
Updates
Almanac is almost complete with all the features I was planning to implement. Recorded a preview video which is demostrating its features and usage in the context of crafting a fireplace, cooking meals and some glue. At the end I am crafting a tape with the glue. All by following the presented information.
- Opening Almanac pages by right-clicking item slots in the inventory, in card loot slots and in the Fireplace cooking book
- Pages show the general item stats including a picture, as well as crafting-, cooking- and battle-related stats, if there are any for that item
- Following links inside the Almanac leads to related item pages
- Following an item (e.g. the Stump) that is not yet discovered brings up an item preview page (it gets filled with information as soon as players discover that item, as can be seen later in the video)
- Some pages (like for Food or Battles) present general information for these topics
- A back-button is navigating to previous pages
- A close-button (or outside clicks) closes the Almanac
Implemented a first version of the in-game Almanac. When players right-click item slots (for now only those in Inventory and in Cards) the Alamanac presents information for the selected item. Some features are still missing (links to other items, back navigation, more places where the Almanac could be opened). Think I will use the remaining Jam days to complete and polish these missing features instead of starting with my second idea.
Documented the improvements of the first point (Code restructuring / refactoring) in a separate devlog post:
https://humane-tiger.itch.io/9-dayz/devlog/610662/the-reasons-for-refactoring-an.
Finished the UI design for the Almanac. Planning to listen for right mouse clicks on elements in the following places:
- Item slots in the Inventory menu
- Crafting buttons in the Crafting menu
- Cooking ingredients in the Cooking menu
- "Grabbing" slots (showing loot after players search places)
When players right-click on one of these elements, the almanac will open and show the selected item or crafting option. All keywords leading to other Almanac information (pages for other items etc.) will be highlighted as links. All information will be derived from configuration files and is translated into a human readable grammar (several variants dependending on e.g. the presented item being a crafing result or a crafting ingredient).
Players can also go back one page or close the Almanac again.
List of improvement ideas
- Internal code restructuring / refactoring, mainly to lay ground for the implementation of the next points
- Kicking-off character choices as shown in the UI concept below (only 2-3 in the beginning, implemented in a way that more can be added easily)
- Kicking-off an Almanac / in-game wiki (only for crafting and cooking recipes in the beginning, refactoring my code in a way so that all the currently hardwired crafting and cooking information is then available in form of proper configurations)
Yeah, think this is probably more than enough for one week.
Link to my game: https://humane-tiger.itch.io/9-dayz
Character choices UI concept
Have suggestions for other characters and their pros and cons? I am happy to hear them. Share in the comments, if you like.
