A Bark in the Night - DevLog

A topic by LionHeartDev created Jan 07, 2017 Views: 1,176 Replies: 18

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Development log for my entry - A Bark in the Night.

The premise: A dog must chase away unspeakable horrors in the dark hours of the night before they reach it's home. In the shadows, a cat watches menacingly.

Genre - 2D Sidescroller / Horror

Godot Engine

Current Progress:

Day 2 - Programming

Assets:

Art/ Assets - 0%

Environment - 90%

Dog Animations - 100%

Coding:

Characters:

Dog:

Dog Movement - 80%

Dog Barking - 100%

Dog Resting - 100%

Dog House - 100%

Monsters: 20% - 1/5

Door Man - 100%

Bad Channel - 100%

---

Cat - 0%

Game Components:

Main Menu - 0%

Time based rounds - 100%

***Story Cutscenes - 0%

End screen - win/lose (Maybe multiple endings)

LionHeartDev7 years ago(+1)

A Bark in the Night - Day 1

Day 1 was spent creating the basic game mechanics, specifically for the dog. I've heard anecdotally that if a character isn't fun to control in an empty room, it won't be fun to control no matter how many features you add in.

So I decided to dedicate the initial period of the jam honing the player controls. Currently there is still some adjustment to be made, but I'm honestly surprised it came out as functional as it has.

Basically the game works like so:

Monsters try to get into the house

Dog barks decrease their HP, and when that hits 0 they flee

Dog bark meter depletes with each bark, and you can't bark if it's empty

Additionally, Dog barks get weaker the lower the meter is

Bark meter refills slowly over time, resting increases the rate of recovery

While resting the camera slowly zooms in, obstructing visibility (In the final game, I hope to have sounds that alert you)

Protect the house until sunrise --> Next night begins

I've also added in a screenshake effect whenever the meter is full and the player barks.

HalibutSubmitted7 years ago

Oh I really like the idea of playing as a brave dog, and the colours in the screenshots look really nice as well.

LionHeartDev7 years ago

Thanks! I wanted to make a game with a spooky atmosphere, but also wanted you to be active when threats appeared, so a dog chasing away monsters seemed the perfect choice :D

klawymichalSubmitted7 years ago

Yeah graphics and ideas are greate!

LionHeartDev7 years ago

Thanks!

ludowoodsHost7 years ago(+2)

ohh this is a solid design start so far! it's awesome to see the bar implemented already.

as an accessibility side note i would be careful though of sound only cues as mechanics--not all people can appreciate them!

LionHeartDev7 years ago

Ah! I didn't think about that situation. In the final version I hope to have lighting effects, so adding in a few of those along with the sounds should help resolve that. Thanks!

LionHeartDev7 years ago(+2)

Hey everyone, I decided to make a video post for Day 2's progress!

I've implemented the first monster in the game, and have time based nights. I plan on spending a day or two planning out the next set of monsters to add in and wrap up the programming end of things. Then I'm off to create the final art, sound, and menus.

JyzaviSubmitted7 years ago

I like the doorman! Pretty spooky. Good luck planning out more monsters!

LionHeartDev7 years ago

Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun thinking of possible monsters to add in.

Goloso GamesSubmitted7 years ago(+1)

Design is really cool ! I'm wondering what will be the monsters :)

LionHeartDev7 years ago

Thank you! I have 2 so far, still need 4 more to go

ludowoodsHost7 years ago(+1)

OH MAN i love how that monster looks and the fade out is a really nice effect!!

LionHeartDev7 years ago

Thanks! The monster art is placeholder, so hopefully it'll get an upgrade!

Grim Baccaris7 years ago(+1)

this game's design is looking great so far; the color palette is really lovely! i'm super into the camera movement and the monster (that fade effect! so spooky and neat!!), too.

LionHeartDev7 years ago

Thank you! The camera movement was a bit tricky to get right, but it worked out in the end :D

LionHeartDev7 years ago(+2)

It's been a while, sorry for the lack of updates!

This week I was able to get the majority of the final art done for the environment and the dog. Unfortunately, the dog animations are sort of lost in the video capture due to the lag. I'll try to remedy that by putting together some gifs.

I've finished adding in the second monster into the game:

Bad Channel

The vengeful spirit of a shut in that now possesses an old television set.

Bad Channel will start to act up and give the player 20 seconds to fight it off. This enemy takes a good bit more damage than Doorman (who has now been nerfed to be much easier to dispatch) and is meant to pile on the urgency as it requires the use of more bark energy to defeat.

To combat the chance of being overwhelmed by just 2 monsters, I've added in a dog house where the player can rest to double their recovery rate. This also adds in another element of strategy, as it is far removed from where two of the monsters spawn.

Work still continues on the remaining 4 monsters.

LionHeartDev7 years ago(+2)

Dog Animation Gifs -

itch.io

My First Game Jam: Winter 2017

A Bark in the Night - DevLog