Day 5 Progress, AKA "ENEMY DESIGN. Like, for real, guys.":
I don't know if I subconsciously needed to make up for lost time or what but I made a whole ton of progress today, specifically in the enemy AI area, which was going to be my biggest challenge from the get-go. Now I have a working 2D sprite enemy that looks at the camera no matter where you are and follows you, WITH a solid walking animation that starts up when the character starts to move! I didn't wanna give too much away, but I'm honestly so proud of my murderous lumberjack that I had to show you guys a screenshot.
(The blood splatters really did make all the difference haha)
After frustratingly googling a million code problems I was having, things finally came together and I was able to check off all the stuff from my checklist for today. I honestly kinda love how both exhilarating and frustrating game dev can be- it feels like a marathon sometimes, but when you finally get to the finish line (even just for the day) the feeling of accomplishment is huge.
After getting all that stuff down, I started messing around a bit more with sound. I have some footstep noises down for the enemy and I did some work in Audacity, recording myself breathing and then pitching it down a ton to sound like a manly lumber man. I'm not entirely sure if I love the breathing yet- I'm sure I'll be tweaking here and there as the jam continues.
I wish I had more to say but for some reason I'm feeling way more beat than usual! Today was a very busy dev day, but honestly pretty worthy of celebration. I have just two more big things I have to do until the game is done, which is so wild! I don't think I've ever put together a game so fast, and strangely enough this is already shaping up to be my favorite game I've made. I just love the feel and look of it, I dont know. Hopefully people find it at least a little thrilling! It's my first 3D horror game so of course I hope it spooks some people, but mostly I just hope people have fun with it.
It's so funny, the main game mechanic is something I have barely talked about in the devlog! The maze itself is kinda challenging, which is something I'm proud of. I'm excited for the next few steps, because I think these details are going to be where the game really comes together:
- Timer that starts at the beginning and displays the end time when the dog reaches the house again
- A death screen when the lumberjack catches up with the dog