Dev Diary 2 :: 2014 :: Nov 24 - 30

[Ray]

New week of development! And quite the head start thanks to some serious lack of sleep in between classes, family, work, and this project.

This week's todo entails:

• Login / Registration System
• VIP Shop (premium shop - diamonds)
• 4th Planet [Spooky planet, 15 new creatures, 6 new backgrounds!)
• Experience system [Gain exp for killing monsters]
• Twitter Setup
• Purchase system (server->client handling of purchased items)
• Payments system (Paypal & item integration)
• $25 pack system [system for Beginners pack, holiday pack, etc]
• Forum Logo
  

I'm quite excited with this list, because...i'm already done it all before the new week even started! I'll be adding more todo's out of the, currently 15 items left before release. The list will likely grow a slight bit, but with 5/week minimum, I expect to be ahead of the game (pun intended).

I'll be working directly with the artist in the next week or two to improve the ui as much as possible before release without going too overboard as I am not interested in delaying this game any further. Simple layout improvements that can be done in a matter of minutes is all i'll be affording for that stage.

[Ray]

Some great new improvements that are really bringing this game together!


-Sound Effects (UI Clicks, casting, attacks, coin collecting)
-Music (only 1 repeating tune, but it's upbeat and fun)
-Audio system (Sound/music toggling/resuming)
-Skill Shop (Actually, Skill Upgrades, but the name remains). You can now unlock, and upgrade your skills with earned exp!
-Facebook community page prepped for post-release for when I actually integrate the game into Facebook. Will be a while after beta but it's prepared anyhow.
-Code Redeeming. Redeem free codes that i'll be posting on facebook, twitter, and maybe from some hidden easter eggs later on.

With the sound effects, music, and new skill shop, it's really starting to feel like an interactive experience. 

My 10 year old son has been helping me all along in picking out priorities for the games development since i'm chaotic with such details. Among everything else already done, he has also picked:

-Buying upgrades alternatively with AP (Activity Points). Play for 5 minutes every day for two weeks? Well you can afford that crazy upgrade just for being around enough. Some people have busy lives, no need to take away from them.
-Caps / Limits. This has to be done unfortunately. I have a good amount of content, and much more in the works, however I need to set limits for alpha testing and the beta release so I actually have content prepared for future patches, and to give me time to focus on improvements of the existing systems. These caps will start low, but increase with a fairly consistent frequency (Monthly maybe?). I usually prefer to write a game to be virtually limitless, and this game will be as I can manage the progress and see where people are at as it grows.
-Hot Keys. Well, it's nice to be able to hit ENTER once you've typed in your username instead of having to click. Also need these for Abilities, and maybe for opening some windows. C for Character, right? or should C close the game on you ?
-Planet 5. Certainly won't be available on alpha or beta releases, but it will be prepared! Ascend you must.

[Ray]

-Creatures now display their level
-Planet 5 complete. Pirates!
-Statistics Window with real-time updates.
-Finalized Score system for alpha (and possibly Beta) phase. Also part of the Statistics window.

[Ray]

First pre-alpha client released to a couple testers.

-Fixed zones showing unlocks early
-Fixed progress counter not displaying correctly
-XP is now visible in upgrade shop when purchasing upgrades
-Fixed issue with creatures not spawning if killed by Splat ability
-Pets image display now correctly changes upon pet evolution without having to relog
-Fixed the number parser. 10000 = 10,000
-Trophy toplist now correctly updates
-Clock should update correctly after midnight now.
-Added upgrade category for Trophies
-Added new currency & icon for Ascension

Some great feedback has helped me understand the strengths and weaknesses of the game.

Tomorrow i've scheduled a meeting with the UI Artist and we are going through a bunch of the interface of the game where we will figure out, as quickly as possible, ways that the interface can be improved before release. I'll be extending those sessions after release to clean things up but this game is costing a hefty investment out of pocket to get going.