Motivation

So at this point I have figured out what I'd like my hook to be - Motivation, and the vices of men. Yeaaah I had to say it in a cool way. But anyway in a lot of those medieval shows or movies people are motivated by greed, fame or honor. So I took that and I decided to make the game revolved around those three things. Each character is driven by either Sanctimony, Avarice, or Vainglory (just cool ways to say Honor, Greed and Glory). Ooooooh that's a really really cool title, Honor, Greed, and Glory. Wow. That might be it.

Honor, Greed, and Glory: the Vices of Men 

Something like that.

Anyway yeah I have just been working to implement those three things and the motivation stat which is based on how well the conditions are met to motivate someone of that particular vice. It's a sweet idea but I'm having to toy around with it a lot because I just can't really forsee that well at this point what will and won't work. So I'm going to need to spend a lot of time dialing this system in and doing / undoing work until it really comes across the way I want.

But it's really coming along, I'm very happy to see this little GIF attached to this post. It looks like a pretty legit game!

Anyway thought I should mention this too: I have been pretty disorganized about game dev in general, and I think it's because I don't have a centralized system where all my planning can go. To fix this, I am doing a trial of Trello Premium. So far, I really like it. It's expensive to do a yearly membership but if I can stick with it and it keeps me on track then I'd say it's worth the money. And, I am trying to make money here. And frankly if you want to make money you have to be willing to invest it. So we'll see if it's worth it at the end of the 2 weeks free period.

Later! 

Not Shitty Buildings

Today I made the decision of the 4 contracts the player is offered actually determine the amount of dudes that spawn on the map. Next up is making the money earned persistent and the characters persistent. I am going to make sure not to get too in-depth with it as I want to get the entire game loop and larger systems in place as early as possible and then start iterating in more detail on things, increasing the depth as much as possible. Get the core together, then "dig". Yeah coooool way to say it mannnn.

Anyway I also bought some environment art ($5). Size and content wise it is perfect, but the problem is it doesn't match the art style of the characters. Especially the fact that the characters are red and white but the environment seems to have the full range of colors. So I think I need to adjust these sprites. I'll probably draw over them and color them a little differently. This is a good move though; last time I did it all from scratch and that's cool and I learned a whole lot, but I think this time I am trying to really do my best and get things DONE. So, I'm looking at it like how I look at programming; i.e. if there is a pathfinding system, I just use that and don't create my own (fuck that shit man). So I need to do the same with art; find something that's already been done if possible and then use my own skills to bridge the gaps. I will still be doing plenty of artwork for this game, but I'm not starting from zero.

Shitty Buildings

Today I got the decisions scene transition into the battle scene. I also fished around for some UI and found some free stuff so I'm gonna use that. Nice. Already better looking than my old one if you ask me.

I also was looking for environment artwork since the most major feedback on my last game seemed to be "it looks bad". So I need to take art seriously and iterate early have time to get it right. Anyway I was looking around for assets since drawing buildings really doesn't excite me. I haven't found any that I feel would work for my game. It's mainly the art style difference that I am concerned about. Of course, I could always buy them and then trace them to bring them in line with the style. We'll see.

Anyway I tried doing it myself just to see what it's like. It looks like shit hahahahahaha BUT it's a good test bcause I'm not even sure if buildings are going to be a good idea to include in this game. They may occlude too much or take up too much space. But I don't think so, I think they'll be alright.

It'll be important to play aroudn with this without committing too hard because right now the gameplay is very early and basic and I'm not sure how it will change, and that could affect what kind of tile-blocking is reasonable.

Anyway hell yeah let's go makin a turn based game!!