Hello guys!

New levels

Finished Sector 5 Level 3 (S5L3) and did S5L4.

Features of S5L4

• Fake integer overflow at the level deaths counter, which explains the “broken” level
• Falling tiles (Can go up, down and custom directions, either moving at a fixed speed or suffering from a “gravity”)

Struggles

• Level design: Solved by testing whatever came to my mind and seemed fun, even for a slight bit.
• Figuring out how to make the falling tiles without being a total pain: Solved by some default values, syntatic sugar and abstractions (variables with isUp = true are assumed to go only up, else and not EndX and EndY are assumed to go only down).

Bye!

Hello guys!

Progress

I’ve done this silly cursor (with a frowned face!) that can follow a target! It has two options: Fixed time to reach target (with variable speed) and fixed speed (with variable time to reach target). It has a trigger collision (equals no collision with player) by default, but can be solid. It uses mostly of moveable props updating logic.

Struggles

Thinking about edge cases (like time being on 0 and division by 0 happening or cursor already being at target) and how to implement my ideas (like a variable speed based on time).
This silly bug where cursor can crush you (even when having a trigger collision). Probably letting it as a troll feature.
Wanted to draw cursor over everything else (solved it by adding a “layer” property at props, where cursor is at layer 999 while tiles are at -999 and default is 0. Also, player is still rendering at cursor front, but probably ignoring this, as it’s not an issue.)

TODO

Finishing the level (S5L3) and doing lots of troll shenanigans.

Hello guys!

What I’ve done (No, I’ll not face myself)

Sector 5 levels 1 and 2, and the beginning of brainstorming for level 3. Level 1 messes up with controls. Level 2 takes it further and also messes with gravity. Level 3 is… I dunno, have to think (creative block is being a huge roadblock for this game).

Struggles

Creative block for levels (already said it)
Being lazy (mostly because the creative block makes my brain want to avoid this project)
Lack of free time (It’s better now, but was kind of an issue for me)

TODO

More levels (at least Level 3 to 5, but I thought of doing more)
Maybe improving UX/UI (NOT A PROMISE)
More voicelines (absolutely needed)

Hello, guys!

Development

Yesterday, I’ve done this level (S4L5). It’s officially the last level for Sector 4. The X thing rotates clockwise, then there are the traps I won’t tell (go play it by yourself to discover!)

Struggles

I really struggled with physics (the player often noclips through the walls or the spinning X thing), and decided it’ll be a feature/something explained in-game (the sector already messes with physics, such as gravity inversion, so it can be treated as a “colateral effect”). I added a death condition, which is being squished at axis X (didn’t solve, but now it’s there).

Sector 5

You guys can be sure Sector 5 will be the silliest one. I plan to get very creative at this one, such as messing with controls, breaking the 4th wall, etc.

Note

Just discovered those awesome emojis, so I’ll definitively start using them. Also, just decided to use Markdown features simply because I can.

Hello guys! On the last days, I’ve been doing sector 4 level 3 (the one at the picture) and 4! I struggled with gravity effects (spoiler: those levels mess up with gravity and Y-axis acceleration), and this was not that easy. Ended up having to do a trigger that doesn’t get deleted as soon as it gets trigged, so it can smoothly slow down player until velY gets to 0. Also, changed jump system in order to be able of jumping from the ceiling. TODO: S4L5 (maybe horizontal gravity?) and S5 (probably the last sector, and the hardest to code, as I want it to break the 4th wall and mess up with controls and UI). Bye!

Hello guys! In the last days, I’ve done these translucid tiles. They pulsate using sine waves, and gets brighter if player is close (had to learn easing functions just to make it smoother!). Not too much struggles (fortunately), except by the fact I first tried to use bump.lua collision checking (for some forbidden reason didn’t work), then went to euclidian distance formula (linear) and finally used an easing formula (as smooth as butter on hot knife). That’s it! (Also, some tiny patches that are probably smaller than this sentence so are not worth being mentioned.)

Hello guys! Oh these days, I worked on these amazing particle systems. Also, did you notice a small delay between dying or touching a goal/sector gate and respawning or loading the new level? That’s the brand new freeze player option. The player becomes invisible, immortal and immoveable for a small amount of time (500ms to be more specific) to make it feel more smooth. At first, it caused me a simple yet huge headache involving voicelines that play right at the start of levels entered by a sector gate. Turns out it was that the sector gates kept detecting collision with frozen player (and consequently refiring logic) and bugging it all. Shout out to Claude for finding the bug root for me!

Hello guys!

On the last days, I’ve been making this level (S4L2).
The single thing that was a thorn at my side was the rotating moving platform at right. The individual tiles would incorrectly spin around rotation center because they wouldn’t keep a constant radius from center, causing a mess. The solution was to force the tiles to keep a constant radius from rotation center.

Also, level design is being a real struggle for me: Lack of inspiration for cool, unique and with funny trolling. I’m open for suggestions!

Hello guys! In those days, I’ve been making those spinning platforms, and also S4L1 (this level). It’s probably not 100% finished, considering its still not troll.
Struggle: Physics (Bump.lua really hates moving and rotating props) and figuring out how to actually make it rotate. Also, I’m struggling with ideas for the level.

Hello guys! In the last days, I added new assets, such as songs and backgrounds (one for each sector). I also finally added SFX! Then, I re-included and re-formulated death by crush (struggled with it, ended up having to use subtick system for it to work correctly). Finally, I did a logo/icon for the game.

Hello guys! Yesterday, I made s3l5. I’ve also made s3l4 a bit easier. Also, I’ve made the laser seem a bit thicker and way more cool. Finally, I’ve done some bash scripts:
bundle.sh = Bundles the game modules, assets, maps, libraries, main.lua (entry point) and conf.lua (Love2D configurations) into a .love file
windows-package.sh = Merges the .love file with Love2D standalone .exe, puts it into a folder with Love2D dlls, game license and readme
linux-x86_64-package.sh = Unpacks Love2D AppImage, changes variables and filenames, merges Love2D bin with the .love file, handles both Love2D and game license and game readme and packs it back into an AppImage using AppImageTool

Hello guys! Today, I’ve basically done those lasers and s3l4 (the level on the pic). Struggled with: alternating laser patterns based on lasers that started disabled. It was a single line of code (if isDisabled then return instance end) but lots of headaches and anger and unexpected behaviour. Also, it was kind of hard to figure out how to make these dynamic beans work out. Ended up basically taking advantage of table references (parent laser emitters coordinates) and “if isDisabled then return end” code guards.

Hello guys! Today, I’ve made Sector 3 Level 3 (the background level). I’ve also done this pause menu. It even saves the volume and the muted state in a settings.json file. TODO: More levels, maybe a few brand new props and probably my first sound effects.

Hey guys! On these days, I made sector 3 along with its two first levels. I also started making this terminal-style pause menu where you can adjust the audio channels. Finally, I enhanced the song playing (now it has better support to multiple tracks). Struggles: making a UI that is both functional and not completely awful simply with Love (pun intended). TODO: Put a volume changer (probably not a slider, more simple, like arrow keys) and a button to go back to hub.

Hello guys! Yesterday and the day before, I made sector 2 level 4. I also added springs and speed boosters to the game. Save features: Unlocking levels gradually and saving least death count per sector, everything in save.json file and with temp json files to avoid corruption (atomic saving). The least death count is showed at sector hub over each sector gate. Struggles: boosting player’s velX (its zeroed after every frame to avoid sliding, but this also zeroed the boost. The solution was to create a different variable in player, called boostedX, that is managed diferently from velX and taken in account with velX to move player). And bump.lua’s bounce, which I had to replace with “self.velY = -self.velY”, and for some reason automatically ensured energy loss (realistic physics) even though I didn’t program it. And I’ll keep it this way because it’s good, realistic and, most important, fun. Bye!

Hello fellas! Yesterday and today, I added a saving system. It saves unlocked sectors and least death counts. This least death counts is showed in sector hub below sector number. I also made sector 2 level 3 (the level in the picture).

Hello, guys! On the last days, I did this sector hub! Also, I was finally able of patching the physics bugs involving moveables and player! Besides that, I added sector 2 level 2. Bye!

Hello, fellas! Yesterday, I did this new UI and also added a moveable prop class (until that, every moving prop was jury-rigging involving moversaws) and sector 2 level 1.

Hello, guys! Yesterday, I did two brand new levels: 4 and 5 (this one). I also started organizing levels in “sectors” - Level groups. Besides that, I made improvements in mover saws, debugging (now the game supports level and sector flags) and even a separate test map if I ever need to test specific things. Issues: Collision. Yeah, that’s it. The fake saw in level 4 gave me looots of trouble, debugging and some unfixed bugs involving player on vertically moving objects. The ultimate “fix”? Slowing the saw. But it worked. That’s what matters.

Hello guys! Yesterday and today, I added level 3, with portals. I also added a voiceline manager module and two brand new voicelines. Besides that, as you can see, I added some new visual improvements: A background, a font and a sprite for the player. Now the game went from 100% ugly to 99% ugly. It’s still an improvement, though, plus I want to replace these sprites later.

Hello guys! Yesterday and today, I did the first two actual levels of the game (I discarded the old test map!) I also did some new obstacles, such as fake tiles and moving saws. Not only that, but a trigger class too. I added some helpers for audio and even a soundtrack (Thanks Imphenzia for the awesome and no copyright “Discovery of Planet X” soundtrack). Struggles: Crostini (ChromeOS Linux container) mysterious volume changes each time I opened it, making me think the problem were the voicelines and the soundtrack, collision quirks (like the saw from the gif getting stuck at the player and not killing or triggers being sticky instead of untoucheable) and Tiled/STI (mainly about tilesets). That’s it!

Hello guys! Yesterday, I moved the main logic from props to player itself (the deadly and the goal thing). Also, as you can see in this gif, I added some of the first troll items: a goal that moves when player is close and a spike that only appears when player is close. Besides that, I added a logic handler where you can have levelx__data.lua separate from the Tiled’s levelx.lua, where __data contains logic exclusive to that level. Finally, I used all my dubbing skills (100% of 0 is 0) to make some voice lines to the game. It’s a narrator that keeps teasing you.

Hey guys! Today, I officially integrated Tiled to the game and added spawn points and “killable” (killer) props. Today’s struggles: nil values, killer props not killing and Tiled itself. TODO: a lot, probably more focused on organizing code and adding new props.

Hey guys! Yesterday and today, I’ve made this simple setup. It has a player and a prop managment (the green platform is composed by individual tiles of 32x32px, where a tile is considered a prop). As you can see, it also has death system (with counting) and movement system. This is just the beginning!