Game Dev Diary (Day 1)

Published on: Friday, November 22, 2024 at 8:51 PM PST

Written by Josh Bright

Intro

Here lies my notes about making an Action RPG with the GodotEngine. I’m hoping by keeping a dev log, it will keep me on track and hopefully provide some momentum to get a game finished. The game i’m wanting to make can be thought of a mixture of Zelda, Stardew Valley, with a bit of Ultima Online thrown into the mix. Here’s the aspects of each game that i’m taking inspiration from that I like:

Legend of Zelda

One of my favorite SNES games is A Link to the Past, I have quite fond memories of playing that game when I was a kid. The thing I like about most Zelda games is the way that the world is confined until you find some items that unlock an area, which then let you explore the new spots on the map. I find it a very elegant way of introducing the player to different aspects of the game without being too overwelming. Finding an item and then remembering about that thing you found a couple hours ago, and realizing that you might be able to get past that is an aspect i’d like to capture.

Stardew Valley

Ahh, this is also a great game that i’ve put many hours into. I love having the world that feels like a small village, various people doing their things, and being able to help them, or just see what they are up to. I do also like the crafting system in this game, which leads me into the last game in my list.

Ultima Online

This was my first game that I ever played online. I got the game about a month after it came out, using a dial up modem to connect, and just being blown away that these characters in the game were other people in the world. I loved how so much of the game ended up being people getting together to create something. On the server I played on, there was a “Fight Night” that took place on friday nights. It took place in the Oasis desert, and would bring in a ton of people. Sometimes, bad guys (players, aka pks) would run through and cause havoc, which made the entire thing just so exciting. I’m not sure I can capture that feeling at all, but, I did like how you can buy a house, decorate it, and generally make everything in the game. I loved being a miner, creating armor and swords. I loved getting together with some friends, and doing a dungeon adventure. It was great that the game gave us a world, but it was the players that made it fun. In the end, I would love to be able to link up a couple friends and be able to go dungeon diving in my game. Maybe something where you and your friends can link up to create a bigger world, where you can go check out what they have been up to, even when they aren’t online.

The Artwork Hurdle

Artwork is going to be my biggest hurdle, I’m not that great with drawing stuff, but I have a bunch of pixel art packs that ive bought over the years. At some point I think I might need to figure out what things should look like and then hire an artist to create what i’m wanting, but for now I’m hoping I can get by with the packs I currently have. I will note what packs im using and the artists pages if anyone else wants to also use them, or see what else they offer. Most of the packs I bought are from Humble Bundle, and then some from itch.io. I’m also going to try to not let lacking artwork stop me, so if I don’t have what I need, i’ll either try to make it myself, or just use some placeholder. In the past this has been something that stalls my progress, but not this time!

Ending Thoughts

I’m going to link to a github repo of my current progress if anyone wants to see how I’m doing things. I’m also hoping to have a couple posts a week, as well as talk a bit about what i’m doing on my bluesky account.