Game
Rock Beyond Time
3 years ago

The current state of Rock Beyond Time, as of 7/11/2022


Making games is hard. You should know that by now. I've known it for about fifteen years by now. This one took me about three years to complete. The game is in a complete, stable state, as far as I know. I intend to release the final Windows build on the 16th.

I had higher hopes for this game, and I felt that I could reach them later. These high hopes at first included a console release. However, if you know anything about the Sunk-Cost Fallacy, then you know that throwing your own money at something, especially more money than your product is worth, doesn't solve the problem. You want a Mac version? I'd need a Mac AND a license from Apple to do that. You want a Switch version? Well, I'd need an SDK and a special deal with both the Big N and YoYo Games, and that could cost me about $800 a year.

So, I ended up getting a subscription for the Indie model of GM Studio 2. It has potential, but I don't think I can reach it yet. It plays well, but my game is designed with the idea that two players can play it. With gamepads. The HTML5 thing CAN support gamepads, but it's a bit iffy by the looks of things. I know there may be other weird syntax things I don't know about, and until the guys at YoYo Games or someone else can provide the Big Book of differences in code execution, this could be trouble. (Then again, every coding program needs a Big Book of Vocabulary, and many publishers fail to provide even that.)

So, I'm doing the sensible thing and cutting my losses. The downside is that it'll be Windows only, but the upside is that it'll be in a working, complete state. I'm sorry for promising the world, and only giving you a continent.

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A rather interesting thing I forgot about...

I hope you appreciate what I go through for pointless details like this.

I don't plan on going this crazy too much, though.

I decided that the fourth button will be used for switching between using weapons, and not using them. Why? Because it works with the mouse's scroll wheel.

Also, you've got an indicator at the top-left if you've got the gun active or not.

He's coming back. ...but just this once.

That boss is now done, and implemented.

I can safely say I've completed half of the main game now, even though it's just the first three levels and the second-to-last.

Time to do something else.

I was considering releasing the expansion today, but then I found a lot of bugs I should've spotted in the original build, and I made the minimap do extra stuff for said expansion.

Don't worry, it'll be out by tomorrow night.

I'm getting close in the rigging department. I might need to adjust how the shoulders work, but it's getting there.

Now going through the animation process. This could take a while.

It's kind of a wonder how Treasure managed to pull a front-facing boss moving sideways at least twice.

One of the bonus stages will be a top-down stage where you try to stop the Demolition robots from smashing the summer home.

...but I don't know whether or not failing a bonus stage should "count". I think the worst bonus stages in gaming are mandatory.

Animation testing, again.

I map animations to keyboard buttons, then figure out the AI. Character movement is tied to the animations before adding the AI.

...and that's why I think a fighting-game mode can be programmed in this game.