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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Just a reminder. It's coming on the 16th, assuming nothing goes wrong.

Part of the expansion involves a cute little fight right here. ...in space for no apparent reason.

...too bad it won't be as epic as the final boss, but still...

The next update may be full of bugs.

...moths, mostly.

This background full of conveyor belts might make it a bit more factory-like, but it's still ominous.

Coming soon to another update.

Lemme get some work done with it first, then we'll talk.

The only thing harder than animating a set of wheels is making it handle like a set of wheels.

...and making an infinite floor without resorting to the official 3D engine.

Trying to do that Infinite Floor thing (technically, it's a trick of the camera), and I think it chugs.

Makes sense, since it's drawing on one surface over and over for each scanline, then putting that on another surface, which puts that on-screen.

Hmm...

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

If my plan for Sega CD-styled cinematics doesn't work out, Plan B would be the GBA-style cinematics.

If anything, they make decent filler.

I might have gone too far in a few places, and not enough in others.