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

This is the driving sequence in action.

I don't have any original music for that part, and I can imagine that passing-through-flags sound getting annoying after a while.

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.

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...

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.

All this work to get punched in the face.

I realize some players just want to play the game and see the story, while others may actually want to use those revival items, so here's a little compromise for you all.

Also, yes, I NEED to put on that "Pro" flag everywhere.

First off, you can't rotate a background with draw_background_tiled. However, you can draw anything on a BIG surface, and a surface can be rotated and doubled up.

So, the infinite floor uses a surface, and now it's not chugging so hard. Look at the FPS.

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 felt some mechanics were underutilized, so I'm making an expansion.

...more or less just a side quest and extra dungeon. No more than that here.

Coming who-knows-when.