• Projects

  • Collect the Gems; Godot 3 edition

New update (version 0.13)

  1. -Graphics upgrade with GI probes instead of reflection probes
  2. -New eyecandy; Trees.
  3. -Level 4 fleshed out and ready to go. Introducing a new enemy type as well as buttons to pound.
  4. -Various issues resolved due to the new test level
  5. -Various logic optimizations
  6. -New background music that plays when the level is completed
  7. -New logic to help the player stay on moving platforms more easily
  8. -Various other tweaks I can't bring to mind at this moment.

Known Issues... 1. -The logic which allows the new enemy to turn to you and attack is a little janky at the moment due to an issue with Godot, the report has been filed and confirmed and the 3.1 milestone is set. Hopefully it means it gets fixed.

--- Todo... 1. -I just remembered you can't turn GI Probes off in the main menu yet, I have an idea that would mean the reflection probe lighting method is used if GI probes are turned off). I used the lower quality tracing so it should be plenty fast on mid-range GPU's going up. 2. -There is still no saving station as in the original version of the game. I hope to get that done when level 5 (which will also be the first boss level) is complete.

2 months later

I'm still working on this on and off.

The big thing this week was getting the first boss fully operational and fully working (ie. I tested a battle with him and the game does what it should). I am now getting past the point of where I was when I started the game in Godot 1.x.

That also means the 5th level is about done, unlike levels 1 through 4, much of the old version is intact, but with sizable additions made to it.

Version 0.14

Unfortunately, the most recent daily from Calinou errors out when exporting for Linux, so it's Windows only for now. http://www.mediafire.com/file/6f458b3pg7gtvxm/Collect_The_Gems_%25280.14.1%2529-Windows.zip/file

Changes... 1. Level 5 and its boss is about done 2. Unification of enemy logic with the help of the new class_name feature and what it allows. This led to various fixes related to material changes, multi-hit enemies, and smashing. 3. Improved sound logic in the player's movement 4. GI probe tweaks to try to create higher quality lighting at a good performance. 5. Yet another pass at better camera logic, rewrote the camera script so it's still a WIP. 6. More textures and new details in a few levels 7. Fixed the colors of various surfaces within the levels themselves. 8. GI probes can be turned off in the options menu, the game will fall back to illumination via reflection probes. 9. The saving station has been made, I haven't really tested but it's ripped from the functional system in Totally Lost. 10. Smaller tweaks and other fixes.

--- Known issues 1. The new enemy will sometimes slip off the ground and fall out of the level

6 days later
2 months later

Having been back to the nightlies, the project still has movement, though Cycles rendering in Blender, and the general struggle I have to just get things done has taken a lot of time. It's not due to Godot.

I've been trying to get more into a good testing regimen for the game itself so that future builds will not have near as many things buggy or broken. I've been shifting more assets from the .dae format to .escn, and I'm finally able to have SSAO active thanks to a commit by Calinou that improved performance. Also, a number of scripts and other things have been tweaked and worked on.

In addition, the environment is nicer looking now with a rendered HDR map instead of the simple procedural sky.

13 days later

Version 0.16

  • The player and his components have been tweaked for perfect alignment and made sure the joints are connecting the nearest wheel to the body. As a result, the player handling is much better, smoother, and straighter.
  • A degree of SSAO has been added
  • Cleaned up a lot of old texture import files, so the total game size should be smaller.
  • (internal) a lot more collada files have been replaced with .escn files, some level-specific animations may have changed slightly since the level files were also replaced, but there are no major changes.
  • (internal) trying to set things up for better quality work in the future, figuring out a basic design language for scripting and having standards for node tree creation (which depends on if the scene is a level or an asset).
  • A rendered HDR map (which has different rotations on each level because of sunlight direction).
  • Some instanced objects now make full use of the GI probes, leading to less appearance of black surfaces
  • Other tweaks and fixes (the exits now work properly again for starters).
  • (preview) in progress bonus level, not a lot of testing yet as a result. You need to pass enough levels and get enough red point objects to enable.