Options options options. Adding additional options, especially ones that only impact graphics is always the right move. I personally prefer the gridlines because the clutter is designed with it in mind. Instead of stopping game time on enemy hit, only stopping enemy animations might be better, because stopping game time looks like lag or stuttering, while only stopping enemy movement makes it feel like you stunned all of them with your epic bashing. Additionally, dashing, knockback, animation stop and combos definitely are good mechanics that different weapons should focus on, such as more knockback for big swords, more hitstun for clubs and maces, dash attacks for daggers, maybe even a backstep ability etc etc
I think it could be cool to have the grid only rendered in a certain radius around the player, allowing them to see the world 'cleanly' but still being able to accurately interact with the mechanics. And/or perhaps have the grid fade out after some player inactivity. Looks really good so far!
That's what I thought as well! Similar to vignetting in photography. And maybe we can decide between Grid on player or grid on the edges, what is looking better or helping more while playing
I need more of these devlogs, really. I have no clue about game design and game development at all (i am "just" a web developer) but it's so satisfying how you do them and the game looks super interesting/aesthetic in general. keep up the great work!
This is the first video i'm watching of this game, and the first thing i noticed was distracting full screen shake when you break a block. I would try to find a more subtle solution. You should definitely add a toggle option for the grid lines. Some people want them on for better accessibility and visual guides, and others want them off for better aesthetics. The game looks great so far! Would love to give it a try asap!
I like the idea of the shaking camera when knocking back an enemy. Keep it in mind if you combat gets any sort of repetitive though it may get annoying. Everything looks amazing. Good work.
I'm VERY much looking forward to this game. I've wanted a isometric-pixel-art-minecraft for years. Keep up the good work. I have some suggestions that are very biased: I'd love if the water moves like it does in minecraft shaders (BSL shaders for example). and I know that's a whole nother level of Effort, but a cave-system would be insane! and well, of course House/Base Building. But keep it up man, I want to play this so badly already!
Basic methods to show feedback for hits are to put a freeze frame in the players animation on the point of inpackt and make the enemy twitch on hit. Hope that helps to flesh it out a little bit more! I really love the perfectly square tall grass, maybe incorporate the tile boundary into more designs.
Idea: The enemy getting knocked back two spaces instead of 1 struck me as odd, so maybe you can have the third hit knock them back 1 space and then possibly implement a "critical hit" chance where they take more damage and get knocked back 2 spaces then. It looks good how it is and changing that might mess with the dash you added, but I think it could be interesting. Great work so far!
Definitely late but one thing I did like about the overlapping shadows was how the two-tone shadows looked, a deeper shadow at the base of the tree really helped it pop (even if it was a caused by the shadow of the tree behind it).
Dude this looks so cool!!!!!! i love the art style & the tile based system being used in this genre of game is so interesting; The way you're implementing it is just a chefs kiss
I'm just a random outlier. I love the overlapping shadow for the environment, even though it's incorrect strictly speaking, it gives me a feeling of depth and forest vibe. People's perception can be massively different even opposite. Don't listen to everything people say, and pick the one you prefer or at least make you feel more fun during the building.
Instead of grid lines maybe change the value of the grass depending on its tile’s pos? Like if odd tiles were a bit brighter it would look like a chess board and the lines would functionally be there without looking as sharp. This style you have right now is fantastic tho, great work :))
Just let the player choose to see the grid lines and set the opacity. The screen shake is jarring, turn of pixel perfect when you do it. Overall the game looks fantastic and I think you have something with potential. Im also a game dev & do pixel art. Let me know if you need any help. Best wishes.
Definitely looks better without grid lines! If they are toggled this needs to be the default. The amount of players that wont touch configs is insane and you want your game to look as good as possible out of the box.
As far as the grid goes, I'll just say that the two most ubiquitous video games of all time are Tetris and Minecraft. Humans like squares. We like grids. In Minecraft you don't see the grid unless you are within range of being able to interact with a block. So perhaps a grid that fades out as it gets further from the player, or maybe fades in?
The grid lines are simple; if you are planning to use grid-based movement, the player NEEDS them, it's not about visual aesthetic this is a game not just art! If it's free-form, move wherever then you can do without. If people don't like them I would give an option for it in the game's graphic menu. Maybe even a slider or something for the visibility. Edit: zoomed out I love the grid lines, it's so pleasing to see everything lines up lol; definitely can see the point of without though.
I don’t know if I’m sold on the screen shake feedback. Maybe emphasising the hit with a zoom and freeze time would work better? The game looks awesome. Keep up the great work.
Not sure how your engine works but for shadows I try to take a mask approach probably: 1. make a mask using all visible top elements like trees, grass and stones. 2. calculate all shadows on a single layer and substract the mask from the result 3. in that order draw grass then shadows then top elements To be clear I haven't watched much of the video but this is what comes to mind right now
Hey, if you are using physics-force to do the item drops, you can randomize the x and y values(everytime they are spawned/generated) to make them drop at different positions
I really like the grid layout. Fits well with the art style, however someone commented about toggle it and it,s a cool idea. If it's easy to implement, go for it. A tip for developing is to use the inheritance idea in coding. If you have a script with more than one purpose, definitely you should spread it into another class. When you showed the code gave me war flashbacks. Anyway, I really enjoy your videos. Congrats for the progress
I'd warn against using inheritance unless you really know what you're doing; it's easy to turn it into a mess. Instead, I'd suggest using composition and injecting stuff using factories.
Amazing work! I think without the grid lines and showing them contextually when you need to place stuff really lets the environment art shine. It might be me but the screen shake when you trigger knockback is making me feel a bit woozy. I feel like a sound design sting or an fx animation pulse at the point of impact might make it feel just as weighty without being so jarring.
The combat is missing the damage dealt to the monster. There is a huge sense of pleasure seing the damage as that gives you a sense of "power" and it feels amazing to hit "crits", without that, hitting monsters feels just like hitting a tree, that's why it feels rather "empty" when fighting monsters.
I do like the grid map, but also get why some people may not like it, i don't really care i love both looks, but making it an option is a better choice!, also the simple animations go so well with the game's looks keep up the good work
Not if the shadows com from one singular light source (the sun). Yes trees create that effect because of the growing density of leaves when overlapping, but not normal objects.
No since I want the dash to work as a method to approach a mob. Giving the mob nock back when dashed in to would be the opposite. Thx for the feedback :)
I honestly love both with and without. I would prefer with grid, but i can also imagine that a lot of other would prefer without. I would say a toggle would be the best option like others already suggested.
Ooh! A thought for the combat system, maybe you can lock on targets eventually? The dash is good but maybe one of the attacks can dash forward or something. The abruptness after the dash feels a little weird for combat... Aaaa stil really great progress though!!! ✨
Gridline toggle, but with it being off by default It gives a more clean look and i think it would attract more people if the screenshots on the steam page didnt have the grids. Having the highlight grid on mouse hover is enough imo
gride lines are awesome tbh, thats what i like about it, maybe just lower the opacity to 10% or allow a toggle in the menu for it to be turned on or off
I think w/o grid is more clear, but as i see someone already mention for an option of toggle on/off what should be the best and as 3rd option what others also mention grid only around the player in X block range. :) Idk what is the game genre, but i can see it have mobs, combat system, building and crafting. Im not a fan of destroy the whole world to build type of games, so maybe an option to plant trees later on and other source of rock income. This way u can keep a really nice environment in and around ur base, instead of empty area. For me it is just feel more naturel and live.
When you have a feature like that, where it's just a few lines of code and you can't decide on yes or no... put it in the options and let the player decide. Don't leave it to the comment section.
Maybe you could make the grid lines visible only around the cursor ? Like you display a fading circle of 3-4 tiles around the one you're pointing at. I do think the ground should be a little bit more textured if there is no grid, it looks a bit flat without them right now imho.
as far as development goes i think you should get difficult integrated systems done first, like digging or building. for example rendering yourself behind blocks and deciding which blocks to render is going to be something you'll need to work out eventually. i'd say its time to go heads down and decide the full scope of the game, then get all of the deeply integrated systems out of the way so you dont have to redo everything later.
Hey! Looks Awesome, could you tell me how did you made shadows align the tile “geometry”. Like I saw it on Earth to lake tile transition. Did you you some kind of height map or edge map?
Hey your game is absolutely gorgeous! May I ask how you approached sorting in the isometric view (especially for the longer sprites like the logs)? Also, are you using Unity's tilemap system or something else?
I’m using unity tile maps. I sort the sprites based on their grid position. But I have multiple layers per row so that objects that are longer don’t overlap with other objects.
If movement of creatures and player is based on grid, i think it is more important to keep it for visiblity. Another thingm i feel like hitting the slime stull feels unresponsive, maybe a white flash like when you hit trees/rocks will help?
@@John-Brx Try just translating it, and if that still doesn't work, good old SFX particles! I don't know, see what sticks :) But I love the astetic of the game. If feels both cozy and full of possibilities!
since I don't work with that myself, I don't know how hard it would be to implement, but why don't you try to add an option to turn on and off the grid lines? So that each player (and you) can pick the option that works best for them. Edit: nvm, ppl already suggested that lmao
Gridline toggle!
Absolutely agree. My immediate thought was make it a toggleable option in the settings!
i literally had the same idea...
same idea here
An opacity slider would be nice
Great idea! I prefer the look without, but options are always good 👍
Options options options. Adding additional options, especially ones that only impact graphics is always the right move. I personally prefer the gridlines because the clutter is designed with it in mind.
Instead of stopping game time on enemy hit, only stopping enemy animations might be better, because stopping game time looks like lag or stuttering, while only stopping enemy movement makes it feel like you stunned all of them with your epic bashing.
Additionally, dashing, knockback, animation stop and combos definitely are good mechanics that different weapons should focus on, such as more knockback for big swords, more hitstun for clubs and maces, dash attacks for daggers, maybe even a backstep ability etc etc
I love watching dev logs where the dev is also a good artist.
Yes! It's either the dev is really good at coding but the art looks bad/armature and vice versa....
I think it could be cool to have the grid only rendered in a certain radius around the player, allowing them to see the world 'cleanly' but still being able to accurately interact with the mechanics. And/or perhaps have the grid fade out after some player inactivity.
Looks really good so far!
That's what I thought as well! Similar to vignetting in photography. And maybe we can decide between Grid on player or grid on the edges, what is looking better or helping more while playing
That’s a really cool idea! Il probably give it a try :)
Ooh the fading idea after a while of idle is actually fascinating!
@@John-Brx another option would be to have the mouse show the grid lines underneath it in a small radius. the grid toggle i think would be great too
hoooo that's even better than a toggle, or mybe this and a toggle ? mmmhhhh
I need more of these devlogs, really. I have no clue about game design and game development at all (i am "just" a web developer) but it's so satisfying how you do them and the game looks super interesting/aesthetic in general. keep up the great work!
Thank you, that really means a lot to me! :)
Man i just discovered this project and i already love it!
I wish u the Best
This is the first video i'm watching of this game, and the first thing i noticed was distracting full screen shake when you break a block. I would try to find a more subtle solution.
You should definitely add a toggle option for the grid lines. Some people want them on for better accessibility and visual guides, and others want them off for better aesthetics.
The game looks great so far! Would love to give it a try asap!
Thx for the feed back!
Very helpful :)
I think the gridline looks great. Also it communicates well where a tile begins and ends
I like the idea of the shaking camera when knocking back an enemy. Keep it in mind if you combat gets any sort of repetitive though it may get annoying. Everything looks amazing. Good work.
I'm VERY much looking forward to this game. I've wanted a isometric-pixel-art-minecraft for years. Keep up the good work. I have some suggestions that are very biased: I'd love if the water moves like it does in minecraft shaders (BSL shaders for example). and I know that's a whole nother level of Effort, but a cave-system would be insane! and well, of course House/Base Building. But keep it up man, I want to play this so badly already!
Basic methods to show feedback for hits are to put a freeze frame in the players animation on the point of inpackt and make the enemy twitch on hit. Hope that helps to flesh it out a little bit more! I really love the perfectly square tall grass, maybe incorporate the tile boundary into more designs.
Idea: The enemy getting knocked back two spaces instead of 1 struck me as odd, so maybe you can have the third hit knock them back 1 space and then possibly implement a "critical hit" chance where they take more damage and get knocked back 2 spaces then. It looks good how it is and changing that might mess with the dash you added, but I think it could be interesting.
Great work so far!
I really like the grid lines especislly in the more open spaces
Definitely late but one thing I did like about the overlapping shadows was how the two-tone shadows looked, a deeper shadow at the base of the tree really helped it pop (even if it was a caused by the shadow of the tree behind it).
Dude this looks so cool!!!!!!
i love the art style & the tile based system being used in this genre of game is so interesting; The way you're implementing it is just a chefs kiss
1:10 I think it should be a setting you can turn on and off
Real! I think with helps visibility but without is more aesthetic I suppose. It feels so weird without the grid xD ✨
Split the difference and make the grass texture slightly different shades or texture for each tile randomly.
@@joepopplewell680personally I like the clean mono color of the grass, and wouldn't want that broken up in unnatural looking shaded squares
@@joepopplewell680 they're not making Clash of Clans 2
make it an hotkey too to fast switch without going through the menu
Has a really great style and I really like the grid movement system
I'm just a random outlier.
I love the overlapping shadow for the environment, even though it's incorrect strictly speaking, it gives me a feeling of depth and forest vibe.
People's perception can be massively different even opposite.
Don't listen to everything people say, and pick the one you prefer or at least make you feel more fun during the building.
Have been looking forward to this!
Great progress!
Bro went under my radar for two months, and when I was just about to forget about the project he drops ANOTHER BANGER 🔥!
Instead of grid lines maybe change the value of the grass depending on its tile’s pos? Like if odd tiles were a bit brighter it would look like a chess board and the lines would functionally be there without looking as sharp.
This style you have right now is fantastic tho, great work :))
Just let the player choose to see the grid lines and set the opacity. The screen shake is jarring, turn of pixel perfect when you do it. Overall the game looks fantastic and I think you have something with potential. Im also a game dev & do pixel art. Let me know if you need any help. Best wishes.
Definitely looks better without grid lines! If they are toggled this needs to be the default. The amount of players that wont touch configs is insane and you want your game to look as good as possible out of the box.
I liked the gridlines, thought it looked charming and makes the world feel more grounded.
As far as the grid goes, I'll just say that the two most ubiquitous video games of all time are Tetris and Minecraft. Humans like squares. We like grids. In Minecraft you don't see the grid unless you are within range of being able to interact with a block. So perhaps a grid that fades out as it gets further from the player, or maybe fades in?
The grid lines are simple; if you are planning to use grid-based movement, the player NEEDS them, it's not about visual aesthetic this is a game not just art! If it's free-form, move wherever then you can do without. If people don't like them I would give an option for it in the game's graphic menu. Maybe even a slider or something for the visibility.
Edit: zoomed out I love the grid lines, it's so pleasing to see everything lines up lol; definitely can see the point of without though.
The grid is dope! Please keep it
I don’t know if I’m sold on the screen shake feedback.
Maybe emphasising the hit with a zoom and freeze time would work better?
The game looks awesome. Keep up the great work.
This is looking amazing!
Nicely done!
Maybe when you’re building, the grid appears?
That’s how I’m doing it in my current game 😊
Not sure how your engine works but for shadows I try to take a mask approach probably:
1. make a mask using all visible top elements like trees, grass and stones.
2. calculate all shadows on a single layer and substract the mask from the result
3. in that order draw grass then shadows then top elements
To be clear I haven't watched much of the video but this is what comes to mind right now
The playable character is so extraordinarily powerful that each third strike they land alters the flow of time
I vote for no grid lines. Great progress 👍
i think you should make the cloud shadows!
its a great edition to the game feel
I like the gridlines, but if it’s possible to toggle then it’s always good to put the choice in the players hands!
Hey, if you are using physics-force to do the item drops, you can randomize the x and y values(everytime they are spawned/generated) to make them drop at different positions
I use physics-force.
But I want them falling in the Center of the cells.
The cells they fall in already get randomly chosen :)
I really like the grid layout. Fits well with the art style, however someone commented about toggle it and it,s a cool idea. If it's easy to implement, go for it.
A tip for developing is to use the inheritance idea in coding. If you have a script with more than one purpose, definitely you should spread it into another class. When you showed the code gave me war flashbacks.
Anyway, I really enjoy your videos. Congrats for the progress
I'd warn against using inheritance unless you really know what you're doing; it's easy to turn it into a mess.
Instead, I'd suggest using composition and injecting stuff using factories.
I really want to play this game, even in the early state. 😍😍
Amazing work! I think without the grid lines and showing them contextually when you need to place stuff really lets the environment art shine.
It might be me but the screen shake when you trigger knockback is making me feel a bit woozy. I feel like a sound design sting or an fx animation pulse at the point of impact might make it feel just as weighty without being so jarring.
The combat is missing the damage dealt to the monster. There is a huge sense of pleasure seing the damage as that gives you a sense of "power" and it feels amazing to hit "crits", without that, hitting monsters feels just like hitting a tree, that's why it feels rather "empty" when fighting monsters.
ngl i like the grid lines
especially since most other games don't do it
I think the grid lines can stay, but at the same time make them less noticeable by either making them thinner or more transparent.
This game is starting to look awesome
I do like the grid map, but also get why some people may not like it, i don't really care i love both looks, but making it an option is a better choice!, also the simple animations go so well with the game's looks keep up the good work
Grid lines should maybe be user toggle-able. Good work.
About the overlapping shadows... That's how shadows work in real life
Not if the shadows com from one singular light source (the sun).
Yes trees create that effect because of the growing density of leaves when overlapping, but not normal objects.
I like the grid lines!
The knockback idea was brilliant - I wonder if dashing into a mob should automatically trigger knockback?
No since I want the dash to work as a method to approach a mob. Giving the mob nock back when dashed in to would be the opposite.
Thx for the feedback :)
@@John-Brx Gotchu, makes sense!
I think having the grid lines off by default and making it a toggle to turn on later would be a nice idea
I honestly love both with and without.
I would prefer with grid, but i can also imagine that a lot of other would prefer without.
I would say a toggle would be the best option like others already suggested.
Ooh! A thought for the combat system, maybe you can lock on targets eventually? The dash is good but maybe one of the attacks can dash forward or something. The abruptness after the dash feels a little weird for combat... Aaaa stil really great progress though!!! ✨
Gridline toggle, but with it being off by default
It gives a more clean look and i think it would attract more people if the screenshots on the steam page didnt have the grids.
Having the highlight grid on mouse hover is enough imo
Add day night cycles so it gets scary and dangerous at night;
Mobs can attack player structures.
There is already a day and night cycle :)
Just doesn’t appear in the video.
You can see it in the video about lighting.
Great progress!
Install code for 2 Player Splitscreen =)
gride lines are awesome tbh, thats what i like about it, maybe just lower the opacity to 10% or allow a toggle in the menu for it to be turned on or off
This looking solid
I think w/o grid is more clear, but as i see someone already mention for an option of toggle on/off what should be the best and as 3rd option what others also mention grid only around the player in X block range. :)
Idk what is the game genre, but i can see it have mobs, combat system, building and crafting.
Im not a fan of destroy the whole world to build type of games, so maybe an option to plant trees later on and other source of rock income. This way u can keep a really nice environment in and around ur base, instead of empty area. For me it is just feel more naturel and live.
looks cool great art
When you have a feature like that, where it's just a few lines of code and you can't decide on yes or no... put it in the options and let the player decide. Don't leave it to the comment section.
Damn this is looking good
if u add coop and a basic customization to the character this game would be a hit for sure
This looks great! I love the artwork
Maybe you could make the grid lines visible only around the cursor ? Like you display a fading circle of 3-4 tiles around the one you're pointing at. I do think the ground should be a little bit more textured if there is no grid, it looks a bit flat without them right now imho.
beautiful :)
Grid lines should stay!!!
You could make a basic grass pattern within the grid so it blends well.
Toggle for the ones who do and don't like the grid lines, I however am a big fan of it not showing. Wish-listed!
Love the art style !
as far as development goes i think you should get difficult integrated systems done first, like digging or building. for example rendering yourself behind blocks and deciding which blocks to render is going to be something you'll need to work out eventually. i'd say its time to go heads down and decide the full scope of the game, then get all of the deeply integrated systems out of the way so you dont have to redo everything later.
Hey! Looks Awesome, could you tell me how did you made shadows align the tile “geometry”. Like I saw it on Earth to lake tile transition. Did you you some kind of height map or edge map?
Hey your game is absolutely gorgeous! May I ask how you approached sorting in the isometric view (especially for the longer sprites like the logs)? Also, are you using Unity's tilemap system or something else?
I’m using unity tile maps.
I sort the sprites based on their grid position.
But I have multiple layers per row so that objects that are longer don’t overlap with other objects.
lovely
without, without grid. or you could even make it be an option in the settings when you add those
2:40 The camera should shake in the direction that the knock-back is being applied.
The game looks great with Gridline and without, I feel like if you want to add building block you are better to use a gridline toggle
The Grid lines should blend with the grass tile some shallow some not so much.
for the outline of the grid if possible make an option to let the player choose because both options are good, I have difficulty choosing
Maybe that the frames on the ground should be edited with preferences :))
without grid looks cleaner, maybe give the palyer the option like civ 6 do
Without lines looks good and clear. Lines very noisy
I'd prefer the option to turn the grid lines on or off
Camera shake feels bad :(
I think it might be because the camera rotates istead of just panning on shake. This causes the pixelart to break for a short moment.
NEW JOHNBRX VIDEO
For the grid, maybe a grid radius around the player or something like that?
add a toggle for the grid, please. looks great.
If movement of creatures and player is based on grid, i think it is more important to keep it for visiblity.
Another thingm i feel like hitting the slime stull feels unresponsive, maybe a white flash like when you hit trees/rocks will help?
imo the gridlines just need to be more subtle
dope
Mob Idea: made a snake into the bushes and when the player pass arround some bushes show the snake and hit the player
make the grid lines a setting so if you like or not you can be happy
I kinda like the grid lines, but maybe give it a lighter color? Also will there be a linux version?
yes there will be a linux version! :)
With camera shakes: Translate, don't rotate! If you wiggle rotation, you may trigger motion sickness.
I’ve noticed that people don’t like the camera shake.
I will change that!
@@John-Brx Try just translating it, and if that still doesn't work, good old SFX particles! I don't know, see what sticks :) But I love the astetic of the game. If feels both cozy and full of possibilities!
Just make the gridlines more subtle.
maybe the gridline should be of a lighter green
Is it weird to ask what you are using to make this game?
Also it looks amazing!
I’m using unity as the game engine.
But I do the pixel art in GraphicsGale.
Hope that helps :)
@@John-Brx, it does thank you!
pls add toggle grid option
since I don't work with that myself, I don't know how hard it would be to implement, but why don't you try to add an option to turn on and off the grid lines? So that each player (and you) can pick the option that works best for them.
Edit: nvm, ppl already suggested that lmao
yep, the gridline makes the world more cluttered and unfinished.
If you don't know if game looks better with gridline or without gridline, give players an option to choose :D
I prefer it without gridlines
damn this looks great, only if it had normal movement, not this grid like movement mechanic
1:01 why does the on-hit glow effect not change the shadow?
Without lines on the ground, it's better or make it duller in color