Orbarella (MonoGame) Devlog #3 - Artwork & Level Design

The work in this update was a lot less to do with coding and a lot more to do with fiddling with the artwork and the level design to get the game to look right. As much as I'd love to just focus on code, all this stuff is essential when creating games I guess!

AI Generated Summary: Artworks Development

• Introduction to the video showcasing artwork development and time lapse recording.
• Adjusting door and window colors for better visibility in gameplay.
• Experimenting with color adjustments to enhance player visibility.

Scaling and Positioning

• Discusses scaling changes of houses and player positioning for better perspective.
• Experimenting with house sizes to improve visual proportions relative to the player.
• Preference for larger windows for easier interaction during gameplay.

Screen Size Adjustments

• Considering increasing screen size due to house scaling issues.
• Explanation of how scene size affects play area dimensions.
• Plans to adjust image sizes in art editor for game scaling.

Building Design Changes

• Changing building designs by swapping out specific house models.
• Adding gaps between buildings for improved aesthetics and clarity.
• Using colored glass in windows to differentiate building levels.

Game Level Progression

• Concept of three game levels with increasing difficulty based on building complexity.
• Planning different types of buildings per level, enhancing gameplay variety.

Window Content Development

• Intention to add character faces inside windows for immersive experience.

Designing Game Levels and Building Mechanics Scaling Issues

• The white texture helps visualize placement before finalizing faces.
• House 10 is a tall, skinny structure causing fitting issues with scaled houses.
• Smaller houses require more space; the game size complicates layout.

Gameplay Mechanics

• Cannon power struggles to reach house 10 even at full charge.
• A blank house serves as a placeholder for non-playable edges.
• Decided to drop building 10, settling on nine houses for three levels.

Finalizing Designs

• House dimensions are now standardized at 1,200 pixels wide.
• Need to implement level-changing mechanisms in the game later.
• Introduced window code from JSON file; fixed case sensitivity issue.

Color Testing and Duplication

• Random colors used for testing window positions visually in-game.
• Colors serve as developer tools; actual game visuals will differ.
• Selected three buildings for level one, renaming them for clarity.

Managing Duplicates

• Buildings have duplicates in the JSON file but are logically organized by levels.
• Copy-pasting was necessary due to limited building variety on screens.
• Small number of buildings allows some duplication without major issues.

Next Steps in Development

• Focused on placing windows correctly before adding character designs.

Testing Light Randomness

• The windows are reset to their default color while lights are randomly turned on every few seconds.
• The scene class determines which building is affected, allowing for light activation in the game.