20 June: canned food and levels
There haven't been any updates for four months. During this time, development of the game hasn't progressed much. I realized that the current version of TrappedTogether is completely unplayable and not appealing: it doesn't captivate, surprise, or bring any joy to the player. I didn't know how to make it better.
Over the past four months, I tried to revive the unfinished multiplayer version. I also made some progress on the story-based game with dialogues. But these are large projects that require a lot of effort to release even a minimally playable version.
During this time, I figured out how to make the single-player version playable and engaging.
New Houses
The houses were only for decoration; entering them was completely pointless. Initially, I planned that houses would contain food and tools, but this required implementing an inventory system and moving items from cabinets to the backpack, along with actions for these items. This was very time-consuming, and I didn't even want to start.
But I got an idea to simplify this: just like berries, food can simply be placed on the kitchen counter. If the player is nearby, he can collect the food and restore HP. This is much quicker and easier compared to an inventory system.
Levels
The game needs a goal. My multiplayer game concept has a goal, and the story-based game also has a goal. But the single-player version doesn't. This is its main problem.
So, the game will now have levels and an ultimate goal. The player will go through different small towns and villages, and it will get harder as they progress.
- I don't have a good final goal yet, just some rough ideas:
- The hero is looking for their family (yes, it's boring cliché)
The hero is heading to a community of survivors. This will be a prequel to the multiplayer game, which was initially designed to have a high degree of cooperation, where surviving alone is impossible.
Hope it will be done soon
I've started working on it. It's hard to say how long it will take, but I'm full of enthusiasm and think it will go quickly, at least with the food in houses. Levels are more complicated; they need to be distinct, requiring new objects and new houses to be added.
