Hello!
This devlog will party serve as a debrief of the second play testing session.
The new GUI display was received very well, and made the game easier to play. The addition of the scroll wheel to swap weapons was another good QOL choice. So far, the core mechanics are solid with only some QOL worked needed.
The biggest recommendation I received was to find a new and more interesting gameplay loop. So far, my plan is to iterate on the current wave survival mode, before introducing the quest mode, like how traditional HvZ is played. I'm already researching ways to add the latter, and may use some assets to streamline that development and further my understanding of how to build and structure systems. I will also need to do a deeper dive into HvZ to get a better understanding of how to replicate it.
One of the things on my list to do for this project, is to dive deeper into the theory behind various code design architectures, as it fascinates me and will greatly aid in the development of this project and others. I am obsessed with efficiency, whether it's in my career or hobbies, and that drive is serving me well.
Since the second play testing session, I've been working on refining the Shop GUI elements and how it's structured. Here's what the shop menu currently looks like:
Splitting this menu into different tabs will make purchasing new weapons much cleaner. In the next iterations, I plan on adding a section in each tab to display the weapon's sprite and data, with similar being done for the ammo. I am enjoying building GUI elements, it's a nice break from the code.
The new code behind the shop system is still new to me, seemingly complex. Through my frustrations implementing these changes, I have learned a lot, which is always a good thing. Learning how to use dropdowns has been a critical part of building the shop. At some point, I might do a deep dive into explaining the code, it's been quite awhile since I've done that.
Overall, I continue to be pleased with my progress on this project. If I can make this succeed, then I can work on other games I want to build. As for my career, I am still succeeding in that. Through the fruits of my labor, I will own property by the time I'm 21, only two years from now. It's an ambitious goal that I am working hard to fufill.
Thanks for reading!
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