January Dev Log

 January's Dev Log!

Wow... How could January have ended already!
But still, a lot has happened and I'm ready to update you on another month of development for the Isle of Bobbin!



This month has seen most effort be poured into the Gardening aspect of the game and upgrading computer equipment! That's right, I finally used my prize money from On.DXB to fund a big upgrade from using my wife's old MacBook Pro 2014 to a newer model!

I know, I know, Mac isn't the best for game development however I just find the interface, artistic applications and the connectivity to my Ipad Pro 2018 too much to move away from the Starbucks yuppy Apple lol.

This upgrade, however, led to some compatibility issues with RPG Maker MV version 5 and I had to upgrade the engine to 6... That then led to some unwanted compatibility issues with some much-needed plugins... So I needed to go through, upgrade and solve issues all over the place! But fear not; I've done all the work needed and am happily writing this out on my swanky but overpriced, but nice looking, piece of equipment (Sponsor me Apple!! lol).

Funny little anecdote; when discussing which computer to upgrade too, I asked if they new whever in the future my computer could run Unity. I don't plan on using it but just wanted to gage if it's even an option in 5 years maybe... The person helping said, "Maybe, but did you know this laptop has new speakers which sound great?". Lol. thanks for the advice.

So with that out of the way, I began to get back onto developing!

The main focus of the month was to work on gardening! I don't want to make a farm-sim "Harvest Moon" or "Stardew Valley" as good as they are I think they invoke a sense of work; which I wanted to avoid. This game is about exploring and relaxing when you get the chance; not worrying about how much food you can produce each day. However I want to let people have choice and so a spot of gardening with some healthy rewards is a nice idea.

So to start I created the layout for the garden - a rough sketch just to see what it could look like.

After much planning I then started to create the mechanics for the gardening.

I wanted the player to collect Seeds; plant them, water the ground and then reap the rewards. I began to make this gameplay loop with a little section of farming land to the right - this will limit the amount of farming possible so it steers the player away from relying on this. Then as each game day passes they can go back and water thier choices and after 2-3 days pull thoes delicious crops from the ground!

I also wanted the player to be able to decorate the garden and have choices about how it will look.

I think it's important for the player to get a feeling that they have created the envoirment they get to play in - this will hopefully lead to that feeling of ownership and existence within the game world!

Yes, this is similar to "Animal Crossing" and many other games but customisation is important part of "The Isle of Bobbin" and I'm sticking to it!

So I created a new set of trees - I'll be doing many more but I like to develope the core mechanic with one example to come back to later and finish off. That way I haven't invested too much time in each mechanic to then have to go back and change if it breaks the core gameplay look.

I think creating a big open world with so much dynamic content has taught me a very special lesson... it's a freaking nightmare to manage! But I think well worth it.

When I took a look at a semi-finished garden which I can grow two crops to eat and decorate my farm house with a snazzy kitchen to cook them in; I think "wow! I've done such a good job!" Plus I think I've surprised myself with the artwork; I'm really happy with how it looks since I've never really took art seriously until now.

So what's next? More of the Garden; I hope the next Dev Log isn't just "Read last months and I've added Carrots in addition to Potatos!" But lets see, I'm sure I'll get bored and move on to something else soon anyway.

Also, I'm still trying to finally get a Dev Log up on youtube soon... I'm trying I promse!!

So, I hope you're well reading this; I might have an annoucement about Comicon in Dubai soon as it's looking likely I'll be there! Let's see!

Oh and one more thing, I went to a local event in Ajman called Indieverse to see many of my firends; it's was great to catch up and I highly recommend getting involved with your local community, it's great to see people with similar interests meet in real life!

Keep well and see you all soon!