Development News
What the Bug?!
May 25th, 2023
Today's news is all about stuff you can't really see. So apart from the graphical disaster bug in the top photo, there's not too much to show you.
So instead, let's talk!
UI Beginnings
You might already know that Project Kevin is a procedurally generated, puzzle-solving, horror adventure. So to pull this off, we need an inventory interface that will make it easy to find clues, collect keys, arrange spooky artefacts, etc. All this, while also allowing for elements of player-based skill and character-based advantages as part of the system.
Although the code is coming together, I have virtually NOTHING to show you for this today apart from the very basic visuals of the drag-and-drop inventory system (see image). But, behind the scenes and just waiting for visuals, there is a robust, network-conscious inventory system that accounts for player hotbars, world inventory containers such as chests and bookshelves, and a drag/drop system that lets you seemlessly drag items between your hotbar, containers, and the world (eg. simply drag an item out of your hotbar to place it in the world).
Proto-Hotbar on display. Also, windows!
Furnishing System
In the past you may have seen the procedural generation elements that construct rooms, doors, and lighting. But what about furniture?
Check out the image carousel to see some of the furnishing system's algorithms on display. These will soon be combined with furniture collections to create intelligently decorated rooms. My two priorities right now with this are 1) does the furniture placement make sense given the windows, doors, and presumed walk paths in the rooms; and 2) does the right furniture appear for the right rooms without me explicitly telling a room which furniture it's allowed to use?
To achieve this I have developed a tag system that will allow rooms to search for appropriate furnishings such as beds for bedrooms, rugs for hallways or fancy bedrooms, broken beds for dingy bedrooms or dungeons, and all sorts of combinations. This system also means it should be easy for modders to add in custom furniture models, simply by tagging the models appropriately in a text file!
But Where is Today's Video?
Welp, I've decided to approach the videos as more of a showcase than a dev vlog. And since there isn't too much to showcase right now, I've left that for another time. I am also waiting for the Steam page to process after which time, I promise a much more comprehensive video to announce more about the gameplay, as well as the real name of this codenamed project.
How To Keep Up With Kevin
There are several ways you can keep apprised of the latest Project Kevin updates.
Patreon: This is brand new to me and it supports both my game dev work as well as my YouTube content on my zombie-survival channel Trombonaut.
Discord: Join our little community in the TromboSpace discord!
YouTube: Follow the TromboSpace YouTube channel to get all the little videos that come out with these dev blogs.
Newsletter: Subscribe the to mailing list at the bottom of the page to get exclusive, early insights that are only available in the newsletter.