CheesenessFeb 4, 2022

For the past couple months, I've been working on developing Bonesweeper into a bigger game, with the support of a grant from Screen Tasmania! I want to share as much of the process as I can. Keep an eye to this thread in the weeks and months to come! :) #gamedev #indiedeveloper

If anybody needs/wants a RSS feed for devlogs, they can be found here https://cheeseness.itch.io/fossil-sweeper/devlog.rss

Show threadCheesenessFeb 4, 2022
Bonesweeper draws inspiration from Minesweeper and Tetris, having you dig up fossils and then assemble them into skeletons. I released a rough prototype last year exploring those core concepts, which you can play today! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiW4770dkOQ
How to play Bonesweeper (a fossil-digging prototype)

YouTube
Show threadCheesenessFeb 4, 2022
If you'd like to see how the prototype came together over a month or so, you can check out these threads
https://mastodon.social/@Cheeseness/105712742537625211
https://mastodon.social/@Cheeseness/105733349194371746
Show threadCheesenessFeb 4, 2022
The full game will expand beyond the prototype, adding an interactive map to select dig sites from, a museum for assembled skeletons, and a customiseable player avatar (plus more species, more dig environments, and an optional less stressful skeleton assembly "puzzle mode")
Show threadCheesenessFeb 4, 2022
I'm really excited for the new dig selection screen, which will have a slider for controlling geologic time to give some extra context for where fossils came from (and will probably have more than just Australia).
Show threadCheesenessFeb 4, 2022
I'm also looking forward to the museum, which I hope will be a space for players to reflect on the cool stuff they've discovered, and maybe bump into` some educational content (like #HiveTime's "Beepedia" but more interactive) #fossilfriday
Show threadCheesenessFeb 12, 2022
Experimenting with using shape keys to get seamless dirt tile variants. Not sure if I'll stick with it, but it's an interesting way of getting a bunch of variation from a single model #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiedev
Show threadCheesenessFeb 19, 2022
Playing around with avatar scale during the dig phase #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiedev
Show threadCheesenessFeb 24, 2022
Dig phase is getting closer to being functional in the new codebase
Show threadCheesenessFeb 24, 2022
I've also added some camera controls, with the intention of having some dig sites that are bigger than a single screen when fully zoomed out.
Show threadCheeseness
I want to give players the choice of a number of different "flag" types as part of character customisation. I don't know how widely they're used, but I've seen these little plastic markers in photos and thought they were cute #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiedev
Feb 26, 2022 at 5:14amWeb
Show threadCheesenessFeb 26, 2022
Hard might be tuned just a touch too hard right now
Show threadCheesenessMar 1, 2022
Spent last night implementing applying settings during play. Not particularly interesting work or outcomes, but it's nice to be doing this in more robust/flexible ways than I was in the original prototype
Show threadCheesenessMar 5, 2022
Continuing to work on dig gameplay, I did a first pass implementation of special abilities. Default dig actions are now defined as abilities (but without a cooldown), which unifies a bunch of code. Eventually these will have icons rather than text. #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #gamedev
Show threadCheesenessMar 9, 2022
Me: Oh yes, I'll be doing much better looking skeletons in the full version of Bonesweeper.
Also me: Behold: Testodon!
Show threadCheesenessMar 10, 2022
This is going somewhere, I promise
Show threadCheesenessMar 15, 2022
I spent some of today working on an in-game way of communicating development progress. This will be nice to have moving forward (test data pictured - the game's a long way from being that finished :D )
Show threadCheesenessMar 17, 2022
The march mid-month Bonesweeper progress status update is up, which talks about how I'll be tracking progress and where things are at right now. Enjoy! #gamedev #indiedev
https://www.patreon.com/posts/63910193
Show threadCheesenessMar 18, 2022
Did a rough first pass on a triceratops skull icon today
Show threadCheesenessMar 18, 2022
I said it was going somewhere \o/
Show threadCheesenessMar 19, 2022
Had a few bugs creep into the map mockup with 3.4.3 (bad normals on meshes with shape keys, GI probe weirdness, and a rendering flicker). Sat down to start coming up with repro cases today and discovered that everything's addressed upstream in 3.4.4 RC2. Thanks #GodotEngine community!
Show threadCheesenessMar 19, 2022
The image is still not finished, but it's nice to have something in for the application icon. Doing the most important bits first #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiedev
Show threadCheesenessMar 21, 2022
First pass on making gameplay automatically scale to fit the current skeleton (gotta handle both itty bitty theropods and huge sauropods). There'll be some extra camera behaviours to help make things more interesting/fun for really biggosaurs, but this is good for now
Show threadCheesenessMar 21, 2022
One new thing that's going to be in the assembly phase is an optional less stressful "puzzle mode." Got a first pass on the controls in this evening, and I think it's going to be fun for people who struggled with the default Tetris-inspired "action mode" in the prototype.
Show threadCheesenessMar 25, 2022
Spent some of today's stream wrestling with perf overheads. Moving a Spatial to match the mouse cursor's position was impacting frame time, *if* the Spatial had children. Updating the Spatial's transform in _physics_process() rather than _process() made a huge difference o.0
Show threadCheesenessMar 25, 2022
None of the Spatial's children (direct or indirect) are physics objects. "Idle time" is pretty inscrutable in Godot's profiler and I'm at a loss to explain why the same action (modifying the Spatial's transform) seems to account for 14ms or so less when done in _physics_process()
Show threadCheesenessMar 26, 2022
Made some nicer shelves today #screenshotsaturday
Show threadCheesenessMar 27, 2022
Behold, a game loop \o/
Show threadCheesenessMar 27, 2022
There's nothing new there, but it feels very nice to have it all hooked up together (looking forward to working on expanded functionality and content that that allows). I also tidied up the icon a little more ^_^
Show threadCheesenessMar 30, 2022
Big dig sites aren't always a good fit for one play session. Need a break, but don't want to give up? No probs. Got the last fossil you need for a skeleton and want to go do that? Sure thing. Want to interleave progress on multiple dig sites one dig at a time? Um sure, I guess.
Show threadCheesenessApr 1, 2022
The map, dig and assembly gameplay loops are now implemented (along with saving/loading) enough that if I had more than one test skeleton, Bonesweeper would pretty much have feature parity with the prototype. I'm expecting the pace of development to ramp up a bit from here on out
Show threadTagomagoMar 26, 2022
@Cheeseness You can reuse them for an Ikea game.
Show threadCheesenessMar 27, 2022
@tagomago I know nothing about Ikea ^_^
Show threadmooncubeMar 21, 2022
@Cheeseness Niice, looks like a very cool project! 🦖 Congrats on securing the grant!
Show threadCheesenessMar 21, 2022
@mooncube Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out :D
Show threadTagomagoMar 18, 2022
@Cheeseness A lot of kids are gonna love this, I gather.
Show threadCheesenessMar 18, 2022
@tagomago The main one is me!
Show threadTagomagoMar 18, 2022
@Cheeseness Me too!!
Show threadErinFeb 26, 2022
@Cheeseness I think they're pretty widely used, particularly with an identifying index on them? something you'd also be likely to see would be a size/color reference I think, something like https://twitter.com/KathyLueders/status/1495468126347141124/photo/1
but i've only heard about any of this as it has intersected space stuff
Kathy Lueders on Twitter

“Archaeology from space! This week, the @Space_Station crew conducted an archaeology study, revealing how astronauts use different objects and spaces over time. This investigation could contribute to better designs for future spacecraft and habitats. https://t.co/LwQAFaQikb”

Twitter
Show threadErinFeb 26, 2022
@Cheeseness I'm having a real hard time digging up any hard evidence of that though. color reference might be less important for paleontologists than archaeologists? articles I skimmed just now indicate paleontologists draw where the bone fragments are in their grid which says to me that they don't stand out well in photos but I'm inferring a lot
Show threadCheesenessFeb 26, 2022

@ChateauErin I haven't seen colour reference before, but I do frequently see size reference doodads such as what's seen in the 8th photo here (random image search result) https://findingadinosaur.com/gallery-3/

I'm in the process of lining up a chat with a palaeontologist where I'll run queries on this stuff, but most dig sites seem to have indexes hung from a string grid suspended across the pit (and rely on extra annotation on photos or field notes, I guess?).

Gallery 3 - Finding a Dinosaur

Hadrosaur Tibia

Finding a Dinosaur
Show threadCheesenessFeb 26, 2022
@ChateauErin I get the impression that there might be different markers used for "there's something we should be digging/paying attention to here" and stuff that finds its way into photos