Eniko FoxOct 10

refined the 3d cursor a bit. pretty happy with it. the thickness will be user adjustable. it also shows through terrain, but slightly dimmer where it's obscured

also showing "mouse pointer mode" where you can mouse over anywhere on screen to interact with blocks, and you mouselook with the right mouse button

thinking of keeping this as a toggleable mouse mode. thoughts?

edit: broke my thread :( previous posts are here https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@eniko/115345413827332419

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev #ProcGen

Show threadEniko FoxOct 10

fun fact: in order to draw the cursor as translucent i had to use the stencil buffer, because the boxes that make up the "lines" overlap at the corners, so without the stencil buffer it'd be more opaque at the corners

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev

Show threadEniko FoxOct 10

testing customizable thickness/opacity for the 3d cursor. think being able to set this to whatever you want will be nice for accessibility

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev

Show threadEniko FoxOct 10

oooohhhh what if i made it jiggly??

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev

Show threadEniko FoxOct 11

added an outline to the 3d cursor so it's always visible

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev

Show threadEniko FoxOct 12

i can now overlay a block breaking decal on blocks, and it works on blocks with shell texturing and even nominally on objects like ferns and flowers

i draw the block's faces again using the stencil buffer, then draw the breaking decal with depth read/write off, masking using the stencil buffer

the way it works for ferns/flowers is i just draw all faces of the breaking pattern block, and any pixels outside the object model are masked

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev #ProcGen #PixelArt

Show threadEniko Fox

major milestone in block game development: the first actual gameplay! you can go around and hold the left mouse button on blocks in order to break em :D

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev #ProcGen #PixelArt

Oct 13 at 2:59pmWeb
Show threadEniko FoxOct 13

just discovered that the shell textures on leaf blocks do a really cute thing when they surround another block :3

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev

Show threadEniko FoxOct 14

changed the way block breaking work. 3d cursor now changes to encompass the whole block and the breaking decal is shown on all faces

i'll probably change the cursor to full block vs face (or no cursor at all) depending on what your currently held item is later but for now this works

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev

Show threadEniko FoxOct 14

not 100% sure what to do about hidden corners. should they show through other geometry with xray vision or just not be drawn?

#EniBlockGame

show hidden corners with xray vision
19.3%
don't show hidden corners
30.1%
make an option, but show by default
21%
make an option, but don't show by default
29.5%
Poll ended at .
Show threadEniko FoxOct 14

time to turn in for the night but i managed to get some item icon rendering going

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev

Show threadEniko FoxOct 15

current status: agonizing about what to do for font rendering. do i wanna do truetype fonts, or use pixel art fonts

does my old truetype font implementation even still work at all?

edit: nope my truetype implementation is gone so if i wanna go with something i already have i guess it's pixel fonts

edit2: ok i can feel the life draining out of me just researching font systems so for now i'll just go with what i have and works: pixel fonts

#EniBlockGame

Show threadEniko FoxOct 15

decided to go with a very 16-bit feeling aesthetic for block game's GUI. took a while to set up the shader for the background color gradient but it's totally worth it with the dither and crunchy pixels. and it can go diagonal, horizontal, or vertical!

oh and yes, you can customize the gradient colors :3

#EniBlockGame #GameDev #IndieDev #PixelArt

Show threadj_bertolottiOct 15
@eniko Strong FFVII vibes ❤️
Show threadOwen NelsonOct 15
@eniko loving this
Show threadmolegatoOct 15
@eniko Oh those are a vibe
Show threadRoc Oct 15
@eniko the stb truetype loader seems to work well (I played with it a week ago)
Show threadEniko FoxOct 15
@ror3d i dont super enjoy the idea of writing another font rendering system from scratch right now though >_>
Show threadMachine Lord ZeroOct 15
@eniko Suggestion:
Show threadmortOct 15

@eniko I use stb_truetype to render glyphs to a text cache/atlas thing.

And I don't like it. I really would rather make my own pixel font. It would fit my game much better, and I could scale the text up and down and it'd look okay because it's pixelated on purpose. Truetype fonts just get blurry if you scale them naïvely.

But I also wanna support rendering people's names, and I don't wanna make a pixel font with 2^16 characters T_T

Show threadkenran_Oct 15
@eniko Well-fitting pixel fonts are so beautiful! Are you talking about menu items, or also about "ingame fonts" (sorry I don't know much about this), like floating above voxels, characters etc?
Show threadEniko FoxOct 15
@kenran_ probably all of it, to be honest
Show threadGiuseppe SellaroliOct 15
@eniko A possible alternative solution that I'm using in my engine, which only supports pixel fonts: I'm using hiero to make a signed distance field bmfont, loading it as a pixel font in the engine, and using a shader for the SDF stuff. High resolution font without having to implement any new rendering!
Show threadEniko FoxOct 15
@apicici oh that's a cute idea!
Show threadGiuseppe SellaroliOct 15
@eniko works really well, too. I'd be happy to share the details of the settings I use and the shader code if needed.
Show threadEniko FoxOct 15
@apicici thanks! i may wind up taking you up on that
Show threaditsFridayOct 15
@eniko Pixel fonts are great anyway. 🎉
Show threadOblomovOct 15

@eniko the only real limitation of pixel fonts IME is the scalability (at least beyond integer scaling).

There's also the issue of supported alphabets/glyphs, but unless the game will have user strings this is at least something you control.

Show threadJ M BerntsonOct 15
@eniko Pixel Fonts Are Beautiful
Show threadanne.💫Oct 14

@eniko Minecraft clone? Disgusting.

10/10. 😏

Show threadKaoOct 14
@eniko playable demo, when? 👀
Show threadEniko FoxOct 14
@kaofelix hopefully by the end of the year? 🤞
Show threadKarakSindru (He/Him)Oct 15
@eniko @kaofelix playable block game for winter gift exchange?! It's a giftmas miracle! (But also don't push yourself too hard. Delayed game is better than burned out eniko)
Show threadalina cyborg mouse Oct 15
@eniko oh this is disorienting. it looked to me like a surface with a few thin stacked layers. it makes no sense in the context of how the blocks work and will not be disorienting in motion, especially when one is in control of the camera movement, but in a screenshot this was 
Show threadEfi (nap pet) 🦊💤Oct 15
@0 @eniko can happen irl too, tho =3
Show threadalina cyborg mouse Oct 15
@efi @eniko true, this mouse has a few very puzzling photos that appear to have z-index problems but are just something like a weirdly cut wire fence that happens to coincide with the outline of a building
Show threadMattiasOct 14
@eniko options are always best, but ofc also the most work.
Show threadEniko FoxOct 14
@miniRoach when faced with options you still gotta pick a sensible default though
Show threadMattiasOct 14
@eniko the default can easily be changed at a later date, implementing all the options is the hard part.
Show threadJari Komppa 🇫🇮Oct 14

@eniko Impossible to answer without knowing gameplay implications.

Which option makes the game most fun?

Show threadEniko FoxOct 14
@sol_hsa not sure how this impacts fun, it's just a little visual thing?
Show threadJari Komppa 🇫🇮Oct 14
@eniko Everything impacts fun.
Show threadghosttieOct 14
@eniko what do you mean by hidden corners?
Show threadEniko FoxOct 14
@ghosttie in the video you can see the corners of the block even if they're underground
Show threadghosttieOct 14

@eniko the corners of the 3d cursor? I figure it's UI so it doesn't need to follow the rules of physical things in the game world, but either way is fine

In my $dayjob I decided that "make it optional" usually means we don't know what the right answer is, so we should think about it some more

Show threadFarbsOct 14
@eniko I reckon exactly as they are now, but even more transparent.
Show threadEniko FoxOct 14
@Farbs this is by far the most irritating option >_>
Show threadFarbsOct 15
@eniko darn, sorry!
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Oct 14
@eniko nice!
Show threadsarah tonin Oct 14

@eniko oh yeah

that looks great

Show threadMattiasOct 14
@eniko i am somewhat relieved that my suggestion was reasonable in scope and difficulty. i was secretly afraid i made your life unnecessarily hard.
Show threadKepekenOct 13
@eniko your block thing is looking really good.
Show threadEniko FoxOct 13
@kepeken thank you :3
Show threadIshambardOct 13

@eniko

Holy crap, that looks super cool!
Now I want to see people get super creative with that effect!

Show threadaralyOct 13
@eniko leaf hug
Show threadEfi (nap pet) 🦊💤Oct 13
@eniko real leaf technology®
Show threadRonflaixOct 13
@eniko it begins
Show threadEniko FoxOct 13
@Ronflaix
Show threadOssiOct 13
@eniko heck yea!
Show threadNikita LisitsaOct 13
@eniko Yay! How do you rotate the camera if the cursor is like that?
Show threadEniko FoxOct 13
@lisyarus i hold right mouse button and it goes into mouselook mode
Show threadNikita LisitsaOct 13
@eniko Nice!
Show threadEniko FoxOct 13
@lisyarus i dunno if something else will replace RMB at some point or not and it'll move to some other button but im very comfortable with this from MMOs like city of heroes
Show threadbibbOct 13
@eniko you should call it minegay
Show threadEniko FoxOct 13
@bibbs minefox gaycraft