CheesenessLost some "work" (concept/exploration stuff, so no tangible losses) thanks to Blender not saving textures, so I decided to work on something else for this week's dev stream - coordinate labels around the dig site that can follow the camera zooming in/panning, and account for perspective. These will be toggleable, and will make stuff like chat integration easier to wrangle.
First pass on chat integration for the dig phase is in. Streamers, etc. will be able to optionally allow chat participants to play the game with/for them
Decoupled chat commands actions from their actual gameplay effects so that players can choose whether or not to take the suggestion (will add an option to auto process chat commands on a timer later so that the game can still be played by chat users without a player)
Here's this month's progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game Fossil Sweeper. This time, chat integration https://www.patreon.com/posts/113604656
Here's the October progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game Fossil Sweeper. Mostly stuff for chat integration this time https://www.patreon.com/posts/115468680
And as always, here's the accompanying video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgVOoQ3vJQM
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
Wrangling Coordinate Labels - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXIX
Here's the November progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppay game Fossil Sweeper. More chat integration work this time
https://www.patreon.com/posts/117226120
https://www.patreon.com/posts/117226120
And as always, here's the accompanying video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiE79LuRtFo
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiE79LuRtFo
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
More Chat integration - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXX
Added a height difference between the surrounding environment and the diggable area. I think this helps things be more immediately readable, and is maybe an opportunity to hint at how removing the soil and not-relelvant-to-the-dig rock (the "overburden") is a part of the process
Here's this month's progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy-game Fossil Sweeper. This time, more chat integration, and bedding down a couple of cosmetic bugs that were apprently bothering me a lot more than I realised
https://www.patreon.com/posts/118985122
https://www.patreon.com/posts/118985122
And as always, here's the accompanying video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqktkOFFsjk
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqktkOFFsjk
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
Map Phase Chat integration - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXI
I'm experimenting with a feature that automatically places flags on tiles that are absolutely confirmed to contain a fossil.I normally shy away from stuff that reduces opportunity for mistakes/oversights, but I've also been thinking about accessibility and repetitive strain injuries. In addition to optional "you've been playing long enough" reminders, reducing the number of clicks needed to play could make the game healthier/easier to engage with for some people
Here's the (very late)January progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy-game Fossil Sweeper. This time, some dig site presentation work, some accessibility thoughts, and a little more chat integration
https://www.patreon.com/posts/121163647
https://www.patreon.com/posts/121163647
And as always, here's the accompanying video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YhVjhfl00k
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YhVjhfl00k
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
Recessed dig sites & automatic flagging - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXII
Small QOL thing I've been working on is changing the behaviour of tile colliders. I now scale up on mouse over, which means that you need to move further to move off the current tile, and when digging, I hold the collider in its current position until you move off it so that the tile behind doesn't get automatically selected.
I never felt missclicks were a thing that happened frequently, but they did happen from time to time, and it's nice to have a way of addressing that little friction point
In addition to working on the latest (and now late) devlog video, I've added some extra camera movement when starting dig sites that shows off the environment a bit more.I'd like to make it a little more elaborate, but it's passable, and that's good enough! (I can improve it later if I have time)
I also did a rough concept painting/sketch for misc fossils and fancy rocks last night
Running a bit late, but here's the February progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy-game Fossil Sweeper. This time, some UI/UX imrpovements
https://www.patreon.com/posts/123585359
https://www.patreon.com/posts/123585359
And, as always, here's the accompanying video. In addition to covering January/February work, this one also looks back on development across 2024 as a whole https://youtube.com/watch?v=6m7wTKxROVI
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
Year 3 recap & UI/UX improvements - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXIII
Here's the March progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy-game Fossil Sweeper. This time, camera transitions, and a bunch of misc Map phase work
https://www.patreon.com/posts/124966399
https://www.patreon.com/posts/124966399
And, as always, here's the accompanying video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p132jLQWoNQ
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p132jLQWoNQ
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
Transition animations & Map phase work - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXIV
Spent some time today reworking local travel lines to recursively bisect a direct path to the destination and offset based on perlin weight rather than just wandering along the lowest noise path. The result still gives winding paths, but less circuitous ones that I can more easily limit the length of. Here's a before and after.
I brought the layout icon for the dig site into the "loading" screen as a map inset at the local travel line's destination.
Here's the April progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy-game, Fossil Sweeper. This time, some map presentation work, refactoring local travel lines, and optimising dig save data
https://www.patreon.com/posts/127788707
https://www.patreon.com/posts/127788707
And as always, here's the accompanying video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LJF6MLnMdo
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LJF6MLnMdo
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
Transition animations & Map phase work - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXV
Here's the May progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game, Fossil Sweeper. Over the past month or so, I've wrapped up the Dig save data refactor I mentioned in the last post, and I've made some headway on updating the Map phase's globe
https://www.patreon.com/posts/130239365
https://www.patreon.com/posts/130239365
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC9cXsVFhZ8
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC9cXsVFhZ8
Expanding the globe - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXVI
Spent some time today updating map markers to remain visible/clickable after they pan out of view
I remembered bumping into this ages ago, but hadn't made notes on what the problem was - when triangulating meshes on export with the modified DAE exporter I'm using, the vertex order for shape key data can get out of sync - they're all still in the right place, but pairs of triangles can end up rotated. Triangulate manually before exporting sorts things out - guess I've got another tweak to make to the exporter when I've got some spare time!
Here's the June progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game, Fossil Sweeper. Over the past month or so, I've continued working on the Map phase's globe, refining workflows, and doing some QOL/UX improvements
https://www.patreon.com/posts/132405951
https://www.patreon.com/posts/132405951
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItNQinjXyPE
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItNQinjXyPE
More globe work & out-of-view Dig sites - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXVII
Here's the July progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game, Fossil Sweeper. Over the past month or so, I've continued pushing ahead with WIP Map phase globe asset work, and done a little more work on Assembly phase presentation
https://www.patreon.com/posts/134980079
https://www.patreon.com/posts/134980079
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1yyUz8Vcc4
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1yyUz8Vcc4
Assembly fog & yet more Map work - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXVIII
I realise I've been a little slack about posting progress in this thread (outside of devlogs). Here's some bits and pieces from the past month or so!
Dig sites now have markers on the timeline in the Map phase, and I've added placeholder epoch indicators as well. I've updated the Assembly phase layout to be dynamic based on skeleton size in and tweaked lighting to hide how small the space is. I've also added tape on the floor to hint at skeleton size
#GameDev #IndieDev #ScreenshotSaturday
And for fun, here are some scribbles I made while thinking through how I was going to approach some of that stuff. I imagine most of it's incomprehensible :D
#GameDev #IndieDev #ScreenshotSaturday
#GameDev #IndieDev #ScreenshotSaturday
Updated the player avatar to have some initial idle behavioiur in the Map phase today
Here's the August progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game, Fossil Sweeper. Over the past month or so, I've continued to work on Assembly phase background improvements, and added initial movement behaviour to the player avatar in the Map phase
https://www.patreon.com/posts/137943601
https://www.patreon.com/posts/137943601
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7t5f61j2Mg
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7t5f61j2Mg
More Assembly background work & Map avatar movement - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update XXXIX
Here's the (very late) September progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game, Fossil Sweeper. Over the past month or so, I've been mostly testing stuff ahead of committing to upgrading to Godot 3.6, though I did find time to give the player avatar movement behaviour in the Research phase
https://www.patreon.com/posts/140110302
https://www.patreon.com/posts/140110302
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAUtuWbbWow
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAUtuWbbWow
More Assembly background work & Map avatar movement - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update 40
Here's the (again, very very late) October progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game, Fossil Sweeper. Over the past month or so (ha ha), I've continued to work on Research phase backgrounds, tweak some Map and Assembly phase background stuff, and work out how I'm going to handle Godot 3.6 not being compatible with my Mac
https://www.patreon.com/posts/143034514
https://www.patreon.com/posts/143034514
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2pyZtKWa68
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2pyZtKWa68
Research lighting & dropping Mac support - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update 41
Here's the (slightly less late) November progress update for my fossil-diggy-uppy game Fossil Sweeper. Over the past month or so, I've continued to poke avatar movement behaviours, and migrated to the Godot 3.7 dev snapshot https://www.patreon.com/posts/144443112
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuqD1QJ-sU
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuqD1QJ-sU
Godot 3.7 and TTS tweaks - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update 42
To make up for the November update post being less late, here's the December mid-month update post \o/
Over the period covered, I mostly spent my time testing and fixed some misc bugs
https://www.patreon.com/posts/147718373
Over the period covered, I mostly spent my time testing and fixed some misc bugs
https://www.patreon.com/posts/147718373
And as always, here's the accompanying video
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://spectra.video/w/4m1bATLWv6nYrUyNieW9uW
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://spectra.video/w/4m1bATLWv6nYrUyNieW9uW
More TTS tweaks & video hosting change - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update 43
Very very very late January Fossil Sweeper progress update is up, now (along with all historic monthly Fossil Sweeper posts) published on Itch as a devlog!
Over the period covered, I brought lights back to the example museum, and fixed some UI bugs. This post also includes a recap of 2025 work and some reflections on what's to come.
And as always, here's the accompanying video. This one includes a recap of and some reflections on the work I did across 2025
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://spectra.video/w/7Zfh4EYFmd4w1PJbLSa1qR
#IndieDev #DevLog #GodotEngine #GameDev
https://spectra.video/w/7Zfh4EYFmd4w1PJbLSa1qR
Year 4 recap & Museum tweaks - Fossil Sweeper Progress Update 44
Exceedingly late February Fossil Sweeper progress update is up!
Over the period covered, I did a little more lighting work on the example museum, and moved all the historic devlogs to the game's new Itch page.
https://cheeseness.itch.io/fossil-sweeper/devlog/1453918/february-2026-progress
And as always, here's the accompanying video
https://spectra.video/w/1UpPvxS7KKsrGXm36BSpEg
https://spectra.video/w/1UpPvxS7KKsrGXm36BSpEg
Devlog migration & example museum lighting - Fossil Sweeper Update 45
My longer uncut conversation with @KestrelPi about Fossil Sweeper, our collaborations, composing music, music literacy and theory, palaeontology, and his relationship with music is now hosted on Spectra.video (the corresponding Itch post with a full transcript has been updated with some corrections that I made while putting together subtitles too)
https://spectra.video/w/bU46GvLEnenW3z36d2iz5o
https://spectra.video/w/bU46GvLEnenW3z36d2iz5o
Cheese talks to Peter Silk (about Fossil Sweeper and composing music)
Ghislain | Pleistogames@Cheeseness Just discovered that you've (also!) been making a paleontological minesweeper (but for much longer than me), so I wanted to say 'hello' and 'don't worry my game is actually quite different, plus it is a small jam game with no real ambition, but when it is done I'd be so happy if you play it'.
That being said, I look forward to the publication of your game, it looks great and if you need a beta tester who happens to be a former paleontologist, just ask 🤗
That being said, I look forward to the publication of your game, it looks great and if you need a beta tester who happens to be a former paleontologist, just ask 🤗
@pleistogames The more, the merrier!