Dev Log # 35

I was sick this week and didn't get as much done as I hoped. My main focus right now is upgrading the crafting system to be deeper and so far it looks like it won't be too hard. Most of the problems are going to be communicating game data to the player. If the player doesn't have enough materials to complete a craft project how do I let them know what they're missing? Most of those design problems are solved now and I just need to start implementing but until people start trying the new system I won't know if my solutions work!

One piece of data that people have complained about being 'invisible' is filth. How dirty is your character? How dirty is your camp? Do you even need to bathe or tidy up? I've added some visual feedback in the camps to make it more obvious when filth builds up but the only solution I can find for player cleanliness is to have it visible in the player info screen. This isn't great since its easy to completely miss that screen unless you're the type to click every button! Eventually you'll get so filthy that it will start affecting your health but even then it's just a symbol and you still need to use the player info screen to get more details. My feeling right now is that the player info screen needs to become so important that players open it often. Otherwise maybe I'll have it show automatically at the start of every time period.

One small bit of concrete progress I made this week was adding audio feedback. When you click buttons they make sounds now. It doesn't sound like much when you get right down to it a game is a system that gives you feedback when you interact with it, and a tiny bit of acknowledgement when you click something goes a surprisingly long way! I have more sound effects and ambient sound planned (such as different effects based on the damage taken, or the sound of Girlzilla's gaming) but I'm very mindful that less is more with sound design.