A mostly visuals focused update because I wanted to focus on making the game a bit less annoying to look at.

If I took a while (And end up taking a while with future updates), expect to be because of IRL stuff like events or work.

* Added rotation related export vars for the props to make them more versatile.

* Added an effect for endlevel scenes.

* Companion goes to idle states when the Player dies to avoid potential issues.

* Tried making the portal area in first level easier.

TILEMAPS

I had to add this, so I could make levels diverse, even if some tiles don’t look that good.

I even created sets for actual solid tiles and non-solid ones, including a “visual language” where pure black is used on stuff meant to be solid or interactable.

Not all of them are used, so they get to be used for later levels.

(And if you want to see the rest, it’s on Github).

PROPS

Made a lot of them, even if most look off.

They have a variety of sources from stuff I looked up, to some art like some paintings by Michiel Schrijver to even real objects from my life or dreams I had.

Again, the rest is on Github.  

SKIES

Something I had to be creative with because the recolored skies were boring and I even figured out you can have sprites as children of ParallexLayers (Since the props are technically sprites).

Though there was also the challenge of making sure some stuff is seen and not covered by the camera/level assets.

CHARACTER SPRITES

This had to change and I eventually embraced ¾ even if just for some poses.

I had to make the characters less detailed and thought of using Castlevania as some reference.

CUTSCENE ART

Now this had to change and had to be more interesting because this shows off the characters.

Even if the levels and gameplay look weird, the cutscenes had to look good.

But even if the cutscenes still look bad, I still wanted to make the presentation more interesting (And I guess i could fix art later)

My reference to how the panels move is inspired by Gravity Rush, due to its comic book style cutscenes.

WHAT ELSE

I’ve been thinking of what characters and settings to use and could even have to check some tutorials just to see how some new additions can work.

In case something happens to me, here’s some planned stuff, which could also change.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ua-ShLy6Z346w-tCx2dfHLl5o2VNHW3KdFtUMO6fTlw 

This is mostly based on me guessing what I could make considering my current skills and what I managed to succeed on.

And this game in general is already too ambitious for my first game but I also like to think it could be finished or "good enough" in at least somewhere in 2024.

Another feature I thought of adding was optional cutscenes that exist to showcase more stuff related to the characters: Like an menu with cutscenes called “memories” that show like someone’s background or more details.

Because I thought of a “library” with texts but I could make it so instead, the texts are secret objects you can discover when exploring levels.

If I can’t do a proper slideshow style gallery, maybe I could do “museum levels” where you touch something and a piece of art shows up in a CanvasLayer.

Anyway, if you think my game looks okay-ish enough to be presentable, feel free to spread the news about it because I’m the kind of guy that refuses to touch Twitter.

https://rentry.co/obiyt

And here’s a pic i guess:

When i release the next major Nortubel update (In which i try to make the characters look cute enough), i’ll go back to this map and do more with it.

Any Doom/UDMF info is appreciated.

In case something happens to me, i might as well spoil my plans for Nortubel's main story (Which will always change depending on how development goes).

https://rentry.co/nortubel-story-plans

Another feature i thought of adding was optional cutscenes that exist to showcase more stuff related to the characters: Like an menu with cutscenes called “memories” that show someone’s background or more details about the character.

Because i thought of a “library” with texts but i could make it so instead, the texts are secret objects you can discover when exploring levels.

Like i said, this game mainly exists for me to showcase OC's and learn gamedev stuff, despite being too ambitious for someone's first game.

It's the next game or even 5th that could be more serious enough to have a better art style and production value (And that is IF my gamedev career goes somewhere).

Hope people don’t memoryhole when Tumblr banned NSFW stuff and then Twitter got worse because the people that complained about NSFW moved there.

And how Twitter essentially got worse because it got most issues that other websites had and became why even normal/casual internet users caught into the worst aspects of internet culture.

That last part is also to do with COVID obviously but still.

I hope that artists online get better at defending their stuff since they’re probably inspired/into critically acclaim artists that also had to defend their art.

And specially the same for Newgrounds considering its history.

Anyway, 2 Twitter users i still remember the names of are LeifBrandr and WhiteSarcophag1, so i hope to see them again.

* Added a Password system in case i never get a proper Save/Load system (Pay attention to the pop ups when you get to the green door).

* Resized some props though for some reason i had some trouble with the green metal fence.

* Added “prefabs”, which applies to certain objects that are like a middle ground between “prop” and “level object”.

* Prefab: A food van that the Player can open and “drive” where the vehicle just moves really fast (This might be something used once and not a common level feature).

* New: Floor switch scene that requires the vase to be on top of and the barrier that opens up if said switch is pressed.

* New: Rotating water wheel with wooden platforms attached.

* New: “Peeking” platform that shows up at times, requiring you to time jumps.

* New: Green walls that show up/disappear depending on which green switches are activated. Even had to make sure the characters don’t get stuck if the walls spawn on their location.

* New: Bell that acts as a stomping hazard (And the first time i implement an instakill “DeathHitbox” scene).

* New: Fish enemy that moves up/down and shoots projectiles (Unlike the Gecko, the damage comes from the projectiles and not the fish itself which you can also kill).

* Rearranged NPC organization in case i add more characters and add some interactions.

* Main characters can be NPC’s when not playable.

* Fixed an issue where if the Player kills an enemy too soon while on the pain animation, the game could crash (Something to do with the Area2D enter signal and the source of the interaction disappearing too soon).

As for things in the game files but not used in current levels:

* Prefabs: A giant straw split into 3 parts where if any character gets in, the sprites change to reveal its inside.

* Prefab: A large piano key with a customizable pitch scale, so you can have characters walk on it and play some music.

* Added new props, each representing a different world from that of Nortubel. If you recall the “world title animation” scene with stylized fonts for each world, you may get the idea of what worlds i want to include.

On the next update, i (HOPEFULLY) should focus on actual visual stuff such as:

* Character sprites

* Backgrounds

* Tiles

* Actual use of some props

* The first cutscene

* Maybe the gecko too

* And i guess some HUD icons for keys and the ball

* Added a “Please read” button and text with info related to this game’s problems.

* Added a template for an art gallery but nothing works because there’s no art (And it might be better to make this unlockable and make sure the art is good).

* Every level now uses the same “level template” script (At some point i deleted the “main level script” but because that was an AutoLoad i brought it back just in case).

* Takes 10 coins for a new life.

* I can now add level props, even if i wish the behind-the-scenes system was a bit better (And they're only used in the first level and some could look better since this is an early version of the method).

* Tried adding actual art to the first cutscene (It looks bad, i should try to redo it and use actual construction/gesture art methods).

* Player/Companion collisions don’t change anymore during swim states. This means i need to redo sprites because the visuals are misleading but at least level design can be more flexible and weird collision issues are gone.

I think the Save/Load stuff could be done much later, since i even turned off the buttons.

If anyone has any interest on how to fix the Save/Load issue, pay attention to how the game is structured (Since i obviously put it on Github) because certain threads and screenshots might be outdated.

Let me say: Being my first game, i like to think that Nortubel still has chances to be better and that my next game could consider certain things like image resolution and Save/Load options as first priorities.

Like if my journey as a game dev leads me to make more games and they end up better, Nortubel could be seen as a “rough start” that was still worth it.

I sometimes wonder if i could allow a remake (That would still have the original as a playable project just to not be entirely forgotten/replaced) just to be better presented.

I still have some ideas on how the game's story goes could.

The presentation should be better since i could use actual moving sprites, like the illusion of a camera moving to show a landscape or even effects like moving vehicles or something.

At best, the current art could be seen as “programmer art”.

Worst case scenario, i might need friends of mine to help me fix the art.

Another reason why this update took a bit longer is because i’ve been busy with other stuff like Doom mapping.

Felt like making a map like this using:

• OTEX textures.
• MetaDoom.
• And some fire traps in Realm667.

I did some Doom mapping in the Boom format and there's a lot about UDMF i probably should know.

So i should do some research and get helpful tips from the right people.

I don't think it'll be as good as that map by DrPySpy but i hope it's still good enough.

https://imgur.com/a/b6AY31B

One thing i should figure out is making it a PK3 and so if people play it, the only additional thing they need is MetaDoom just so the textures and the fire traps are part of the map itself.

I tried following a video by DevWorm called "The MOST Simple Way to SAVE DATA in Godot" but with some alterations to suit my case.

One thing i currently want to be saveable/loadable data is the current level.

One reason why this is a big deal is because i have an AutoLoad scene called "scene manager" which is responsible for any scene change and partially due to an animation that occurs before and after a scene is changed.

But right now, it doesn't seem to work.

These are the relevant scripts in the situation:

https://github.com/EyeBallTank/PROJECT-NORTUBEL-main-ish/blob/main/src/behind_the_scenes/scene_manager.gd The "scene manager" script.

The "scene manager" scene also has an animation called "level_transition_effect" that makes use of the "_new_scene" function.

https://github.com/EyeBallTank/PROJECT-NORTUBEL-main-ish/blob/main/save_file.gd The recently created "save_file" AutoLoad script.

https://github.com/EyeBallTank/PROJECT-NORTUBEL-main-ish/blob/main/screens/PauseMenu.gd The Pause Menu scene's script, which has Load and Save buttons.

I even tried to create a new function for "scene manager" that was similar to _change_scene but based on loading a saved scene.

And before i forget:

* Godot version is 3.5.1

* PauseMenu (Which has the Load/Save buttons i want to use) is its own scene but also exists as a child node to a scene called "CurrentUI" which can exist as a child scene under levels.

* Levels are their own scenes with scenes like Player, TileMap, CurrentUI etc as child nodes.

* Levels also have scripts and their scripts extend to a script called "main_level_script" which has nothing so far.

There's probably some things i'm overlooking and doing wrong.

Any help is appreciated.

Had some things keeping me busy like other projects and even annoying IRL stuff, but i updated my game:

https://eyeballtank.itch.io/project-nortubel/devlog/537163/27may2023

• Made the yellow book scene more flexible to create various books with different info.
• Added 3 “tutorial” levels before the preexisting 6 levels, where mechanics/concepts are introduced at a better pace and included respective hint books.

The part above is so people get better ideas of the mechanics.

• Made a first attempt at a cutscene: This is very special because there’s a lot of potential even if the writing, art, timing etc could’ve been better.
• Added a “studio presents” animation before the main menu.

This means if my art and other skills improve, i can give my game a stylish presentation and do a lot with my characters and their settings.

• When entering certain worlds, a stylized name of said world will pop up in the screen (If you look into the Github repo, you can spoil yourself with the other worlds’ names but their actual contexts needs work… unless you find some long thing i wrote that isn’t really kept that secretly).

Getting too ambitious but let's just say the different worlds will give a sort of "crossover" feeling if i end up implementing them right.

What else:

• I might do the Save/Load system later even though all i want to keep in mind is the current level that a save happens and maybe the life count (Something i already had issues with in the past).

And maybe something to do with unlocking features like being able to use a gallery of art or visiting previous levels.

• The “intro” cutscene before the first level also needs actual images, so maybe an update can be focused on new art.

First let me post the update’s notes.

• Added an oxygen system where both characters have a visible bar that decreases the longer they are on water and resets if they leave water; They die instantly if the oxygen reaches 0 (This feature right now is lazily implemented because i just added “oxygen -= 1” in the code without using a Timer node or even a Yield statement so i should improve this some day).
• Life system: Both characters share a life and if one dies, the life goes down.
• Picking up coins adds a new life (Actual number of coins needed and max lives might change).
• Fixed an issue where the game crashes if the Companion touches the Lifeguard floater.
• The Companion can use the floater too and when it’s picked up, both characters are affected (There may be some weird bugs because i tried to fix an issue where if the floater is picked while the Player is getting hurt, their hurtbox would still receive damage).
• Fixed volume sliders being at 0 but not silencing the sounds: Now they’re at 50% which also affects the sounds (Meaning you can see it to 100 just to see how loud it can get); These sliders are still a bit buggy but maybe next time.
• Changed how things disappear (Keys, doors etc) to avoid yield related statements in code.

Now, about the “slideshow” cutscenes

Think of how older games in general had passing images and text boxes that changed, sometimes over time or others with a press of a button.

This part interests me because these story segments will always be different in each “instance”, not just the images or text but specially the number of images/texts used and even how long a certain image/frame/slide etc stays (Because there will always be more text than images and some images are meant to stay for a few extra “frames” while the next changes).

Another part is the actual controls like moving forward/backward as if the Player was flipping a book or the ability to outright skip a cutscene.

Because a lot of YT tutorials will be more about cutscenes using animated characters and i’m not sure if copying GDQuest’s Godot Slides projects is a good model to follow.

Random example but look at Faselei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-9rELc2eHo&t=62s and just the basic idea of images changing but not as much as the characters’ texts.

Obviously i’ll also need good art for this but a good enough template is a start.

What else:

I hope the next update is about level design revision because of how mechanics are introduced.

I might try to “increase” the levels by splitting parts and seperating them with new areas, so the Player is introduced to mechanics in a better way.

This also means redoing the yellow books by creating more of them with dedicated messages about said mechanics instead of the 3 books i got right now.

With how levels change, i may try some new features like “moving vertical walls/doors” affected by green switches for some gimmicky area or some new type of platforms like disappearing/appearing ones or something that spins.

I also thought of a projectile enemy for the sake of it but a more interesting idea is an enemy that targets the Companion,

Also still haven’t done a save/load system but again: Worried if there’s specific differences between exe and HTML versions to consider.