Devlog 20 - Hit Effects and Asset Structure

Summary

This update was about two very different parts of the game: making hits feel better, and cleaning up how the game assets are organized.

The fun part is the hit VFX. I want Jack's attacks to feel like they have real impact, so I started thinking about ground cracks and impact effects that extend forward from the hit.

The less visible part is file structure. Not as exciting, but very necessary.

What changed?

• Started planning new hit VFX.

• The current idea is that some hits could crack the ground:

  • under the enemy
  • forward from the impact
  • in the direction of Jack's attack

• Continued animation work.

• Continued building an attack table to organize:

  • attack names
  • attack effects
  • short descriptions
  • possible gameplay roles

• Worked on the structure of the game's asset folders.

• Started defining how exported files should be named and organized.

• Continued testing how Jack interacts with enemies.

• Used placeholder assets for early testing.

• Shout out to Kenney for the placeholder assets. They are not final Jackstrap enemies, but they are very useful while testing.

What I'm unsure about?

• The ground crack VFX might be difficult to make readable and satisfying.
• The asset folder structure is better now, but it may still change.
• I am considering whether to open a Patreon, but I do not want to create something that becomes too much extra work to maintain.

Open questions

• Can the ground crack effect make hits feel stronger without making the screen too noisy?
• How much work would it take to maintain a Patreon properly?
• Is Patreon useful at this stage of development, or would it distract from the game?

Next steps

• Fix double attack bugs.
• Upload a private test build.
• Import the new animations with the updated naming structure.
• Test re-importing and preloading asset files.
• Finish missing southeast and southwest attack animations.
• Make a first demo production export.
• Update export settings and asset folders.
• Make the uppercut animation.
• Differentiate the boxer jab and cross attacks.

Media