2D point'n'click adventure game - with time loop control

Hi guys

The 2D shadow and day / night cycle system is coming along nicely.

I'm still a bit undecided about how I should let the cycle design evolve.
I've made a decision to let the player have full control over the time / day cycle (on all scenes throughout the story) - thus you can forward or rewind the time freely - which brings a lot of new cool ways to design puzzles.

But I have trouble deciding whether to have a "circular" or "reset" (all state resets at the end of the day) -based time loop design.

The circular problem:
A circular design will demand that things somehow "naturally" are placed back at where they came from. So a fruit falling from a tree will have to somehow get back on the tree before it falls again. This will require some extra work - an example: The fruit falls, lies on the ground, at some point gets eaten by a critter and grows back out before time starts over.

A reset based design would solve a lot of "circular" problems by simply putting all the objects back where they came from in a ... well ... reset function (Think "Edge of Tomorrow" or "Donnie Darko"-ish progress).
I currently find the "circular" approach more fun and challenging. But I'd like to hear what you guys think?

So any thoughts on the time loop and feedback on the video are very welcome! (graphics are in a early stage but I'd love some feedback on it now I'm at it)
(The video show a full day /night cycle on an earth-like planet from the game)

 

Hmm is this a game for PC or Mobile Phones? I didn't understand what a player will do. Or is just an animation? Anyway, tere is a game called Life is Strange with a lot of time loops. It's actually about a girl who can reverse time. Maybe you can find an idea or something there.
Do you have a demo or something? What engine/language did you use?
Thanks

 

I'm aiming for both PC and Mobile

Yeah I didn't explain that, sorry. The game is a 2D adventure game - you walk the Alien around and solve puzzles, combine objects, talk to NPCs etc. - but as an added layer you will have full control over each scene's day cycle - which gives the puzzle solving a new dimension.

What you see in the video is in-game footage that tests the mentioned day cycle

Thanks for the tip - I will try to find it right away!

I don't have a demo yet (but I'm working on one).

- It's a custom engine written in C++, QML and Javascript
It's build on top of a set of powerful libraries called "Qt"

 

@RazTutu - From what I can see in "Life is Strange" - you can reverse time. I'm trying to do it so you can go both forward and backward in time freely (but on a per scene based functionality)

 

I'm glad to hear this
Also I want to congratulate you because I know how hard is to work with these languages. I worked with a lot of them before and I found C++ the hardsest.
Maybe I'm wrong, but a custom engine means that you made that engine with C++, QML and Javascript, right? If the answer is yes, why did you decide to take this panth(a hard one) and not using something like Unity3D? I guess you are(or you want to be) a programmer, a good one. Thank you for your work. I love to see what people can do using programming.

 

Yes I've made the engine from "scratch".
The foundation (cross-platform asset loading, sound, image, texture handling etc.) the engine is build on is not my work though - so I've deliberately chosen a technology where I knew I had a chance to get the game out for most major platforms.

I like doing my own engines I guess - I really enjoy learning new stuff through creation - so making everything from scratch required by a game gives me that thrill.

I've been programming for 17 years or so - so I'm experienced but not necessarily a good one

 

You are more experienced than I thought. I have a question or two: how did you start your career? Where did you work and how much money do you earn now/did you earn 10 years ago? What advice you have for someone who starts programming?

 

By coincidence I answer some of those questions in an interview I've just done with this forum:
http://kaidus.com/when-you-release-your-first-indie-game-interview/

I terminated all contracts with my clients with 3 months notice.

I've been self-employed for around 10 years now - building custom platforms and tailored solutions for various companies. I haven't been making games full-time for 10 years - the full-time development has been on for little over a year now.

Before I started - I earned (this is rough numbers) around $44000 a year when things were at it's best. Right now - and for the past 1.5 year - I've earned close to 44$

With any programming language I'd say you should practice the fundamental, basic, features of the language first thing. This is stuff like how to iterate lists and arrays most efficient, how to control your codes hardware resource consumption - e.g. get a good idea of how, when and where to store your data. You shouldn't keep large unused chunks of data in memory - write it to disk for retreving it later etc.

... then find an area of programming that you enjoy the most - this way you always have something to practice when you're tired of mocking about with some feature you just can't get right I personally like designing little efficient and flexible sub-systems.

... and maybe most importantly: keep practicing - if you don't practice you'll never meet the obstacles that eventually will make you a better programmer.

Hope it helps

 

I will watch your interview Sunday because I am a little busy not. I forgot the most important question: I understand that you practice/make programming stuff in your free time, but how much FREE time when you are not programming at all do you have in a day? I mean if you work for about 8 hours will you spend the rest of the day on gaming projects or another things? I really want to know how much free time do you have to spend with your family or friends because the thing you do is not easy.

 

@RazTutu

I'm making games full time. The figures I posted above was for my old job. My current fulltime activity is game making. So I'm coding, drawing, painting and making music ~8 hours a day. In my spare time I'm with familiy and friends. I have a band also - so some nights I'm playing gigs or rehearsing depending on the bookings.