Making an INFINITE Basement for my Office roguelike
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2024
- In this devlog we're gonna be making the first level of my office-themed roguelike called Death Inc.
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Discord: / discord
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Twitch: / deynum
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Programs I use:
-Unity
-Gimp
-Kdenlive
-Audacity
-Obs
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#devlog #unity - Ігри
Join the discord: discord.gg/27DWMcH
It is very good that you have started to create a unique design for different floors.
Many roguelike players complain that the levels are visually repetitive, even if they are completely different due to procedural generation.
Therefore, it is important that the same levels are periodically diluted with different designs.
And since you have managed to create a good designer for floors, then in the future you will definitely be able to create at least 5-6 different types of levels
And I already have a lot of ideas for levels and I want to share them with you
PR/Marketing
All in darkness (symbolizing the search by marketers for the audience and its desires). It is illuminated only by various neon signs and glowing billboards. And of course there will also be a small illuminated area around the main character.
There are not many enemies on this type of floor, but they are strong and difficult to spot in the dark. And then there are marketers - a special kind of opponents, they can suddenly jump out of the billboard, and then run, periodically glowing in different colors. If a marketer is hiding in an advertising billboard, then he will blink if you stand next to him. This will help the player to bounce off the trap in time, if he understands everything. It can also be done that marketers will disguise themselves as ordinary elements of the environment (for example, printers), but this will probably be difficult to implement. But it fits perfectly with the metaphor when sales agents are compared to predators in ambush.
Speaking of the environment. The floor itself can be done in glamorous pink tones (the personification of how advertising annoys users). It will also make a contrast with the darkness that fills the entire floor. Also, instead of the usual filing cabinets, it is more appropriate to put open shelves or showcases with all sorts of geometric shapes and sculptures resembling the company logo (which, I suppose, you can come up with yourself.). Office desks will be white, and instead of desktop computers, fashionable laptops. And also for the atmosphere, you can add musical instruments, speakers, cameras and microphones on tripods, these lighting umbrellas for photos... As if an advertisement is being filmed right here, which means that the accessories for this should be located here.
Legal Department
It should be near the end, because it is very important for any company. And also, because there is a dangerous kind of enemies in it
Lawyer Sam (or Soul, as a reference to that movie). A tall, muscular man with broad shoulders. You can even draw dark glasses for him. Has quite a lot of health, works as a human shield for other opponents. It often blocks doors and narrow passages. And in addition, he also knows how to build barricades of paper, which can also block roads, protecting other opponents. Barricades can be destroyed by firing a cannon, but it takes time.
And Sam himself throws a paper at the player, rotating like a circular saw (a pun. There is a type of orders called "circular"). And if you get too close to him, he will hit the player with the judge`s gavel.
The fact that he defends other opponents is an analogy with the work of a lawyer in court. Accordingly, his paper fortifications are evidence for the defense.
The legal department's plan will be very confusing. It's actually a maze. Which is also guarded on all sides by Sam's Lawyers. (((And if Bob also joins them, it will turn out to be hardcore at all) It all symbolizes the confusing legislation and bureaucracy that lawyers deftly use when defending their company.
Since the floor will be closer to the end, as well as due to the fact that lawyers are fairly well-paid employees, this level should look luxurious.
Instead of filing cabinets, there are full-fledged bookcases, on which sometimes there may be some prizes or decorative elements. The tables are made in a classic style: dark wood and green cloth. Or made of marble. Black armchairs and sofas. It is also possible that some tables will not have computers at all. Instead, there will be classic desk sets: paperweights, paired inkwells, stamps on a stamp pad.
Green banker lamps instead of the usual table lamps, or even with a lampshade. And the same ones on the walls. In some places there are even fireplaces, mini-bars with wine glasses and serving carts. Well, there are paintings depicting the symbol of the paragraph (the law), scales and judicial hammers.
The color scheme of the walls should be black and white, which hints at the court with its categoricality, and the floor can be made in a checkerboard pattern, which means the cunning of lawyers who are exactly chess players building their defense strategy many moves ahead.
Accounting
In yellow tones, with green carpets (the theme of money. Yellow - gold coins, and green - banknotes)
The enemy that is very common here is Bertha from accounting.
A middle-aged lady with a voluminous hairstyle and a yellow tie.
Works as a healer for other opponents if he gets close to them. Because an accountant is the one who charges a salary, which often "revives" employees who have already spent all the money for the previous month. And of course, the accountant will appear at the most inopportune moments, for example, when the enemy is almost defeated. And if there are too many of them, then you will not win at all.
Also, if an in-game store with improvements appears in your game, then it will be easier to get money from Bertha. After all, accountants are responsible for money.
But of course she can also attack herself. Her weapon is a calculator that shoots numbers with a percentage sign. These peculiar projectiles are poisonous, they gradually take off your health and the effect of the poison will stop only if you kill the accountant who poisoned you. And the percentage next to the number is not just like that. It's just that the rate of poisoning will depend on the amount of health at the time the projectile hits. If there is a lot of it, then quickly, and if there is not enough, then slowly.
Less often, Bertha from accounting throws coins in four directions around herself.
If you don't like the female character, then you can make a male character and call him Bertram.
The peculiarity of this level is in safes, which sometimes replace doors, or rather almost the entire wall (they are so big). Locks may appear on them in random places. To open the safe door, you need to shoot these locks in 10 seconds (or another short limit). If it's a door to another room, then the locks will just reappear in a different order. But there are also safes leading to secret rooms filled with various useful things. If you do not have time to open these doors, they will simply turn black and block the room for the entire race.
From the elements of the environment, it would be appropriate to add monitors hanging on the walls with stock charts, currency exchange rates and a running line with quotes. On shelves, tables and filing cabinets, among other things, calculators, bill recounters, piggy banks and stacks of coins can also lie.
And from furniture it is worth adding safes and bank machines. You can get a lot of money out of them, but only if you take a strong weapon.
Alternatively, you can even make this floor a "bonus" one. You know, usually rouglikes have safe levels full of useful things. In this case, it will be money.
Human Resources Department
It stands out that there are quite a lot of enemies here. But since they only want to get a job and have no experience yet, they have less health. Enemies tend to queue up.
There are a lot of wall phones and sometimes telephone booths among the elements of the environment. There are also tables with business cards and magazines. Motivational posters and honor boards with the best employees hang on the walls.
There are also a lot of chairs here. There can be two or more tables next to each table at once. For an interview. And there should be pens in a prominent place on the interview tables. The same "sell me this pen" at the job interview. There may also be two trays on the tables of personnel officers for suitable and unsuitable job candidates. And the seals are "yes" and "no".
The style can be made reddish. Firstly, it is a symbol of competition in hiring. Secondly, since this is the "Death Inc", the first room should also refer to cruelty, that is, blood. And thirdly, the personnel department works with the staff, the staff is a trade union, the trade union is communism, and the color of communism is red, such is the associative series.
The local opponent is Recruiter Carroll (a reference to that meme with the evidence board). She sits at the interview table and does not move. Summons two random opponents to the battlefield, a metaphor for hiring staff. The less health she has, the more likely Carroll will summon stronger opponents. For example, if she has a lot of health, then Carroll will summon two Steves, if half - two Gregs, and if closer to zero, then two Bobs.
And after death, she summons five different enemies at once. With a very small chance, it could be another one of the same personnel officer.
It is quite difficult to attack her, as she is able to parry attacks and reflect projectiles back at the player. This is a parallel to difficult interviews at work, when tricky questions are asked.
Glad to see the new updates! A few suggestions for decorations and enemies:
1. Old, withering plants. Common office "life-bringers", can be made in a variety of styles and can even work as just being knocked over.
2. Dirty, most-likely-unused-for-years janitor equipment. A sign that the place was once attempted to be kept up to a standard, but was left to rot
3. Basic Enemy: bored employee - Sits around in an office chair throwing arround paper airplanes of their office work. They do this regardless of if they have noticed the player yet, but once they have, they will actually aim towards them instead of presumably throwing them randomly. Spawns near desks. In my head they don't move, but they could seeing as office chairs have wheels. A basic enemy for the first area.
Hope these ideas can be of use in one way or another!
The bored employee is such a good idea!
I love those ideas!! :D
Love the idea of plants
4. Water cooler jokester: like a mimic chest, waits around water coolers when the player tries to regen health and traps them
I was thinking the same thing about a plant. Picture this: an office plant that attacks, a mischievous vending machine shooting snacks, a staple sniper for long range fun, and why not throw in a desktop mimic to keep players on their toes around desks 🤣
Police tape on the ground of a fallen office worker 🫡. Half eaten donut on the ground. Trashcans around. Trash outside of the trashcans fallen on the floor. Maybe a rat with a simple animation goes into a hole in the wall. Spider webs and maybe a spider in it that at random will drop.
I'm surprised you didn't add that little "water jug" with the little paper cups! I find that as like the standard thing in an office setting. I even seen it in a few libraries.
Vending machines? And couches? Then again, maybe that would fit more in-line with an "employee lounge" or "break room"
But random bulletin boards, posters, and maybe even some 'windows' or cubicle pieces would fit the theme well.
So little things like telephones, desks, maybe even some file server maintenance bits would bring certain rooms to life to fit a theme.
Perhaps even have some carpet and rugs on the ground? Maybe even have some other misc stuff like ladders, stools, and stacks of chairs and unused clutter.
The stanley parable has a good office theme.
some suggestions
1. Mop Bucket With Mop (both fallen over and up right)
2. Wet Floor Sign (both fallen over and up right)
3. Scattered paper on the floor
4. Boxes with employee junk in it (mugs, photo frames, staplers etc)
5. Water Cooler Tank (and one spilled all over the floor)
6. Those really old fact CRT monitors with PC
7. Old broken computer chairs
8. Dusty glass cabinet
9. Old "Employee Of The Month" frame on the wall
10. Posters on the wall & falling off / half on to give it more variety (maybe those old motivational posters) could even have a dust outline where it used to be
11. Rusty recycling bin filled will balled up paper
Game is looking great, really cool ideas, super excited to see what's to come
Some enemy ideas (I did a bit much, but I hope at least 1 or 2 are useful):
Gossip: A worker who stays nearby a water cooler, If you get too close he will try to involve you in conversation, slowing your walk speed while in range. An annoyance until you consider other enemies. (Maybe they slow enemies as well?)
Rats. Death Inc's basement might have an infestation, which could lead to rat traps that harm you if you foolishly step on them.
Manager. They patrol the room and only attack if they get close enough while you are not close to a computer, "You say it's break time, so I'll break your legs".
Contractor: Maybe a handyman, maybe pest control, but once they get to a certain amount of health they start to flee. They aren't "Company Men" so they'll only do so much.
Janitor: Has a cart with various chemicals they spray at you with possible mop swinging. Slow and takes time to get ready once they stop moving, but devastating when they are ready.
Security: Has a large flashlight that deals medium damage. If left alone long enough after attacked they 'call for backup'.
Bodybuilder: An overly muscular office worker who, when at low enough health, rips off his shirt and gets faster.
Secretary: Stands at a computer desk and throws things (mobile phones, files, etc) Perhaps can give you something useful (like a stapler) if you are willing to dodge around for a bit
"Computer Guy": Carries a computer and uses the corded mouse like a whip. Slow walking with maybe a small chance to entangle you.
Intern: Goes to a Coffee machine and gets a cup they 'give' (Throw at) you. Maybe you can break the coffee machine or use it yourself once the intern is dealt with.
"not a morning person": slow and lethargic until they get coffee, then becomes very quick and dangerous. Takes coffee from the intern if they get a chance.
You might also want to have the enemies interact in an office-like way.
Perhaps you could find a file and give/throw it at an enemy which might distract it for a bit [which ends if you attack it].
Maybe some enemies will only be hostile if you're in range because its "in the contract".
I don't know the effort it would take to add all these things, but you asked for Ideas.
The last enemy you came up with is already in the game
Why intern enemy is throwing coffee?
These are all awesome ideas but the Gossiper sounds the best, I can already imagine them being 'that enemy' that everyone hates
@@user-ue1mh1uu5o The idea is probably that the intern stereotype is that regular employees often make them do menial tasks, like grabbing coffee, so that's what they do here with aggressive intent.
i like the idea of the early underground stage having mousetraps instead of rats to fight. unique subversion.
it appears he has died to his sickness and is replaced by a clone. what a shame.
I am NOT a clone *This is an automated message
@@DeynumYeah sure clone
@@Deynumok clone
@@Deynum That's what a clone would want us to believe
@@Deynum that’s what you want us to think clone.
Its looking a lot better now with all these decorations, a small idea for the emptyness in the rooms might be cobwebs. Cobwebs are a small addition but fit perfectly in the basement aesthetic. Great video!
and also consider adding idk, dead rats or smth like this
Cleaning/maintenance supplies left out here and there. Broken bits of this or that, just some small chunks of paper, cardboard, etc. Parts of things like computer parts, printer parts, etc. left out. Various random office supplies dropped on the floor, pens, pencils, binder clips, those little like, staple puller things, staplers, etc. Ceiling tiles or cables, junction boxes, old networking/infrastructure hardware, etc. which have fallen or drooping down.
Also maybe a floor with tiles
Yoo
One thing you could place along the floor is fallen ceiling tiles. You could have one on it's own, a couple, or a whole chunk of the grid spilling onto the floor, with one side still connected above for a kind of ramp.
If you want to get more mileage out of this idea, you could have the tiles actively fall on the player, (indicated by a growing shadow, warning graphic and/or sound cue) and have a rat ride the tile down who, after a second, will attack. Having rats skittering overhead is very on theme for a dirty, neglected office space.
You could use the fallen grid idea to have the ceiling burst open to drop either multiple rats all at once, a continuous flow of rats that climb down the ramp, a giant rat (who makes of all rules), or all of the above.
Nah,you can walk up the ramp to a hidden room
If you want to make the floor better you can consider adding a carpet texture, you can also add a wallpaper, and maybe some holes with planks and the wallpaper ripped if you want even more detail. Great job man!
Technically there is already wallpaper lol, it's only really bland (but in some wall decoration designs you can see the wallpaper peeling off)
The carpet is something I tried, but the pixel scale makes it nearly impossible to look good
@@Deynum Thanks for responding, do whatever you think is best for you and your game!
@@Deynum hey when ever you finish this please try to get it on switch love rouglikes good luck on your game
Enemy suggestion:
Janitor
He minds his own business. Doesn't attack.
He doesn't count to open the door but if you hit him he turns into a very aggressive and strong enemy.
Ok. Get this. New enemy: Amazon Delivery this guy is practically harmless. Low health. Throws low-damage punches. However, when he dies, he leaves behind an Amazon box. Which starts to shake for about 5-7 seconds. If the player doesn’t destroy the box before the deadline, then a random enemy pops out (literally any enemy besides boss enemies, so it can be really good or really bad). W idea.
Enemy idea:
Paul
Description: He is always not doing work and always slack off, it’s a miracle that he is still here.
Attack: Instead of attacking the player, he would give the surrounding enemies a boost/heal
PAUL HANDING ENEMIES CUPS OF COFFEE TO BOOST THEIR STATS
Make him an accountant. An accountant is the one who charges a salary, which "revives" employees who have already spent all the money for the previous month. Perfect role to healer on a office-themed game.
Yesss
Make the others rage from his slackery, increase damage and health.
@@user-ue1mh1uu5o Aka, "hay, want a bonus? Kick his ass
Really happy to see how this proect is going.
I also have a few enemy ideas!
-Roomba: Supposed to clean the floor, but is actually broken.
Walks along a set path, damaging the player when touched. Deactivates when all other enemies are defeated.
the path could be indicated by a single line where the floor is clean
-Melvin: An intern tasked with moving a stack of boxes full of documents , he is really clumsy tho.
Moves slowly towards the player, attacks by tripping and droping the stack, shooting a line of paper horisontaly.
-Phil: A grumpy guy that loves strong coffe, sadly, the machine only makes decaf.
Attacks by throwing mugs of coffe that break when they hit the ground, leaving a puddle that damages the player and dissapears after a few seconds.
hope these are good.
This graphics overhaul was defentily needed! Great job!
You could add paper and folders spread out on the floor, in different amounts of piles or differing patterns of being ripped up. You could also have a broom or an old vacuum cleaner standing against a wall, that could fall onto the floor when touched. You could also put like old desk lamps in the corners that had broken and was put aside or spread out pencils and scissors and tape that have fallen out of a desk organising cup or box. I also feel like offices generally have many power outlets and sockets, that could also decorate the walls some more
You should add office chairs that you can melee/shoot around the room to deal damage, possibly make them bounce on walls or somehow interact with the enviorment. You could also have a flipable table for defense.
Things u could add
Maybe?
-Columns/Pillars
-Snacks Machine
-Windows (They can emit light/have different backgrounds)
-Lights: Lamps, Emergency or Exit signals, Ligths coming from the ceiling (not visible but they will give dimension to the game)
-Calendar, Clock
-Things that can be on floor/tables/shelvings:
Picture frames, cups of coffe, trash can, telephone, newspaper
GUNS:
-Document Shredder: A portable paper shredder that fires sharp fragments.
-Staple Launcher: Fires high-velocity bursts of staples that can stun enemies.
-Keyboard: Allows the player to throw keys at enemies (until running out of keys)
-Explosive Duct Tape: A duct tape that sticks to enemies and then explodes, dealing area damage.
-Explosive Pen Launcher: Pens that explode on impact, creating chaos in the area.
-Extinguisher: Produces a white cloud that confuses and poisons enemies.
-Turbo Charged Coffee: Throws cups of boiling coffee (do they temporarily increase the player's speed?)
-Laser Scanner: Fires a laser beam from a printer scanner, cutting through enemies.
An enemy, or even a boss-like encounter for the basement could be the janitor, who rides around in those yellow carts, trying to smack you with a gross mop.
Some ideas for suggestions
1. old plants
2. janitorial materials: mops in water buckets etc.
3. unfinished architecture: Wood planks, hanging wires, etc.
3.5 Tools: drills, screwdrivers, flashlights, saws etc.
4. Server racks
5. Stacked chairs and tables
Decoration ideas:
-lamps (you know those that stand up)
-Carpets
-Fans
Ideas for enemies:
-A really fat guy that drinks a lot of coffee and can be a boss. You can make it throw coffee cups or call other minions fromo other rooms (just spawn them at the door and let them come trough it)
-A rat (>:D)(or not only one, maybe a horde of them >:D)
might help the floor texturing if you:
add marks which spread over more than just one tile
add special marks which would fit well by the walls
have more diverse mess, for example small litter like paper or a file or a knocked over mug
+ might be a lot to do but perhaps interactable furniture where papers go flying and settle on the floor if you shoot it
Love your reaction to the script working out of the box! As a software developer myself I can confirm: that NEVER happens :D congratulations!
You should add some random carpets, like separate from the floor, it would make it less empty.
You could add footprints on the floor, like the place has been extremely used and lived on. it could also be used to indicate progression in the room.
Code for generation from another project still working is really a miracle! Im really impressed by that, I can only imagine how good and strange it felt
Ideas for things to add to that space:
Whiteboards (those ones on stands that roll around would work great) perhaps covered with indecipherable squiggles of some sort.
Notice boards (maybe a few on the walls, especially near the doors) covered in those useless notices that no-one ever actually reads.
Trash cans (at least some would probably be overflowing with trash). Maybe some variants that are knocked over with trash all over the floor.
Various kinds of carts (the sort that might be used to replenish the printer supplies or deliver everyone's mail or empty all the trash cans)
And for a bit of variety you could have a big table where meetings might take place.
You deserve praise for how you explain your code and stuff in very easy to understand ways, and also since you asked for some, I'll list a bit of ideas here:
-Decoration
1. Withered plants, with some knocked over.
2. Water cooler, you had this before recreating the game from scratch.
3. Water drops, this is less decoration and more enviorment stuff but i think it fits, as if there's a leak from the ceilling.
4. Janitor equipment, so the basement looks like it was at least tried to be maintained.
5. Weapon crates, Most of them probably empty or a few left overs, adds reasoning to why almost everyone has guns and if you decide to add functionallity, they can also be the way to get weapons in the basement by searching these weapon crates.
-Enemies
1. Jerry, he runs torwards you with a knife ready to stab you, since there's barely any guns in the basement.
2. Rody, once he spots you, he'll scream and run away from you, alerting all others of your persence and giving the nearest enemy a minor stat boost (due to annoyance), more fit for later floors but I'll put him here.
3. Liza, she acts like a regular enemy, shooting you from a distance, but occasionally, she'll drink alcahol and go drunk, making her switch to continously throwing knives.
4. Mark, he'll sit on the floor modifying a gun, once spotting you, he'll stand up and start shooting withered leaves from a slightly odd shaped gun.
-Idk, will add more in the future maybe, probably not,
You should make it so you start in the rundown/basement levels and slowly progress into the more posh/ceo offices
That's actually currently the idea
@@Deynum the top floor like right before you reach the CEO would be like quartz and gold pillars super fancy.
I have some interesting objects that you could place in the basement
- A broken desk that works like a normal prop until you break it by walking through it
- Some janatorial equipment or even a janitor's closet
- An old computor thay could catch fire if broken
- A forgotten withered plant that was placed there to "liven up the place"
- Spare equipment for the upper levels, like a hint at what the theme of the next floor
- A broken water cooler that has soaked the carpet
- An extremely tall stack of papers that can be nocked over by a touch, then it goes from being a single tall tile object, to a short multi tile object
- A hole in the wall that if you get to close to it some rats will come out and attack you
- A large swarm of cock roaches that damages you if you stand on it
- A fallen file cabnet
- A file cabnet drawer
These are some of my tile suggestions for the basement
You have amazing pixel art skills, and I am very impressed by the amount of small tools you write to go all out and offload a lot of the work to unity/code while increasing the amount of variety. This is a very good foundation and way of working to pump out a lot of stuff as an individual.
Regarding your "objects" problem: Think of the theme and what you'd normally find there in the real world. What is in an office building basement? Old furniture, stacked office chairs, desks, broken screens and PCs en mass. Server Racks, boxes full of cables, CDs, scanners, printers, paper work, fire extinguishers, staplers... Storage for needed stuff like office supplies, and such. You'll find the weirdest shit in basements. Maybe even traces of animals like rats, cockroaches etc. You can have forgotten and broken down traps for said uninvited tenants as well. You can have old uniforms, work clothing and such stored there. Mannequins? Machines and old tech stuff... old promotional material, maybe even a car xD
I think it’d do a lot for immersion if the enemies can interact with those background elements. Like if a computer gets hit by a projectile it’s screen breaks, if a filing cabinet does it rocks around and papers fall off, that sort of thing
For the basement reminds what they have in the IT crowd (the main characters office)
Really? I feel like the it crowd wss like insanely crowded
On the "bottom wall" or floor you could add:
1. Crumbled balls of paper
2. Broken/damaged items like: a mouse, a floppy-disk, a CD, cracked monitor, power extenders.
3. Eerie and old-looking picture frames on the side walls, near cabinets (office-artwork)
4. Rat pellets and rat urine at some corner of a room, to show evidence of pests
5. Abandoned coffee mugs and small picture frames on tables (family-members/pets of workers)
6. A paper-shredder machine, with shredded pieces of paper near it, showing a mess
7. Stains of spilled coffee/tea on the carpet-flooring
You could make a janitors room with a unique enemy, maybe you could find him around the basement cleaning up the puddles and he could be found going back and forth to restock on cleaning fluids in the janitors room, and he would only attack if provoked and would kinda be like a boss. Just an idea. For decorations, maybe a water cooler, vending machine or maybe small rats eating food or dead bodies and running between holes in the walls?
Nice updates!
As you asked for suggestions, here are some:
-Flickering lights (dark rooms?...)
-Consider making hallways in some way
-Water dripping from the ceiling to the puddles you made?
-Old nasty toilets
-Maybe the rooms can also have smaller rooms inside them, like additional walls or cubicles
-Rats & bugs running around (or dead on the floor)
-Other office supplies (pens, staplers, chairs etc)
-Different floor types?
-Broken down doors
Just a few ideas!
Suggestions for room items:
Stacks of fold out chairs.
Chairs at the desks in general. Countertop spaces.
Wall cupboards like you'd find in the office kitchen/break room.
Trash cans. Small and big.
Cleaner carts.
Mail carts.
Maybe work specific stuff like if it were a car rnd department, there may be miniature models of cars and clay.
Paper shredders.
Intercom systems
Wall mounted speakers for said intercom
Wall clocks
Lamps
Wall/Floor lamps
Plants. Floor. Desk. Wall.
Stuffed bear lol
Rugs
Rubber ball as if someone got rid of their chair
A scooter if they're trendy
Statue of the benevolent CEO
Donut boxes
Coffee maker
idea for a enemy: A person who was so angry at the old computer not responding/breaking they pick up the keyboard and try to atack the player
basements be having random crap sometimes, so maybe add some dolls, or paper cutouts for previous advertisements the company used. and easily some folding chairs would fit fine. maybe a npc, organizing the cabinets, that could give you a special item that he randomly found while organizing. Great stuff btw, killed me to see you restart, but I'm glad you care for the project enough to do so.
- spare desks, specifically missing legs for basement
- broken chairs [wheely or otherwise]
- cleaning supplies like mops/buckets or trollies with paper towels and disinfectants
- couches [we had some old couches at our office!]
- yelow/black safety tape on the floor
- wires. so many wires all the time
- water coolers and the refill jugs
Love it! A few ideas for you:
-Lots of offices have those cubby divider walls
-those large whiteboards on wheels
-puzzle table (my office always had one that people could work on sporadically as a "team building" type exercise)
-monitors/projectors
-generic, corporate/dentist office-type art on the wall
-ping pong table (again, my office had some)
-small table(s) for eating lunch at
-vending machine (could double as an enemy)
A good idea to make decorations feel less boring is making them more meaningful by adding interactions. Enter the Gungeon does this expertly. Make it so when you knock on shelves you have a chance to make some boxes fall over, shooting or vaulting over a desk makes piles of paper get knocked over. Hitting the printer makes it create copies (a subtle nod to how these old office printers would only work after a bump or two) or like office chairs that you can bump into and get moved around. For decoration ideas you could try: cobwebs, plants, sheets of paper on the floor, trashcans, vending machines, those office dividers betwen desks or just randomly throughout the room to offer cover (could even be destroyable so it's only temporary), fallen bits of the ceiling tiles, blinking lights, exit signs, maybe those (i forgot what they're called) handcarts that warehouses use to move boxes around, couches, armchairs or those uncomfortable waiting chairs that come in groups of three, removed portions of the carpet to expose the hardwood floor, post-its on walls or desks, coffee mugs, jars and coffee machines, whiteboards with stuff written on them or paintings and motivational posters (maybe you could also interact with these and get a funny picture with a caption or these could be a collectable). You could also have thematic rooms that should be present on every level regardless just to break up the repetition a bit, like maybe one is a meeting room with a projector and you can have shadows cast in a powerpoint presentation on the wall, maybe another room is a small kitchen environment, a bathroom or two for deadends with functioning mirrors, a hallway or two, that sort of stuff. Don't feel like you have to make every room meaningful or even make logical sense, maybe there's a room that's a chaotic mess of boxes that people have been using to just throw away old stuff in and it's been piling up over the years. Maybe another room could have cardboard drawings of the outside world on walls as employees began going insane for being locked up in a place without windows, maybe another room is a space where there was a sad office party going with decorations like cake, a boombox, baloons on walls or on the floors that you can shift around when walking or pop them by shooting/vaulting on top of them. You could also have references to other media, like memes from The Office (just imagine a pot of chilli spilled on the ground for no particular reason or a staple in jello). Or just funny decor, like maybe one of them has a set of golf clubs with plastic cups on the floor from employees playing mini golf (could even expand on this and make tracks with boxes), maybe one room is filled with rat traps and those cartoony holes on the wall where rats live. You could have white spots of drywall that hasn't been painted yet. You can have made up beds underneath desks, or maybe a cubicle that's just filled to the brim with post-it notes, or just personal desk decor, maybe someone is into sports so they have a football on their desk, or just food lying around like half eaten burgers, boxes of Chinese takeout, pizza boxes, bags of chips, soda cans. Just silly things that tell stories and make the place feel lived in.
There's a lot of stuff to do, but more important than making decorations less repetitive is making them interactive (imo).
Dude, your art skills improved a lot!
Ideas:
- For the floor:
Try adding some darker noise / gradient towards the edges near the walls so it looks like ambient shadows. I'd also suggest adding some big, yet subtle 'blobs' here and there where the floor is a *tiny* bit darker to add some texture to it.
- For objects closer to the bottom walls:
How about slicing the object sprites in half to add a sense of depth (like you did with the backwards facing cabinets), or somehow layering the bottom walls on top of those objects for the same effect?
Idk how you'd do that in Unity, though.. I'm more of a Godot guy.
- Random ideas:
-- What if there were water particles dripping from the ceiling to make it look even more worn down? Also, I think it would look cool if some of the wall tiles were like 1px shorter, again, to make it look more worn down.
-- Like some other comments suggest, pillars would help divide the space and would also look artistically pleasing.
Here are some enemy ideas:
#1. A janitor. He walks around slowly, stops moving and like gets mad and then charges straight forward wish his trashcan or something in front of him until he hits a wall or a desk, then rinse and repeat. He could also set like wet floor signs that make you slip if you walk over them.
#2. Crazy dude. He goes around bumping into the wall, kinda like that DVD symbole that bounces around the tv, he bounces around diagonally on a swervy chair, and then once you “kill” him you destroy his chair and he charges at you, but you can then deal with him in one shot.
#3. A buff dude like you had before.
#4. Less of an enemy but more of an annoyance. It’s a guy at a computer and he sometimes gets made and throws his computer across the room until it lands on the ground, dealing damage around, and then he goes to pick it up and continues to work.
#5. Mouse swinger. This guy runs around with his mouse swinging around him and he throws it at you like a lasso and he pulls you towards him. He then smacks you with a keyboard.
Idk if these are balanced but they seem fun.
Ideas for the game:
Make a level editor where the players can edit the game.
Decorations:
Plant pots, maybe some dying plants, and a rolling chair that can be pushed around and hit enemies, like damage them.
Enemies:
The final boss should be the boss, (you prob already thought of this)
There could also be Steven, who just is always working on his computer, walking while working, and if shot once will charge at the player, and be faster and give more damage than normal enemies.
[insert concluding statement here]
just some ideas for enemies. based on office workers.
1. Coffee Joe: moves in fast bursts and shakes
2. Copier Jockey: carries a stack of paper and throws documents at you.
3. Water Cooler Regular: a larger enemy who throws the water cooler jugs at you.
4. The office Zombie: a slow moving enemy that can take quite a few hits.
There are a whole bunch of other office cliches you could play around with. And you can use any and all of these as regular enemies or bosses. Some other examples are the janitor who runs around with a mop leaving a wet streak obstacle, the receptionist who lets out a phone sound wave around them, and the middle management who can hire "temps" who are weak enemies that go down easily but can swarm the player.
Try breaking up the flooring into large tiles of whatever the floor is made of (it’s kinda hard to tell if it’s carpet or something harder). The grid pattern will instantly break up the empty void of the floor. However, if the lines are too high-contrast or awkwardly aligned to existing lines, it could create visual clutter. Maybe make these tiles out of sync with the in-game grid, cutting off where they meet the walls, like you see in real life, due to the flooring manufacturers just producing one size, with the expectation that they will be cut to size. Not having everything snapped to the same grid could make the space feel more real. Some of the tiles could then be slightly damaged, discoloured, pealing at the corners, stained, misaligned, scuffed or even missing. As well as variation in positional alignment, subtlety rotating objects from the cardinal directions could add a lot of realism. Maybe create alternate rotated textures for the furniture. Adding small set-dressing features like cobwebs, scattered papers and supplies, cups, coffee rings, signs of infestation, wiring, vents, power outlets, broken appliances, post-it notes, whiteboards etc. could transform the spaces dramatically. Environmental storytelling can allow you to move away from backrooms vibes and towards whatever specific atmosphere you want to convey. For example, Stanley Parable tells the story of a living, breathing company with relatable and believable employees, without even letting you meet any of them. A Few Suggestions from the Abandoned by Disney series by Slimebeast is another example of small, mundane details enabling the imagination to extrapolate a richly characterful corporate setting, from tiny glimpses. I hope this isn’t entirely useless to you. On a more personal note, your instant success with the procedural room generation reminds me of times in my life when fate decided to pull some absurdly contrived bullshit in my favour. It made me smile. This video gave me some inspiration and motivation for my own project. I love what you’re doing. Keep it up.
Man, this was such a great video! It's awesome to see everything come together, keep it up ^^
Thanks, I appreciate it!
In terms of objects you could add to the basement, stacked chairs, old broken computers rubbish bins/dumpsters, old desks, loose paper on the floor, and water fountains.
For enemies you could have the IT worker who is exclusive to the basement and attacks using its terrible smell
The game looks promising, keep it up!
(ps would love to see a reference to 'the office' or IT crowd)
You should add an enemy that takes a swivel chair and rides it around, potentially even having a gun and spinning around shooting bullets. This would be super chaotic but I think it'd be fun.
Enemy's for the Basement: Spiders and Bugs, Caretaker as the Boss
Decoration for bottom wall:
Standing Lamp
Decoration in general: Something big, covered in cloth
I have two enemy ideas:
-A coffee machine/crazed guy holding a coffee machine that splashes puddles of hot coffee everywhere, and has to stop to brew coffee to recharge his ammo.
-maybe, after hitting enough printers, one of them will come alive and attack you, or a monster made of paper will appear that turns into a whirling storm when It moves around.
Anyway, this looks really cool and you’ve earned my subscription good sir.
The script working first try literally gave me the same reaction as you have. I could only imagine the overbearing sense of dread before running it, completely being replaced with absolute confusion that the script still worked. That dread and confusion is something all programmers seem to face. But hey, not complaining! Good work, love this ❤️
Personally I have no clue what it feels like to have a script work like that because that literally never happens. Normally what happens is the whole thing crashes without explanation.
Some ideas for decorations:
- Bulleting board with pins/paper. (Could be outdated flyers for the basement)
- Employee of the month posters (crooked/jagged)
- A clock that doesnt work anymore.
- old it equipment is usually in the basement (think IT Crowd)
- a picture of the ceo/bossess to forshadow the future
- fun easter egg for a door that doesnt open but there are sounds/animations coming out of it (monster/person) in there
Bro! That’s fantastic! I’m so glad it’s all working for you! Can’t wait to see more!
Few ideas I have for enemies and decor (If needed?)
Enemies:
Faulty Printer that launches paper projectiles.
Janitor that hits you with a mop.
That one guy that's always at the water cooler.
A computer.
Mice.
Decor:
1) Garbage. Black bags of trash lying around.
2) That weird stain that always seems to be present.
3) Microwave and Mini-Fridge
4) Janitor's Cart
5) Garbage Bins.
you wanted some suggestions for filling up the bottom space, i gotcha:
old water coolers, broken electronics like coffee machines on desks, on the side of walls you can have a phone hanging off, another commentor suggested dead plants however i doubt they'd still be potted? So just stacks of pots. Toppled over paper or chairs. The tops of old, non-used security cameras the company could not be arsed to replace.
Also: the main area of the floor is incredibly blank. I'd suggest maybe some support beams be put in place as it is a basement (they'd also be good to be an obstacle in combat, perhaps going a little transparent when a player walks behind them depending on how thick you'd make them) as well as some other walls to maybe seperate office areas a little? Those fuzzy not-cork board dividers that are standing would probably get dumpled down here. Broken mugs as floor hazards would be funny as well. Filing cabitnets sometimes are also placed in little roundabout areas in blocks. as well as things like racks in the middle of the room might help fill up some dead space and make interesting loops to try and kite enemies around.
As for enemies, I think it depends on who you think would be down there mostly. Warehouse employees who're taking out shipments for example, janitors collecting supplies, the rare co-worker who's been sent down for chalk.
Honestly? Most of my ideas are taken from binge-watching the office recently. Watching office-based tv shows like the US and (unfortuently) the UK version might help with some enemy ideas (bosses like corporate members or security) or just general furnishing for the office you're making :}
Genuinly though, seeing the improvement on this game over the past few months since I've discovered it is crazy. real props to you dude.
Brainstorming decoration ideas, I really like the idea of a waiting room or a break area for some of these.
Stacked chairs (since most of desks don’t have them)
Couches
Water cooler/ water dispensers
Mini fridge
Microwave
Potted ferns
Counter tops with various materials on them depending if it’s a main office room or a break room
I have been playing a lot of roguelikes lately, this is looking even more fun each time I see a new video! I know most roguelikes have meta-progression features, would be cool to unlock some kind of cosmetic powerup that change how your run is played to give more replayability. Getting to a certain floor, defeating a certain number of enemies, finding a secret room, or maybe defeating the CEO could give his suit which gives you a buff in one area or a nerf, or a different weapon comes with it. Keep up the great work man!
I'm really enjoying the usage of procedurally generated assets along with the explanations of how you created each of them, with the rulesets behind to show how even a single object can have multiple ways to make it unique based on the random rulesets - really enjoying the explanations of such a seemingly obvious, yet oftentimes overlooked, way of using what's already there to create new objects opposed to creating a multitude of differing "whole" objects instead. ^^
In the bottom add wood for old construction projects where the contractor left the rest. That and long lightbulbs/wood dowels. You can also add bundles of cables, chairs, a ladder, old coffee maker. A cabinet with office supplies. A generator. Old merch. Ask someone who works in an office to see what stuff is in their storage or what's in their office that might be moved to storage at some point.
For enemies maybe a valet, door to door salesperson. Cafeteria worker ( some businesses have cafeterias or at least a cafe so where nearby or in the building.) Security, janitorial staff, different types of business people ( professional, casual, business casual, dressed in dresses/skirts, blouses, polo, button down, jackets, flannel, peacoat,) it does t have to all be white button downs
Ngl, you should add like boilers, pipes and many support beams to fill in the area because, of course, it’s a basement, it’s used to store things the company won’t need. Maby even add a power source or restrict the players view distance to make the area more immersive. You could also have a room with a lot of the same object to show they are in storage.
You need to add office partitions. They are temporary make shift walls that can divide rooms making sections for teams to work. Other objects needed: dry erase boards for walls, drawing easel, coffee station, conference room long tables, old projector with the clear plastic sheets that teachers would write with draw race markers, potted plants (for corners and on top wall partitions), networking closet (messy wireing), ripped carpet, lobby chairs with coffee table, cafe tables, vending machines, water fountain, bathroom doors, janitors mop and bucket, pallet jack, large trash cans, paper shred beens, glass windows with blinds, managers office (small cut out in room), presentation room with folding chairs.
First video I've watched of yours, excited to see were this project goes.
Enemy Idea: Guy that flips over a table and uses it for cover as it shoots at the player. The enemy ducks under the table when player shoots at them and then pop up and shoot again. The player needs to get close enough to knock over the table to damage the enemy. Enemy is Dereck.
Great video (as always)! Excited to see the final product. Enemy idea by the way, an enemy who fixes any broken object, but is invulnerable until then. I think it would be interesting.
Yay🎉🎉🎉 Hes back!!!!
OH MY GOSH FINALLY YOU FINALLY USED TILESETS YES
I remember i one of your old videos you made a platformer and you drew EVERYTHING by hand
I respect the effort and it does yield slightly better results but it takes AGES!!! That platformer project took you 4 months if i remember correctly.
Love the devlog, for prop suggestions for the bottom wall a sofa, a chair maybe. For enemy ideas, a haunted drawer that throws it’s shelves at you!
Keep it up, you have a great game here.
I love the look of your pixel art, it all just has such a natural look!
enemy suggestions:
1. hot headed worker - gets angrier and faster the more he hits you
2. child brought to work - small and fast, when killed, their parent shows up (parent is a hot headed worker).
3. sentient chair
4. fat employee - has a lot of health
5. buff employee - kills you in one hit, fast, has a lot of health.
also, the bosses should be the managers of each floor
Fortunately you're very good at pixel art. Assets are the most overlooked, yet also most effort intensive part of a game made from scratch. That's why asset packs exist and can be so expensive. But I like seeing the quality of life improvements you're making for yourself while building the game. The efficiency tickles my brain
Maybe you could add light effects and shadows it could make the floor look less 1 tone? Flickering lights even! Love your videos though man ❤ even if its not a smooth ride for you all the time 😭 it's all worth it the games going to be amazing I'll wishlist it straight away
The fact that the procedural gen scrip worked for you straight off the bat is very fun to see haha happy for ye, this is a sick project.
The art for this game is getting better and better. Keep it up!
Been with this game journey for year w video and amazing work
for the backgrounds consider having dead plants or desks being fallen over/broken, spilled coffee cups on the ground, boxes containing office supplies like pens and post-it notes, broken computers (interactable?), bugs or mice crawling around (spooky), posters or things on the walls to spruce it up a bit like exit signs and stuff
for enemies maybe have a stealthy guy who throws post-it notes like a ninja, maybe computers that are alive and try to eat you? (that one’s a bit more far-fetched lol)
for weapons, if we’re going with older tech maybe a gun that shoots cd’s or floppy discs, a cd that acts like a boomerang? idk
have a great day!!
I really love the design! Another thing that you could add on the floors if you wanted are wires or even air ducts. Love to continue to see this game develop and excited to buy it, whenever it comes out.
Okay, so the most obvious one is cubicle walls and extra chairs and desks stacked on each other, ambitiously awaiting the company's next explosive hiring phase. Garbage cans, dried out potted plants (or just their pots), busted vending machine/lunch areas, clocks, torn carpet edges, mop bucket (or more fittingly, busted old vaccum cleaners, because let's be real, the office floor is always some crappy carpet) and various janitorial equipment, conference rooms, crumpled paper balls, loose pencils/staplers/ sticky notes/etc. you know, storage.
as far baddies: A perfect opportunity to include Milton from Office space as like a boss or something, maybe some elderly security guards that got lost down there and just dutifully do their job despite never being able to leave lol. I like the idea of rats that steal your gear or at the very least as a decoration, just show up and snag a pice of paper to drag back to their hole. The basement would also house interns, possibly in a mail room of some sort. Janitors that get mad when you "make a mess" however that would look, maybe it's just when you kill a mob, they janitors come out and get pissed if you don't pick up the drop? There's also a chance that the accounting department may be in the basement...
Though, part of the charm of this game will be the drabness of office vibes, so definitely less is more, but variation is always king
Only just found you thanks to the google algorithm but instantly subscribed. Have only watched this and the gun video as it seems like a good place to start the journey.
Couple of suggestions:
Weapons:
A staple gun: it literally has gun in the title
Keyboard: either melee or shoots broken keys when swung
Mouse: works like a yoyo
Lanyards: throwing stars, 'nuff said
If you're going American, a clocking in and out machine?
A water cooler: though point taken about liquid physics
Basement decs:
Old motivational posters/pictures: These could litter the floor
Old paperwork/files: same as above
Broken chairs/tables/computers etc
Cobwebs
Lost property
Intern skeleton
Spilt mug on floor/piles of abandoned or broken mugs
Cockroaches/bugs/mice scurrying around
Mice holes in walls
Non Faded carpet where somethings been moved
Secret Rooms: Little Places that can be found behind walls or whatever
Small cozy hideouts from employes hiding from work, filled with random goodies
I like this project a lot man! Fingers crossed for the release :)
HELL YEAH!! New vid
I love the amount of effort and care you put into your level design.
I'm also currently undergoing a phase of level design in my own project, and I've encountered the exact problem you've been facing with not having nearly enough props and items to fill a level that otherwise feels really bland.
I might have to look into a way to speed up my 3d level design similarly to the manner in which you've sped up your 2D level design. Loved the vid :D
Here’s an Enemies idea that might be interesting:
Create the bosses for the different areas/levels of your rogue-like. Then base your basic enemy designs on the bosses of that area.
Since this game is an office rogue-like you can base the bosses on the hierarchy within offices. Starting with Entry-level to Senior staff to First-Level Management, etc.
You can come up with the boss battles for each hierarchy and base the basic enemies on each of the levels.
Missing sprites are water coolers and break rooms and bathrooms.
Enemies should be coworkers, assistant managers and managers as bosses, with assistant acting like mini bosses that you can avoid with the occasional "Dwight" which runs to tattle on you to the assistant manager making you have to fight them.
IDEAS: The printer shows your progress so far. You can find stuff inside file cabinets, shelfs, and things that heal you inside the discs of computers like cookies, tiny pizzas, and more.
enemy idea; Stressed Employee, crazed eyes and relentless and uncoordinated attacks, he will simply charge at you when possible, afterward being briefly stunned if hitting an object or wall, before seeing the player he will franticly run from desk to file to printer to try to get work done.
bonus: in his frenzied charge, consider making it hurt other employees?
Something to add is pillars to help break line of sight and run around.. The rooms are all empty in the middle.
Maybe for the basement, add some "Motivational Posters" in the wall, some fire extinguishers and janitor mops.. I suggest checking the IT Crowd as a basement office reference
For the floors (and wall) decorations:
-Molds
-Carpets
-Spiders/Webs
-Flys
-Paintings
-Rats
-Glass
Enemies:
-Printers, stationary enemies that are tanky and shoot papers
-Janitors, Slow, strong, close range attackers that uses mops to attack, the water from the mop will fall to the floor and do chip damage till it disappear
-Exterminators, ranged attackers that uses pest repellent to attack, like the Janitors, the pest repellent leave behind dangerous liquid the do chip damage
I explored a lot of the weird buildings on my college campus to get inspiration for an art project. Here are some ideas for things you can add.
-wall pipes
-electric outlets
-dead potted plants
-boilers, generators, or gas funaces.
-vents and floor grates
-windows into staff break rooms, conference rooms, or overlooking even deeper watehouse
-power breakers.
After tuning into one of your streams im glad to see you've automated the level building process. Suggestions:
1. ladder (basement prop)
2. fire extinguisher (any room prop)
3. janitors broom (basement prop)
4. janitors mop (basement prop)
5. janitors bucket (basement prop)
6. plants (any room prop)
7. idk if you've done windows yet (higher room props)
In a basement, you could also add cockroaches or rats. Or traces of their presence (mouse swatters...)
Make a toilet room.
A datacenter or archive room, a little more labyrinthine.
A storage room with racks.
For wall decorations, anything with industrial tubes can work, like ventilation traps.
For the enemies, it depends if you keep your initial plot, against work colleagues or if you want to evolve on a scenario more horror / disasters or others.
For example, if enemies could be furniture, that would be great.
A drinks dispenser like in maximum overdrive 😂😂
On the subject of code that just works:
What you did right was defining an interface which was able to handle the input and output in both projects. The fact that it did work before basically means that you testet it (manually). If you want more confindence in the code you write, consider learning how to write unit tests. It will give you a lot more confidence about your code. Unit tests may seem like "a bunch of extra work", but it often pays to find errors without using the engines UI. (this compares to the room editor, which takes time to set up, but reduces the time a lot down the line)
About the 500 lines of messy code:
That mostly doesn't matter, as long as it doesn't impact performance or has any side effects (which may lead to bugs). If, at some point, the performance becomes an issue, then is the right time to improve. The saying goes "premature optimization is the death of all good programs" -> so you are doing everything perfectly right 👍
The longer you wait, the more you learn about programming. Therefore, the skills to improve improve themselves. Which means the longer you wait, the better your refactoring becomes for every piece of code that currently "just works"™.
I love how you decided to spend two full minutes admiring how implausible that script working was. True fellow developer ❤
Enemy idea: "Wheelies" - guy in a spinny office chair that spins up and then jets in a straight line, before screeching to a stop, spinning up again, etc.
For something to place on the bottom wall: a clock (quite small so it won't interfere with the view of the character)
For an enemy: a malfunctioning printer that has achieved just enough sentience to want to kill the player by firing out jammed paper, ink and the occasional electric shock
Enemy Idea:
Dave the Disgruntled Janitor
His main attack would be a mop charge during which he would bash into the player with his mop, leaving a trail of water behind him causing the player to slip around like they were on ice if they walk over it
His secondary attack would involve flinging a wet floor sign at the player casuing a shockwave where it lands
Decorations that could be cool:
Water coolers/dispensers
Janitor equipment
Plants
Fax machine
Motivational posters
Calendar
Desk lamps, stapler, pencils and notebooks (could spawn on desks)
Ok get this, Weapon idea: Paper Shredder. It will act like a flamethrower. It runs off of a stack of papers, and shreds them in the barrel, spraying paper shreds forward, dealing damage. Also, you could add paper shredding SFX when shooting. W Idea.