Simulating Steam Power With Unity - Devlog
Вставка
- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
- Steam Power has finally arrived in Lumbermill - this Unity Indie Game Devlog covers how I implemented it, along with a new letters system and an improved inventory interface.
Wishlist Lumbermill: bit.ly/wishlist-lumbermill
Letters System Blog Post: www.bwgames.io/?p=1160
⮞ Description ⮜
When I first decided to add power as a requirement for the factory in Lumbermill, I had always planned for there to be two systems. I started by implementing electrical power, the simpler, late game version. I've finally gotten around to coding the steam power simulation, with 3 new machines to build. I've also brought back the old letters system, and a number of other major improvements. Hope you enjoy the devlog!
⮞ About BWDev ⮜
If you're new to the channel, welcome! I'm a full time Indie Game developer working in Unity 2D. Lumbermill is my main project - a management/factory builder game, which I began work on in Feb 2019. I aim to release devlogs on that project every few weeks, so keep an eye out for those!
⮞ Socials ⮜
🌲 Discord: / discord
🌲 Patreon: / bwdev
🌲 Twitter (BWDev) - / bwdev1
🌲 Twitter (Lumbermill) - / lumbermillgame
⮞ Timestamps ⮜
0:00 - Introduction
0:25 - New Inventory UI
1:37 - Alpha Plans
1:50 - New Letters System
4:30 - Steam Power Simulation
5:55 - Drag and Drop Inventories
6:35 - Boiler Fuel Burning
7:00 - Steam Engine Pixel Art
8:00 - Steam Simulation Final Result
#devlog #unity #madewithunity #unity2d #indiedev #bwdev #gamedev #indiegame - Ігри
Thanks for watching! Keep up to date with devlogs: bit.ly/bwdevsub
You should probably change the black skin color because it blends in with the path to much.
I actually really liked the envelope transition for the letters, I feel like it really added to the games charm.
same, it just gave me that old-school feeling that the game has
same
i agree. if they start feeling too samey there can be multiple ways, such as a letter opener, the original flap, etc.
I think so to. It much more satisfying for me. But i can see, that it gets annoying when you get to manny
Just came to the comments to say the same thing! Love the progress of the game though
I feel like lumbermill is gonna be a productivity killer for me - I can’t wait to play!
What every game developer likes to hear 😎
aw... i think that the letter opening animation was really nice for the games aesthetic.. really sad to see that go :/
same, it just gave me that old-school feeling that the game has
🤔
Agreed
@@BWDev maybe you should make an option to change it back to normal ?
@@BWDev you should make it so that unread letters have the animation, but letters the player already saw /letters sent in quick succession don't have the animation
i think you should add a toggeble layer to be able see pipes on the Forrest layer. that would help managing pipes and steam engine placements
Planning on it 👍
It seems like a lot of people like the letter animation, so I suggest that you keep it around and make notifications work exactly like they work in real life. When you click on them, they disappear, the animation plays and the player has to answer it, no exit button on the letter. Plus I recommend letting the player drag letters and other UI components which appear in the middle of the screen to drag them around, so they can have more UIs on screen and make decisions based on that, just a little quality of life improvement.
Totally agree! Loving the game progress though!
yes please keep the envelope , very good effect
I was just about to comment about how he should keep the letter animation
Agree 100% I really like the envelop opening animation, its very charming.
Ah, yes, the real life notifications I see in the top right of my eyes every day!
8:00 Nothing major but I noticed that the piston goes around the wheel faster than the spokes. Looking forward to the next vid.
wheel spin
"Speaking of steam..." was an incredibly good segue.
The envelope was so cool though :'( Great devlog anyway, can't wait for the alpha!
Something cool for later in development (polish) would be to have the health of the machines visible from the sprite. For example, the steam engine could develop cracks or get rusty, even slow the animation down so it appears to function less efficiently.
The envelopes had so much charm before! I can understand it would waste time if the player want's to flick between letters, so I'd like the letter opening animation to play upon opening a letter from not having any letter opened. Then if the player clicks from one letter to another, the new fade would be appropriate. Just my 2c, I trust you will make the best call for your vision of the game.
IMO, you have the best indie devlog channel. a big part of that is how clear your script is and how the footage always matches what you’re talking about. how do you manage that? do you record your screen for a day of work, then hunt for clips? or do you decide “ok i’m about do something important, better turn on screen recording now!”
best of luck with the game! i can’t wait to play.
Thank you, appreciate it! I record as I go, specifically when I know I'm going to do something that might be interesting, and name / number my clips chronologically which helps a lot when I go to edit 🙂
@@BWDev thanks so much! That sounds like a great system 👍🏻 do you use OBS to record your screen or something else?
@@aromanstuff yep OBS 🙂
That transition to Steam was slick.
Nice devlog, as always!
i also use godot
It's definitely cleaner, but with the nice cozy but businesslike atmosphere the game has going on, the letter opening is a great fit. Cleaner isnt always better, especially when it ends up looking too plain
I’m liking the idea of pumps! It seems like it could make the underground a bit more interesting!
Love the edition of steam. Great work!
Add clouds that boost tree growth and make it so players can open their steam network to make artificial clouds. You could also add more depth by bringing in the direction of wind, opening the system actually draining it, etc.
I'm amazed how you are good at programming and the same time so good at art!
Congrats on 50 devlogs
8:07 nice transition :D The new and improved letter system is great! I really like that you have a choice for how you handle XYZ issue. The drag and drop with inventories and steam power are nice additions as well. Hope you are doing well :)
That was eerie, I was just thinking "I really like that envelope animation, it reminds me a lot of Theme Hospi-" and then Theme Hospital comes onto the screen!
Yeah I really liked the envelope transition at 3:41. You said it yourself, it brings a lot of personality to the game. Definitely think that should return, yes it could become repetitive, but maybe if you clicked while the transition was happening it auto-skipped the transition incase people don't want to watch it. I personally think it should come back.
An idea for the boiler (and the laster machines) warning message: It should be above the machine_menu UI not in the middle or send a notification to the player if there's any problem. Not a pro tip, but my opinion.
Also GG for the game so far
I am unreasonably excited for the lathe to be added
please keep the letter opening animation, it looks amazing!
also great video and looking forward to the game :)
I really like the final design and animation for the steam pump! It looks great and the steam effect is very satisfying
I cant wait for this to come out. And have loved the process allong the way
Loving the progress so far.
quality videos, please keep this up! Hope the demo will be out soon!
Great video man, very excited to see the game when its gonna be released.
this still looks amazing good to know you`re still working on it
The animation on that steam engine is insane! I love it! Keep up the great work
Ayyy I've been following this game for a long time, and it's looking so awesome!
Really loving the steam engine animation! Keep it up
Oh the feeling of getting a notification about an upload from this channel
Awesome vid! The progress looks awesome. Your UI looks on point. It looks so clean and readable something which is very difficult to achieve but you have done that. I personally really liked the letter coming out from the envelop because the animation for that was really smooth. Keep it up! :)
Excellent video as usual! Very jealous of your trip abroad too!
I can't wait for this game to come out, it looks so good
smooth transition in the end lol
8:08 Smoooooth
Nice devlog as always Ben :D
Decent work mate, comming together nicely. Cant wait to throw money your way :D
Just stumbled upon this gem! Excited to see how this ends up
im so excited for this to launch
Dam it's coming 2gether nicely!
You could add the letter opening animation to when you open it for the first time.
Really liked it.
Cant wait to play your game ☻
Great work!:D Waiting..
I seriously can’t wait for this game
LETS GOOO NEW DEVLOG
you are underrated i hope your game will become popular :D
Fantastic video mate, I hope you're doing well.
For adding juice/feedback to dropping items from the Inventory to another building a simple thing which could look good would be a colour overlayed on the building to show if it was successful, though a symbol maybe be better for those are colourblind!
Also the steam engine looked amazing! The animation looked fun to do!
Yes finally a new devlog
keep up the good work!
I love the letter being sealed
I can't wait for this game to come out.
Glad you took a break, and glad you're back! I love this series and the game, can't wait for the alpha! One thing I've been worried about scaling towards mid/endgame, depending on how many building you have and how much space is taken up, the less forest to supply it, and at some point you won't be able to expand your factory without losing supply and essentially going backwards. I'm sure this is on your mind too, and maybe that's the desired endgame goal is to find the perfect equilibrium for your factory in the forest. Love your work, can't wait for more! Whatever you do, I will be eager to pay and play!
One of the main issues with forestry as a whole is its sustainability. This is something I think will be an important aspect you’ll need to manage when playing the game. Obviously there are opportunities for expansion through purchasing new islands, some much larger than others, but it wouldn’t generally be wise to destroy the entire forest and replace it with factory - just as it wouldn’t be in real life. I think the key thing is that trees are actually a part of the factory, as much as conveyor belts and machines are. Hopefully that makes sense 🙂
Too bad they didn't even think to keep the Colossus standing for you. Disappointing...
Great devlog! Loved it very much as usual😁
I'd love to see the letter opening animation for the first time you open each letter
I’ve been waiting 2 years for this game to come out
Hey, cool new update.
There is a slight, but noticable flaw in the steam power generators animation (visible from 8:00 to 8:08):
The wheel spins faster, than the "stick" (sry, i don't know the correct english word rn (I'm not a native english speaker)) spins inside the wheel.
It looks like the "stick" slides and is not attached.
But anyway, nice update!
The King has returned!
STEAMPOWER! in a game that will soon be added to Steam (probably)!
Your code looks nice and clean. I love It! My code is big mess with lot of unused code😅
great vid :)
I'm sure you've already been suggested this idea, but since there seems to be quite a few people missing the letter animation, a good compromise between personality/charm and convenience would be to only play the "letter opening" animation when the notification is first read, and then simply fade in/out when the player is viewing a notification they already opened
The envelope is wonderful, please bring it back :(
If the popup just opens, I think the clean look is better, but if you click the button to open the letter, the envelope animation is pretty neat. You could have it enabled by default and have a setting to turn it off, unless of course you want to keep the settings menu clean / simple
It's cool to see how you've added letters like the faxes in theme hospital. I disliked how they would pop up in that game but I did enjoy that you got to make choices. Hope you enjoyed Greece!
Agreed - unexpected popups can definitely get annoying! In Lumbermill’s case you can choose when to open / respond to them 👍
yay!
good progress as always!
is it just me or is the steam engine handle on the wheel faster than the wheel itself ^^
looks a little odd
I love the way each video has a "I finally got a holiday" section in it. I know in reality you work super hard, but for those binging the last 3-4 vids it seems like you're always on holiday haha
Lmao oops, the videos have been several months apart recently, didn’t occur to me how that would work out in the playlist 😂
@@BWDev was just amusing. LOVE your vids and can’t wait for the final product. Wish listed since day 1.
This game is hype
Happy 50th Lumbermill video anniversary!
YAY NEW VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could you make a technical blog post about your localization system and how that works in Unity? Keep up the cool work!
Yep planning on it 👍
Yay!
2:30 Wow, this letter is a deep insight into the human psyche, i'm sure it will be remembered by gamers for generations to come ;)
Might accidentally on purpose leave it in the game idk
@@BWDev maybe as an easter egg when you do something specific
Would be so cool if it were possible to use rest products such as the bark, leafs/twigs and saw dust as fuels for the steam engines!
Very nice devlog, love watching these.
There is a slight problem with the steam engine though: The grey bar that moves up and down when the wheel spins, moves way too fast. It should only go up and down once per revolution of the wheel.
Cya in the next devlog!
Yep, that's intentional as keeping the revolutions for both the wheel and piston in sync would be 60 frames of animation, as opposed to the 10 I have currently. That would be fine if this wasn't pixel art - but in this case 60 frames is essentially 60 individual pixel art images that need to be maintained separately. It just isn't worth the development cost for a detail like that unfortunately, and is something I know few people will notice, and those that do will get used to it quickly
Damn, that steam plug was cheesy. Anyways, nice work Ben!
YES FINALLY
I like the steam engine. It was pretty good.
Idea for a feature. Maybe make it in a way that employees can get ill or injured on the job.
They’ll need medical attention. Which means more building to research and employees to hire
we've come full circle
maybe you could make a machine that can turn wood into charcoal for a more efficient fuel source at the cost of more complexity, or maybe not just an idea
Oh, how did you enjoy your holidays on my country? Hope you had an amazing time!
You are way too good at pixel art
Gonna give you a nice visual tip, move the trees a little bit when the mouse cursor passes over it. Just like a bending behavior.
Hope you bring the envelope animation back
cool game
Sad that you removed the actual envelope. I hope you will add it again the the future in a better way.
Epic
"Speaking of steam..." Nice
Bring back the envelope, you don't even need to have it unfold, just have it slide out of the envelope the animation is way too satisfying to get rid of. That's a huge part of what gives it character
you could even disable to for switching between letters and use the current animation to avoid any cases where it would become annoying
8:00 To me it looks like the plate that has the piston attached isn't centered in the wheel. (The red spokes seem to stretch and contract)
steam power for a game in steam
First! The streak continues 🥳
Does this game have preparation of the wood as well think it could be very cool, to do the drying process maintenance stuff until you could cut it into what ever your making ( veeners, planks, extraction for other types of plates like mdf) would be interesting to see if you want i can try my best as a carpenter to explain the processes
Kinda Poggers
Have you seen/played Timberborn? It seems very similar to what you're building