It has been a few months since I last wrote about my progress on Diminishing Light. Honestly, I almost decided to call it quits on this game.
I reached the point where I needed to start building out the game world and creating a complete game loop. I’m using the Synty Simple Apocalypse asset pack for my characters and 3D world. The assets are fantastic, but you need to piece together a bunch of tiles to create the game world. This task is daunting, trying to piece the tiles together to form a whole game world.
I started by taking the smaller tiles and creating bigger road prefabs. After some trial and error, I managed to make the larger tiles. However, placing each one individually in Unity was challenging.
That’s when I decided to look for a level editor to help. I stumbled across Prefab World Builder on the Asset Store. After about 20 minutes of experimenting with the asset, I quickly placed roads and buildings, and my level started to take shape.
After finishing a small slice of the game world, I focused on the core game loop and created four missions for the demo that I would host on itch.io.
My idea was to make a small playable demo, get player feedback, and use that to help shape the final game. I developed four missions using a combination of objectives I discussed in a previous blog post: Diminishing Light: Steam Page Optimization & Missions.
The objectives included:
- CollectItemsObjective
- DefeatEnemiesObjective
- DefeatWavesObjective
- RescueSurvivorsObjective
- TimeLimitObjective
Next, I had to connect all the various systems, save the player’s state, allow vehicle upgrades, load missions, and create a complete game. This was probably the most challenging part, and I’ve struggled with it in the past with my game Last Stand.
I was able to cobble things together to form a complete demo. Granted, it probably has some bugs and isn’t fully polished, but I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished and look forward to building upon it.
Check out the Diminishing Light page: Diminishing Light: Wheeled Carnage.
What’s Next:
Now that the demo is out, I’m excited to dive back into development with renewed energy and a clear focus. The feedback from players will be invaluable in refining the game and ensuring it meets expectations. I plan to focus on several key areas in the coming months to enhance the overall experience and expand the game content.
- Build out the game world
- Add more missions (aiming for at least 20)
- Add more gore when killing zombies
- Create destructible environments
- Introduce marauders and possibly additional vehicles
- Overall polish
