Marcos' Mysterious Maze

Devlog

• Pleasantly surprised by the procedural generator
  September 05, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show an interesting puzzle and solution found by my procedural puzzle generator that surprised me with a neat trick... Continue reading
• Using Godot's ConfigFile class to store the game's shape codex
  September 05, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show the flexibility of Godot's ConfigFile class, which I'm using not only to save the settings of the game, but also for something less standard: saving a codex with the different sha... Continue reading
• Progress report: some Main Menu Musings
  September 05, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I talk about some details of the main menu, including a small trick to show some feedback before loading the game... Continue reading
• Keeping It Simple: trial and error vs. complex code
  July 25, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I talk about a decision to stop complicating the code and use a somewhat "lame" but robust solution to avoid sparsely populated dungeons... Continue reading
• Simplifying difficulty bags
  July 19, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show how I simplified the internal difficulty organization of the levels, making it faster for the parser and stitcher to put together the world of the game. The first test build is cl... Continue reading
• About difficulty bags & coming demo
  July 16, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I showcase what I've beet to these days: splitting the levels into different difficulty classes. I'm close to be able to release the first demo for my supporters and community, although... Continue reading
• Basic save and load using Godot's JSON parser
  July 10, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add the basic save/load functionality to persist the game state between sessions, a very necessary feature for any decent game :)... Continue reading
• Restricting the map to visit only solved levels
  July 09, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add the necessary restrictions to the map so the player can only visit previously solved levels... Continue reading
• Celebrating 100 episodes with some Godot GPUParticles3D!
  July 07, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  I celebrate the 100th episode with some fireworks, or perhaps I should say dustworks... I also enhanced a bit the visual contrast between the normal walls and the "fog of war" walls... Continue reading
• Godot timer + await = "coroutine" for gradual level reveal
  July 04, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I make a "gradual reveal" function to use when the player enters a new level, using Godot's await timer functionality... Continue reading
• Adding "fog of war" reusing the procedural walls
  July 03, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add a kind of fog-of-war to the game, reusing the procedural walls to occlude the inside of unexplored levels... Continue reading
• Reusing the level parser for the special initial level
  July 03, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I reverse-engineer my own level format in order to make a special initial level for the game... Continue reading
• There's a blue sky outside the dungeon! And a bit of floor
  June 28, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I move the underground background so we can see the sky outside the world, and begin to make the exterior floor where the player will commence the adventure... Continue reading
• Adding mine-shafts because Godot hates infinite loops
  June 26, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

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  In this video, I talk about an infinite loop situation that happens with certain individual random seeds, caused by the positional restrictions I enforced. I solved it relaxing a bit those restriction... Continue reading
• My experience with Godot so far
  June 24, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

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  I wanted to share my earnest opinions about Godot: the good things the engine offers, some of the worrying things I experienced, and also one "bad" thing, about the feature I miss the most after worki... Continue reading
• Detecting when gravity ruins your solution
  June 23, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I talk about the situations where the player solves a shape but then the shape changes as the player moves to collect the sigil. It's an interesting situation to consider, and I believe... Continue reading
• Rebound to Godot's RandomNumberGenerator & pre-splitting levels
  June 21, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show two optimizations I added recently to the game; one involves returning to Godot's internal RNG instead of the custom GDScript one I made (it was rather slow) and another is about... Continue reading
• Changing corridor owners to enhance navigation
  June 19, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I change the way I manage corridors; previously, a corridor was "owned" by the level from which the player came; now, the corridors will be owned by the level that the player is entering... Continue reading
• Ladders bug-fix & Godot's Engine.time_scale for animations
  June 17, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show a bug where some ladders are missing from the corridors (specifically at vertical exits or entrances), and then I simplify the movement speed's management when there are several p... Continue reading
• Hacking level generation to avoid initially hidden ladders
  June 14, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video, I make some adjustments to the level generator to address the issue of ladders being hidden at the start of the game. This could be frustrating for players, so I wanted to improve the e... Continue reading
• Blocking sigils until connected
  June 12, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I "protect" sigils with walls in the generator, until I need to connect them to other levels... Continue reading
• Quick bug-fix: misbehaving corridors
  June 11, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show and fix a small but annoying bug of the level stitcher... Continue reading
• Adding corridors to the iterative stitcher
  June 10, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add the proper corridors between levels to the level stitcher, and tune some construction parameters... Continue reading
• Directional level bags + fake loading = nicer dungeon tree
  June 08, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

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  In this video I show a bit of progress in the final iterative stitcher, using directional entry level bags and fake level loading... Continue reading
• An interesting "race condition" bug
  June 05, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show an interesting bug at the frontier between the level generator and the game... Continue reading
• Falling vs moving down, unnecessary walls, and a new bug
  June 04, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I change the speed of the normal downwards movement (in as opposed to the faster falling movement), think for a while about removing unnecessary walls in corridors, and find an interesti... Continue reading
• Continuous downward input, occluded ladders, stuck lose message
  May 31, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I tackle three small issues that annoy me while I play... Continue reading
• Generating ladders inside levels
  May 29, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I continue with the code for allowing ladders inside levels, this time at the generator level... Continue reading
• Contemplating ladders inside levels
  May 28, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I think a bit about allowing ladders inside levels, and begin implementing the basic logic in the game... Continue reading
• Iterative tree-like connection algorithm, attempt 1
  May 25, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I begin implementing the final idea for the level stitcher: a tree-like iterative approach... Continue reading
• More path-finding refinements and tuning
  May 23, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show more about the new path-finding algorithm. Now I use a smaller-area shape to constrain the step-by-step routing. I add another parameter to visually tune it further... Continue reading
• New pathfinding (instead of Godot AStarGrid2D) for more control
  May 21, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show the current state of the new pathfinding algorithm I want to use in the final stitcher. It's still a bit slow but I have some ideas to make it faster... Continue reading
• Fully-enclosing moats for the stitcher
  May 20, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I implement a partial fix for some of the bad situations in the stitcher, although some bugs remain... Continue reading
• Stitching levels again: corridor and moat shenanigans
  May 16, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I resume the level stitching, partially solving a connectivity bug by enlarging the "moats" around entry points... Continue reading
• Plates and bridges working! Except for a fun bug
  May 14, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show the final touches I made to the plates/bridges mechanic, after so many bugs and design decisions... I think it was a worthy feature to add to the game. There is still some design... Continue reading
• Plates and bridges, part 5: fall is coming
  May 13, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show some solved plate/bridge situations and some still unsolved ones, and analyze possible ways to implement the sequential falling to ensure consistency of behavior... Continue reading
• Plates and bridges, part 4: design conundrums
  May 10, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show some of the interesting conundrums I have encountered while adding this feature to the game. I think it's useful to show this kind of decisions and design problems one encounters... Continue reading
• Pressure plates and bridges, part 3
  May 09, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I continue adding the code for using pressure plates to activate/deactivate bridges/obstacles in the game, and discover some interesting bugs... Continue reading
• Pressure plates and bridges, part 2
  May 08, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I continue adding the code for using pressure plates to activate/deactivate bridges/obstacles in the game, and also the basic parsing of the new symbols in the game... Continue reading
• Pressure plates and bridges, part 1
  May 07, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I begin to add the code for using pressure plates to activate/deactivate bridges/obstacles in the game... Continue reading
• Simplifying the bounce code using tween_method
  May 03, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I simplify the code I added in the previous video by using the tween_method instead of tween_property, which allows for more general manipulations inside arbitrary functions. Featuring t... Continue reading
• Juicing the game with bouncy animations
  May 03, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add some more "juice" to the game, by animating bouncing for invalid moves... Continue reading
• Smoothing transitions from corridors to levels
  May 01, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I make the transitions from a corridor to a new level similar to a normal move, with a smooth sliding move... Continue reading
• Proper 3D bones and separate prefabs for crates
  April 29, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I separate the crate prefab into several prefabs, one for each crate type. This allows for better asset organization and slightly less memory usage... Continue reading
• Skeletal bugs galore & adding a small feature
  April 25, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show several interesting bugs, all related to the new skeletal crates. It turns out that changing the fundamental assumptions of the mechanics can cause bugs, who would have known?... Continue reading
• Fixing an interesting level data bug
  April 23, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix an interesting bug in the level data representation of the game... Continue reading
• Quick fix + new bug
  April 22, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this short video I fix a bug related to the skeletal crates, and find a new bug related to the orientation of some force-fields... Continue reading
• Adding skeletal crates!
  April 19, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add skeletal crates to the game. They are traversable by the player, and cannot be grabbed... Continue reading
• Localizing and customizing the "you lose" dialog
  April 18, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add a bit of localization with the excuse of customizing the "you lost" message (before, we had only one way to die, but now we had two)... Continue reading
• Transient and permanent particles for explosions
  April 17, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add a radioactive effect for the "explosions" that indicates when two radioactive crates are too close, whether or not the move ends in an actual explosion... Continue reading
• Corridor Ladders + Vector2i / Vector3i Confusion
  April 15, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add little ladders to the corridors, in the segments where the player should not be able to float more than 1 meter. I used an approach that promised to be simple, but some confusion a... Continue reading
• A tale of two fixes
  April 11, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix a fun and explosive bug, and I allow the player to climb infinitely inside corridors... Continue reading
• Now with radioactive crates!
  April 10, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add radioactive crates to the game. They are not dangerous on their own, but if you put two next to each other, they will explode... Continue reading
• Fixing a cross-level state contamination bug
  April 08, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix an interesting bug that caused cross-level undo-queue-contamination. I think it's interesting to show these kind of bugs, because open-world (or dungeon) games are in fashion these... Continue reading
• The game got bulkier! New heavy crates
  April 05, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add heavy crates to the game. These crates cannot be lifted, but can be pushed sideways... Continue reading
• Speed tuning, floating and arms effects
  April 03, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I adjust a bit the speedup of the animations, and adapt the floating effect and the arms movement to the new animation system... Continue reading
• Accelerating animations on new input
  April 03, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I try to accelerate the animations to keep up with the player when they want to make several moves rapidly... Continue reading
• Editing my Godot project on Windows 95? Amazing!
  April 01, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

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  #april fool's

  In this video I wanted to show how versatile Godot really is. It runs a bit slow on Windows 95, but it can load my project... Continue reading
• Truncating animations on new input
  March 29, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

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  In this video I add code so that fast input causes animations to end prematurely. This allows for players not to be frustrated if they want to speed-run the game :)... Continue reading
• Causing mayhem with parallel and sequential tweens
  March 28, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add the visual aspect of the movement effects we computed last time. I use parallel tweens inside each stage of movement, and chain all the stages together sequentially, using only one... Continue reading
• Input buffering vs visual movement queuing
  March 27, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I tackle the classic problem of fast-paced input in grid games. Some people use input buffering, but it can have strange issues. I prefer to accelerate or interrupt animations, so I prep... Continue reading
• Implementing the "virtual moat" solution
  March 26, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I implement the "virtual moat" idea from the previous video, and check that it works, at least for isolated pairs of levels. But I suspect I will have to generalize the idea for the comp... Continue reading
• Virtual moats to avoid overworld routing issues
  March 25, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I devise a possible solution for some routing problems in the level stitcher (when an exit can lead to a corridor to which it does not belong) using virtual "moats" that guide the pathfi... Continue reading
• Entering new levels from corridors + cliffhanger
  March 22, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I start to make the code that allows the player to go from a corridor into a new level. I add the basic functionality but discover a weird bug, and leave it as a cliffhanger... Continue reading
• Following the player into some weird corridors
  March 19, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add functionality to the camera so it can follow the player into the corridors between the levels. Also I fix a bug that produced weird corridors because of bad coordinates... Continue reading
• Ensuring Repeatability using the custom RNG
  March 18, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I make sure the loading of the game is always consistent when using the same seed for the RNG. Short video but I think it's interesting to show these kind of "menial" tasks of gamedev :)... Continue reading
• Making (and testing) our own independent RNG
  March 15, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add code for a Random Number Generator that is independent from the Godot internal one, to avoid changes of behavior in future versions of the engine. I also use the Dieharder statisti... Continue reading
• Checking Godot's source to confirm suspicion about AStarGrid2D
  March 14, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

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  In this video I fix another routing bug, related to Godot's AStarGrid2D algorithm. Sometimes one makes assumptions about the behavior of an engine's feature that are simply incorrect. In that case, it... Continue reading
• Fix path overlap, enter/exit logic WIP
  March 13, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix the overlapping of the automatic paths, and begin to think the logic behind the crossing from level to corridor and viceversa... Continue reading
• Automated path-drawing
  March 11, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I begin automating the routing between levels. The first step is to be able to draw a path between the exits of a level towards some arbitrary external point in the world... Continue reading
• FPS-independent map zoom and movement
  March 08, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add the zoom-in and zoom-out capabilities to the map mode, to allow the player to get the "big picture" and/or travel faster to distant levels. I also show how to ensure that the movem... Continue reading
• Avoiding entry/exit interference
  March 04, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I remove some inconvenient situations in the generator, adding pseudo-spaces at certain points of the generation... Continue reading
• Procedural meshes also for the paths
  March 02, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I re-use the procedural mesh generator for the paths between levels, in order to achieve the same look in both of them. Short video, but collected some interesting things for the TODO li... Continue reading
• Design ramblings: the sigil situation
  March 02, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I consider some changes to the nature of the sigils: from exclusively doors, to more general collectibles that sometimes will function as doors... Continue reading
• PathFinding: A* + a pinch of randomness
  February 26, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I use the AStarGrid2D Godot class to test several options for pathfinding, and add a bit of randomness to the too-neat paths it generates... Continue reading
• Trying the GridMap and Path3D nodes
  February 25, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I try the GridMap and Path3D Godot nodes, to think about different approaches on how to stitch the levels together with different kinds of path... Continue reading
• Moving code from the player to the world
  February 22, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I move some code to better organize the logic. Short video, sorry!... Continue reading
• Non-extremal entrances
  February 21, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I modify the generator logic to allow for more potential entrance positions, to have more interesting levels... Continue reading
• Allowing for side entrances
  February 20, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I talk a bit about design ideas for the game overworld/underworld, and add the possibility of side entrances to the levels, to (hopefully) simplify the level-stitcher logic later... Continue reading
• Procedural lava mesh
  February 19, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I convert the lava floors to the procedural mesh system I show in the last videos, sharing vertex and logic information so the wall and lava shapes adapt to each other... Continue reading
• Procedural mesh deformation
  February 17, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I deform a bit the procedural mesh vertices to achieve a less regular looking cave... Continue reading
• More 3D (but weird) procedural mesh
  February 16, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I make the procedural mesh more 3D, by adding the remaining quads, depending on the neighborhood of each "cell". But we discover a weird UV effect that will require more study... Continue reading
• Optimizing framerate: physics and tweens
  February 14, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I further optimize the framerate by disabling some of the physics features and pausing/unpausing some animations at appropriate times. I manage to load 2500 levels faster, and at a smoot... Continue reading
• De-messifying the procedural mesh
  February 14, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I continue the procedural mesh coding, making it load correctly all the walls in the game... Continue reading
• Procedural mesh (or procedural mess?)
  February 13, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I begin investigating ways to optimize the rendering of the game, using a procedural mesh for the walls instead of many individual ones... Continue reading
• Using compression to avoid redundancy
  February 10, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I use a compression trick to determine which treasure locations are too trivially solved along the normal door puzzles... Continue reading
• Treasure solution debugging
  February 09, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I use Godot's Area3D "sensors" to the game so I can see the solutions associated with each treasure point (like I had before for normal sigil solutions)... Continue reading
• Treasure re-positioning
  February 08, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix the placement of the treasure to avoid trivially-reached positions... Continue reading
• Treasure visualization
  February 07, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix some small bugs, add the treasure symbols to the generator output, and parse the new information in the game itself... Continue reading
• Treasure analysis
  February 06, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I analyze possible criteria to select the most convenient places to put treasure in the game... Continue reading
• A measure of treasure
  February 05, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I begin to implement the logic for hiding some treasure in the caves... or at least make it not so easy to reach!... Continue reading
• Cursor for map mode
  February 04, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add a simple but very useful cursor to show the player which level will they play if they exit the map mode... Continue reading
• Map mode exploration limits
  February 03, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix some input interactions between the play mode and the map mode, and add limits to the map movement so the player do not "escape" the playing area... Continue reading
• Map mode switching
  February 02, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  I added a map mode to the game, so in the future the player can return to previously played levels and choose new paths in their adventures... Continue reading
• All is relative (except the player)
  February 01, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I make sure the movement coordinates of the game elements are relative to each level, instead of global. Except for the player of course, that will roam freely between levels some day... Continue reading
• Stitching continues: multi-level loading
  January 31, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I continue massaging the game code to make it load several levels at once, and playing them selectively, moving from one to another animating the camera... Continue reading
• Stitching begins...
  January 30, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I begin preparing the game for the "stitching" of the individual levels into a big cavern overworld (or underworld?). The first task show here is to separate the code for loading the lev... Continue reading
• Profiling is not only for "pros"
  January 29, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this "lucky 13" video I wander for a while in the profiling-optimizing woods. I get lost for a bit, but I think the back and forth is more educational and entertaining than showing a perfect perfor... Continue reading
• Optimization time! (or not?)
  January 28, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  Today I try a small optimization and discover that it's not so fruitful. Lesson learned: measure what to optimize before trying :) Next time I'll try to make some proper profiling. Let me know if it w... Continue reading
• Lava logic in generator and game
  January 26, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I add the lava gameplay logic to the generator and the game, advancing it a bit more... Continue reading
• The floor is lava! (or at least part of it)
  January 25, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I begin to implement lava: some of the floor tiles will be impassable for the player. I add the basic logic into the generator, and leave the burning logic as a cliffhanger... Continue reading
• Redundant glue detection and discussion
  January 24, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I talk about some of the methods and criteria I use in my "automatic curation" process, specifically detection of redundant elements (in this case, glue)... Continue reading
• Game design and procgen: a power couple
  January 23, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show how a game design decision can be experimented with by modifying the level generator of the game. I also add some dynamic visual modifications to the game assets depending on the... Continue reading
• Level and window aspect ratios, handling resize events
  January 22, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I show how to adjust the camera position and distance depending on the aspect ratio of the current level and game window, allowing the player to resize the window without losing informat... Continue reading
• Textures, models, and a fast bug fix
  January 20, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  I show a bit of visual progress: I added some nice textures and a rounder model for the crates. I show how to use Blender files directly in Godot, without having to convert them. And of course, I find... Continue reading
• Fixing a lifting bug
  January 19, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  In this video I fix the group-lifting bug we encountered last session, and explain some of the criteria I plan to use to detect redundant glue... Continue reading
• proper crate sorting, parsing of glue, new bug
  January 18, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  This time I fix a small issue with the internal sorting of the crates in the generator, and finally add the parsing of the glue information to the game. And of course, I discover a new and funny bug... Continue reading
• a bit of serialization and optimization
  January 17, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  I continue with the stickiness serialization and a bit of optimization:... Continue reading
• bugfix + cliffhanger
  January 16, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

  I fix the bug we encountered the last video, and leave an interesting cliffhanger for the next one:... Continue reading
• First public devlog
  January 16, 2024 by Marcos Donnantuoni

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  Hi! Welcome to my new project. Here it is the first public devlog video:... Continue reading