The Smol Things

Hello everyone, here's an update with where Smol Kobold Garden is at currently.

I've been very hesitant with releasing Smol Kobold Garden in it's current state. The game looks very rushed because it basically was very rushed. I have been polishing it up as best as I can and I've also taken this opportunity to rewrite major parts of the game with it being early on still, it would benefit from these changes rather than later.

The largest change was switching from using a state machine to a stack-based state machine for the games flow and logic. The game is divided into different states that it can be in at one time, from menu states to the in-game state to shop and mini-game states. In the previous system when switching sates, the state has to completely start over again, reinitializing itself which can be intensive when dealing with many bolds and items at a time. With a stack based system, the current state can be saved by pushing it down the stack and having the new state added to the top, making it the current state. Then when I want to switch back to the older state I can simply "pop" it off the stack, pushing the old state back to the top, allowing us to continue from where it left off with all its context and variables intact. This saves a lot on processing and memory from not having to reload heavy states from the start each time.

I'm also thinking of changing the design of the main area completely as it looks a little underwhelming but it depends on how much time I take with it. If it takes too long I may release the area as is and update it later in a future update post-release.

I also want to address ones who worry that I'm taking too long on Smol Kobold Garden and taking time away from the main Kobold Garden game. Most of the major systems being used here like the state machine, the kobold ai, and interaction systems can and will be used in the main game as well. So once we get back to the main game, things will go along much faster as most of the hard work has already been done.

I will also make an effort to update more frequently throughout the week so you guys have a better grasp of where the game is at and when it's release will be.

Thank you for your continued support during this time in development, it's been a very long and stressful journey but your support is whats been holding everything together and the finish line is in sight. I hope to reward your deserved efforts with really great games we can all enjoy!