longlivetheprincess

Progress Report

Added 2023-01-06 19:43:52 +0000 UTC

Greetings, everyone!

It's going to be another boring update about particle effects this week, sorry. Once you start experimenting with highly technical challenges like this, progress can appear slow on the outside. Rest assured, however; the end is in sight!

The current state of the system is that I'm making pleasant fire/explosion effects with a reasonable degree of control over how they look and how long they last. I have placed these effects on top of the user interface and other graphics, so I'm finally ready to start adding these effects to the gameplay loop. In the interest of pushing forward, I won't overload the game with particle effects just yet. However, I intend to use them for some of the most central mechanics, especially when you directly attack challenge cards. I want the cards to literally explode on the screen when you do so, and the more damage you do, the bigger the explosion (and accompanying sound effect). I'm really close to making this a reality.

One thing I sadly couldn't figure out how to accomplish, at least not without dedicating serious time to it, was adding gravity to the particle effects. It's no big deal, but it would have been nice. There are ways for me to get around it, but they would require a lot of detail work that I don't feel like I can afford to put in right now. After all, you're all still waiting for me to deliver a playable version of the prototype, so I can't spend an eternity fiddling with relatively inconsequential details.

I could show off another video of what the effects look like now, but I think I'll save it until I can demonstrate the full effect soon. It's not going to be anything special compared to typical games. Still, for a Ren'py game, my labors' results should make Supermodel stick out in the crowd. Or so I hope. Fingers crossed, anyway.

With Christmas and New Year celebrations over, there should be few distractions in the immediate future. This bodes well for development, and I will be sure to take advantage of this opportunity.

Until next time!