So we're beginning to see the game world's taking shape in our minds and the mechanics that can be utilized within them. I would be testing the mechanics out by sketching puzzle ideas on paper as well as using lego blocks to play through the ideas in real time.

This method was great for figuring out just how much utility each mechanic had, how each mechanic would relate to others and gave me the opportunity to iron out any kinks I saw in their specific functions. Most importantly, it was a quick way to play through a design and make sure it was not only fun to solve, but also solvable in the first place. The best part was, I often had iterated these level designs enough to be very close to a final design before I touched a keyboard!

Once I was satisfied I could make a dozen or so levels out of a set of mechanics, we would lock them in and begin building a Master Scene!

The Master Scene contains all the moving parts of the world. Actors, triggers, the code within the ON INIT of the level and so on. All set up and ready to go. Once complete and debugged (to the best our ability), I could then copy paste this scene, remove the elements I wouldn't need for that specific level, customize a bit of code here and there and set it all up.

Now here is the thing with the Master Scene. In the beginning, Ben was more interested in creating the art and story than anything else. Its what he signed up for after all! We had agreed that since I was creating the levels, I would take the lions share of the coding work so that I would have the best understanding of how to implement the content creation. In my naivity, I figured how hard could it all be? I had made Knit Wit without too much trouble…

But Unearthed is not Knit Wit. 

Within days we both realized that my skills as a coder were lacking when it came to the complex inter-relationships of the mechanics we were implementing. I had only been using GB Studio for 3 months at this point and simply did not have the knowledge required. Luckily, Ben had been using it for more than a year and was up to the task. Despite the fact the he would now be doing way more coding than he signed up for on top of the art and story, he graciously committed to setting up the all important Master Scene, and I would handle customizing each level from that. 

With the Master Scene ready to go, I was free to start implementing the levels for world one and Ben was free to work on artwork for some time (before he would have to return to create a new Master Scene ready for world 2). 

Ben had already begun creating a tile-set that would suit the theme of world 1 - Deep Space Mineral Retrieval (or DSMR) Corps base of operations and the company that Max worked for. But from the outset, when creating the backgrounds for each level, we didn't concern ourselves with finalized art as I would be making minute (or huge) changes to the level designs based on my own play-testing. Instead, I slapped together a placeholder background that would sit there until the level design was finalized and Ben would apply his tile-sets and paint the scene in color thereafter. 

So all in all we had settled on a process for each world's development that seemed to be working for us:

1. Brainstorm ideas together
2. Test the ideas on paper or with lego and make changes to the functionality where necessary
3. Lock the world's mechanics in and build a master scene
4. Start working on the world's art
5. Start designing and implementing the world's levels
6. Playtest the levels and make changes to their design as needed
7. Apply the final art to the background and Sprites

We were starting to really roll with the project at this point. Our process was being defined as we went and for the most part, things were going smoothly. What's more, is that because I am based in Australia and Ben is in the US, the time zones made it possible to work on the project pretty much the whole 24 hour day (if life outside the computer allowed it). I would clock off and Ben would clock in as I was hitting the sack. It's how we managed to get so much done in the three months of the jam. In fact, either Ben or I were working on the project for the last two weeks non-stop. It was always open by someone!

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned with this project is this:

Know your own limitations. 

I had put significant pressure on Ben's time by assuming I could handle the majority of the code myself. To this day, he has coded all the Master Scenes for the Game including all the new worlds and mechanics for the full release. Our process hasn't changed since the jam, but it certainly has relatively less friction these days because I have a better idea of what I am capable of and what Ben is capable of, and vice versa. This is all a hindsight thing, of course. You don't know until you know, you know? 

With projects I have worked on since Unearthed, I now seek collaboration with coders who know what they're doing and can achieve much more than I can with GBS, and I stick to what I know best and actually enjoy, that of game design, content creation and artwork (I am only now tentatively dabbling with GBVM… small steps!)

In any case, we were happy with the direction Unearthed was taking. We assured ourselves that the pressure we were placing ourselves under thanks to our lofty goals and the jam deadline was all going to be worth it!

In the next Devlog, I'll take you through my philosophy on puzzle difficulty and how I approached difficulty flow from level to level and world to world. 

Happy Gaming!

Tom (Gumpy Function)

Want to conrtibute to Unearthed's development?

We're currently looking for people to playtest Unearthed as we finalize its many facets. If you would like to download a beta build of Unearthed and help us smooth out the kinks, please feel free to join Ben's discord here!