Mirror Match Devlog

Sept 17

My first idea for this project is to recreate Minesweeper, but with a twist. This is something I've already been pondering over the past summer. 

An approach I like to take with game design is to take something that already exists and try to alter an element that I dislike. In the case of Minesweeper, I like how the challenge of deducing mine locations is not to difficult to grasp, but still requires engagement. What I dislike, however, is how you can still sometimes end up in an ambiguous spot where you just have to take a chance. 

I've never considered myself very good at puzzle games, and I worry that I will end up designing something that is either just frustrating to play, or even worse, potentially impossible to solve. Therefore, I am attracted to the idea of taking an already very well established game/mechanic/rule so I can safely assume the player will already understand how to play from the start. If I can make that work, then I can add a twist.

Maybe introducing some kind of risk/reward element into Minesweeper would be good, but as of yet I'm not sure how to do that.

In any case, there are a few examples online of building Minesweeper in Godot. I'll start with that and see where it takes me.

Sept 19

At this point, I've made some progress in Godot, but I'm feeling kind of discouraged. The game isn't really functioning properly, and I feel a bit like I've just been wasting time. I'm finding it hard enough to get the game working, and I still don't have any ideas for making the game more interesting.

Sept 22

So, I was feeling pretty crummy. The game just was just riddled with bugs and I felt like I was just banging my head against the wall. It's usually my instinct in these situations to just grit my teeth and keep working away, but the siren call of Silksong was far too tempting.

But as luck would have it, I ended up getting inspiration! The boss I was fighting has a mechanic where it moves in a straight line, telegraphed by a beam of light that shines in the direction it's about to move. This put the idea of raycasting in my head.

So here's my new idea. A game about lasers and mirrors. I'll create a grid-based puzzle where you place mirrors that face different angles, and challenge the player to create a particular pattern with the lasers.

The thing that I like about this, is that if I build the tools necessary to make the game function, I've also guaranteed that the puzzles won't be impossible because I'll need to use the same tools the player has access to just to build the level in the first place.

It's hard to say why I'm so concerned about this, but I'm just very worried about inadvertently creating an unsolvable puzzle. I'm really not very good at puzzles, and I don't feel confident that I can design good ones. 

It feels wrong to throw my previous idea aside like this, but it really wasn't working. I'm very much used to the process of sticking with an idea and seeing it through, but I guess the minesweeper game just wasn't a great idea? Either way, negative talk won't help me.

I've found some more tutorials online, so I'll give them a go and see what I come up with.

Sept 30

So the idea has evolved a little bit, now that I'm working on it. The idea of recreating patterns is out, because it felt a little too abstract. Instead, I have placed nice shiny crystals that need to be hit with the laser in order to win the level.

As expected, the biggest challenge I’m facing is coding. While it is challenging, it’s not insurmountable. It’s just funny to me how some tasks prove extremely difficult while others are a piece of cake. Getting the Area2D nodes to properly interact 

It feels kind of good to be using Godot again, though. I find myself looking forward to having to solve the problems. It’s a good workout for the ol’ noggin. 

At this point, I have level transitions working, the laser works, you can rotate the laser, the crystals light up, the mirrors reflect properly, everything is coming together. (It's very gratifying to watch the beam move as the laser emitter rotates.)

Tomorrow I intend to figure out the drag/drop mechanism, as well as figure out how to implement a signal bus. I'm starting to feel a little doubtful that the drag/drop is actually necessary, but I'll give it a go either way.

Oct 1

Everything is functional! Turns out the drag/drop thing was a good idea after all. It certainly created a few bugs to squash, but I managed to solve most of them. (The only bugs right now are merely graphical, so it's not that big a deal.) 

Oct 7

I ended up removing the ability to rotate the laser. I had initially had it there because it’s fun to see the laser beam move, but I realized I can do that by holding the mirror up to it. It’s kinda funny that I was trying to stop that from happening, but then I realized it actually enhances the experience.

I had a really interesting experience when designing board 4. It had never occurred to me that a laser could bounce off the same mirror twice, but I ended up accidentally making that happen while moving the pieces around. I decided it would be a good idea to incorporate it into the puzzle, and so far everyone who has playtested it has really liked it. It almost feels like a proper quality puzzle! 

I still don’t think of myself as much of a puzzle person, but it was very gratifying nonetheless.

The only trouble now, is that I find myself wanting more puzzle elements. Something like doors and switches would probably be extremely helpful in creating new puzzles. I don't want to just create a bunch of simple filler puzzles. But, unfortunately the project is due tomorrow, and I have lots of other assignments to keep me busy. 

So, there we are!