And everything changes again.

I LIVE!

A week after the Covid-19 lockdown my laptop's HDD died, and swapping it out was a pain. A few other problems arose and my three-year-old HP laptop dies completely. I was able to cobble together a desktop without internet access (no service where I live). My cousin's phone gets crap reception in my room (but it gets reception); a dongle and tether later I'm able to access the IRS webpage.

Let me spell it out.

Due to my heart condition\s, and the Covid-19 crisis, I'm unable to have gainful employment. I'm also not disabled enough for any kind of help (major vital organ, really?).

My heart is good, just has some electrical problem due to a previous surgery from birth, and other developing problems (my left arm is a bit numb).

I have a lot of aggression. I'd consider it "anger issues" if I didn't have control (I'm being reminded that laziness isn't control). Sterilize-the-planet levels of wrath. This aggression is great for my focus, not so great for my health or control. After the loss of my laptop (and most of my data) I'm livid.

The government stimulated me, so I have a new laptop. I'll spare the details, it's last year's model so I could keep some money. I've meds to buy and plans to lay.

Now where was I?

Little One may have had some files corrupted, I need to re-assemble the project from backups (Always keep multiple backups). I've got some ideas for Adventures' EDGE (I didn't plan well enough for that) and ideas for future projects.

For now I'm just going to try putting all my focus into my projects, and hoping it doesn't hurt me too much. My focus and aggression can cause chest pains, but I'm not sure the precise trigger. Time for some pomodoro rushes.

Pomodoro rush:

The use of several pomodoro intervals (four or more), each focusing on a different task (two or more) in rotation. Breaks optional, but suggested.

So now, my plans:

Little One need to be brought back up and finished, need to ease into that.

Adventures' EDGE might be going 2D. It'll probably get a turn-based battle system as well.

Resources (2D & 3D) might be created and uploaded to OGA.

Eclipse

This post will contain gamedev tips, some concerning Godot, after my depressing rant. I'll pound the area around the rant with some octothorpes.


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Shortly after the corona virus restrictions went into place, my laptop died. First the HD, after I replaced that the wireless and memory failed. In the end my HP laptop fully failed and I lost most of my files. Thankfully, I had backed up the most important files.

I pieced together a desktop running windows 7 for now. I don't have the money to get internet access where I live, and last I checked I don't get service here anyway. I live in a dead zone and have to choose specific phones and services to even get a small signal. After using my phone at a WI-fi hot spot in town to gather drivers and service packs, I was able to run the godot engine and play some games. During some gameplay on my cousin's Xbone, we discovered his phone gets signal in my room, in a very specific area. I'm now connected to a hot spot that isn't much better than dial up.

I'm going to gather my files and try working on games again soon, but with my more limited resources, I'll have some difficulties uploading updates until I can either get better internet or a laptop. It doesn't help that my focus seems to cause delayed chest pains. Since I have no idea how to avoid that, I must fight my own coping methods, ignore the pain, and push myself. While not the best idea, I haven't many other options.


Aggression is great for forward momentum. More dangerous and stimulating than coffee.

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Since I'm slightly depressed I guess, not feeling myself, I'm going to take a break from Little One and fiddle around with Godot some. I'm interested in procedurally generated maps, mostly 2D tile maps. There are great tutorials on using noise to make these maps, mostly.

I found using the help search in the script section of the editor rather useful. Mainly I just generated a flat map that sets either dirt or stone based on the height. This is slightly randomized and doesn't use noise, but noise could be used. I've got a function that makes noise for the caves and removes tiles based on the value when I get the 2d noise of an area. It has seriously reduced the amount of code I need and the map looks better.

For ores I'll be using different noise, choosing an area, and setting ores by height. Overlapping the ore heights will make things look more natural. I'll mostly be replacing solid blocks in chosen areas, with numerous areas randomly sampled or sampled through another method. Once I have the noise modified the way I want, I'll use different noise to shape the hills.

The map will be in three layers; land, fluids, and backgrounds. Fluids will be randomly placed and filled, but will also rely on the land map for placement and flow. Trees and plants might be on the BG area. I'm not concerned with good-looking details, and much of the gameplay will be a mix of minecraft (water,trees), starbound (mining, tools) and terraria (combat, weapons) with some mechanics from interesting mods and myself thrown in (tool modifiers, bombs).

For falling blocks (sand, gravel) I'll most likely remove the tile and add a kinematic object that becomes a tile again once it stops falling. Liquids will be handled as closely to minecraft as possible. Block placing will remove liquids and infinite pools will be planned. Mostly this is because I'm lazy and I don't think godot has fluid dynamics.


There are ideas and plans for this project, but for now it's just me tinkering. Now for some tips.

The noise seed can either be randomized, or you can use a specific world seed.

Write different noise functions to generate noise for different parts of map generation.

Creating functions to generate noise based on parameters will allow easy modification.

Tile Maps can use kinematic physics, or the parent  node's physics. This should allow an area to be used for the liquids.

A tile map's tile set can be changed or modified during game play.
 Swap a tile and nobody cares, swap a sprite in the tile set and the whole map updates.

"invx128y32" Use similar keys in a dictionary of inventories to keep track of chests at almost any position. I just hope some player doesn't try filling the world with chests. X & Y should correspond with the chest's position.

If the map is modified by the player (mining, bombs) write a function to check surrounding tiles for any actions they need to take (flowing, falling).

Liquids should try flowing down first, then sideways. I'll most likely place iquid tiles below and flow tiles to the side

Create dictionaries and lookup tables to keep track of tiles and what can affect them.


And finally:

Map generation can take some time with all the loops and actions. Rendering the map as it is generated can cause even more lag and freezes.

Set the tile map's visibility to false before generating the map, then back to true after. The map generates far faster with no visuals.

The Wall

Every single time. Every Single Time!

I keep finding new bugs in Little One. Recently I realized there were problems with the critter loading and egg dropping. It took a day to fix them, but I wanted to get so many other things done. The object loading also caused a bit of lag in the beginning, so I distributed the loading over several frames. Basically, instead of looping and loading a list of objects at once, I just loaded one object per frame. Many process functions are just infinite loops.

Constant bug-fixing is starting to get depressing. With a library of resources and assets, game creation might be faster. Sure there are many different asset sources, but the assets must fit with the game you are making. Some assets are too common. Dozens of barrels and crates can be found easy, but a fully animated character or enemy is rater hard; especially if you need a specific design.

I'm considering re-using assets from my projects, and even releasing them under permissive licenses on open game art. Asset creation can become boring if you need to make a lot of assets. Creating assets randomly for others might not be the best idea. Having a plan, or creating a full asset set is a better idea.The main reason I prefer to use my own assets is the licenses. I don't mind giving credit, but I don't want to forget to give credit.

My plans after I'm done with Little One will be to slowly release select assets first. I'll focus on planning a few different games with cross-asset use. Minor assets will be modified or created during the planning stage. These assets I make might be released publicly before the game is done.

Every month Little on isn't completed feels like a failure. I keep plugging away at it, but the downloads still remain at zero. If others did play my game, they might not like finding crashing bugs. While I'd like to have help finding bugs, I know there will be toxic people who would hate finding a bug in their game. That could become even more stressful.

Size and complexity also makes game creation take longer. Lack of planning also makes game development harder. I'm going to try detail-planning my games and trying to simplify the mechanics as much as possible. Useless or over-complex things will be dropped or modified.

The next game I'll be working on will probably be Blue Bloom. This will be the game I create and refine my planning process. The idea will be to use numbers under ten (0-9) to structure the planning. I think having restrictions from the start might help the planning process.

There is a link here where you can get Little One. Get it before it updates and all the good bugs get patched.

Mechanically Disinclined

You've got a fantastic game idea, don't you? Listed all the things you want to be in it and put in a little planning, right? Maybe you've planned the maps and resources needed as well? Now you are just sitting there, wondering where to start. Enemies, crafting, inventory, which mechanic should you start upon?

The place to start in any major project is the foundation. In games, that would be the core mechanic. There are several types of mechanics in games, core, supporting, challenge, and extra/other. I'll go over these mechanics so you can better identify them and choose the actual core mechanic.

Core mechanics, although there is usually just one, are used throughout the game; or to beat the game. Minecraft is obviously crafting, since you have to craft tools, weapons, and armor to progress. Mario games have Mario's base moveset (jump, punch, kick) as the core mechanic. Fighting games have character movesets as the core mechanic. Can you guess Pokemon's core mechanic? It's not capturing, but battling. You have to battle to progress or win the game, like any base RPG, but capturing is needed to get more characters to battle with. Capturing is a support mechanic.

Support mechanics are used to support the core gameplay. Minecraft has mining. You have to mine wood to get materials to craft tools for more mining. Mario usually has support pickups (mushroom, fire flower, tanuki) while most fighting games just use the core mechanic. With Pokemon, capturing is the support mechanic to get characters to battle with (no capture nuzlocke anyone). Most challeng mechanics are used to control the games pacing or make it more fun. If you could just beat Bowser without collecting the macguffins and unlocking the worlds, Mario games would be boring.

Challenge mechanics are used to give the player a challenge. For most games, this is usually the enemies you fight. Sometimes the challenge mechanic is a support mechanic as well, like in Pokemon. Minecraft would be even more boring without the mobs to kill, but it would still be nice to explore. Timers, puzzles, goals, and achievements are usually challenge mechanics. Anything that is used to determine/cause a losing scenario is usually a challenge mechanic. Player stats are a great example of a simple challenge mechanic.

Now for the final type of mechanic. Extra/other mechanic usually don't affect gameplay much, but it can add to it. For Pokemon, the trading mechanic is extra. All the Pokemon could be in a single game, but trading was added to expand the game. Similarly, items in Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart are extra (but fun) mechanics. Wile these extra mechanics add to the game, too many can bog down the game or expand development times (going to ludicrous dev time). If it isn't a core or support mechanic, work can usually be delayed upon it.

Some things to consider about mechanics. Some games are just a core mechanic (fighting games). The advertised mechanics are not always the core mechanic (pokemon). Some games can have either two core mechanics, or core/support symbiosis (minecraft) where the core and support mechanics work together to hold up the game. Core mechanics can also support other mechanics. Extra and challenge mechanics should be the last worked on and the first to be cut. Online play is almost always an extra mechanic. Inventories are almost always a support mechanic.

You should almost always work on the core or support mechanic first. As a developer, you can give yourself the macguffins needed to use the core mechanic. Unless the core mechanic really needs a support mechanic, start with the core mechanic. Mechanic don't have to be perfect, just working; polish can come later.

Little One just had two main mechanics when I started, the vacucell collector and farming. Item collection was the core mechanic and farming was actually supposed to support a challenge mechanic. Those were the first two mechanics I started with.

Blue Bloom has several mechanics, more than Little One. I was confused at first what mechanic to start upon, but crafting will be the core mechanic. Resource collection will be a support mechanic with the flora and fauna being challenge mechanics. In fact, Blue Bloom will have several challenge mechanics.

Fragmented Post

I'll be posting on a few different subjects in this post, so scroll to the bolded area that interests you.


Game Optimizing Tip: Conga Loading

Adding and removing objects from a game can cause a bit of lag. This is evident when dealing with numerous objects that need to be loaded/unloaded. This is why I usually just move existing objects around, like raindrops or particle effects. The bigger problem comes from objects that have to be swapped out, like NPCs or monsters. You don't want enemies milling about hundreds of units away from the player, and capping the spawn rate makes this worse. Still, removing all those unrendered  monsters and adding fresh could cause a dip in frame rate. Why not deal with them singularly?

The idea is to connect signals between the monster and a router node. The router node can be anything, but it needs a script to handle signals and connecting them. Signal connection via script is a bit tricky, so I won't go over it here, but it is a great skill to learn.

When the monster/NPC need to be unloaded, or a node needs to load an entity, it first polls the router with a signal containing itself and a request for the action. The router then adds this node to a list of either incoming, or outgoing. While running, the router swaps between out or in (boolean value) every tenth or twentieth of a second. If there are nodes queried,  then a signal is sent allowing the node to either add something, or remove itself. This allows for a single-in single-out entity loading system, reducing load.

To do something every second, or second-fragment, use a delta timer. This is just a variable that has the delta, or frame time, added to it. Once it reaches a specific amount or greater, an if statement allows some code to be run and the timer variable is reset to 0.

Who Duolingo: Tips for Duolingo

I use the Duolingo app to learn Spanish. While it won't make you a pro, it will give you the skills to converse a bit in another language. Here are several tips and things I've noticed.

Start with small daily goals until you get used to the app. Daily goals can be changed in the app settings, usually a gear or those three dots. I started small and worked my way up to the highest amount.

Double mint lingots.With a few exceptions, you get lingots when you meet daily goals or complete a level. You can sometimes watch an ad to double those lingots. When on wi-fi, go ahead and double the lingots. On data I don't watch the ad unless I am doubling two or more lingots. Lingots are useful for doing tests, getting a few extras, and getting more lingots. If you have plus, lingots lose some of their value. I think you can also give lingots to others by upvoting their comments on a lesson (the speech bubble when you complete a lesson).

Gotta do my stories. Sometime around the second section, I unlocked the stories.These are short stories that are easy and short. They tend to give over twenty XP for each one and usually take a few minutes. Since you can re-do the stories, this is the bet way to get plenty of XP. However, reaching the daily goal this way will NOT earn any lingots. Using it to get close, then doing a lesson or practice for the remainder, will give you lingots. XP boost does not work with stories.

Double XP may not be free. Occasionally, the shop will allow you to get double the XP from your lessons, but it is a bit complicated. Reaching your daily goal under this juice won't net you any lingots. reaching another level will get you lingots. Using the XP boost doesn't work on stories. I'd avoid using the XP boost until you have reached the daily goal, to maximize points and lingots.

Testing 1-2 testing 1-2. When you start a lesson, or course, there is a light-bulb and a key. The light-bulb opens a primer on the lesson, giving you tips. The key allows you to take a test and level-up the course. For just five lingots (or zero with plus) you can level up your skills. This is useful if you are good at a course and are getting bored, but sometimes it is better to do the entire course instead. A successful test nets twenty points, failure nets a disappointed Duo. If you fail, either finish the course normally, or try again later (like a day or more).

The hard easy is an easy hard. You may notice that some lessons are harder than others. Tests are no exception, so it is better to take a test after a hard lesson. This gives a greater chance that the test will be a bit easier. There is no guarantee, but it can help.

Slow and steady wins the test. Slowing the dialog on lessons that have dialog may be annoying, but don't take chances during a test. You may think you have the listening skills down cold, but some vocalists are better than others and I've let my pride fail me a few times. Personally, I'd take every hint that Duo gives, especially when I'm a little unsure. Since tests don't have many hints, I'd slow the dialog for a slight edge.

You know nothing, and the birb knows it. Each section has several courses. At the end of a section, there is a test. In my foolishness, I assumed I knew some Spanish. From ZERO to TEN I chose one and was promptly put in my place for my pride. Starting at zero, especially for the first section test, is advisable.

Report it. Duolingo isn't perfect. Sometimes it gives you wrong hints or an answer you give should be accepted. At the end of a lesson, you can ether see user's comments (text baloon) or report a problem (flag). If there is a problem, flag it and explain it. Together we can make Duolingo better. Try to be respectful, unlike me; I tend to have a temper.

Green and red. Correct answers get a green popup while wrong answers get a red popup. Those popups can obscure your answer, hindering learning. Touch a blank area of the popup to slide it down. Now you can check how wrong you were and learn from it.

Play for me, Little One

I had a plan to finish Little One by the end of 2019. That didn't pan out like I had hoped. Most of the items left to add are minor and I could add two or three per day. Since there is another project I wish to get started upon, I'll probably default to adding an item to Little One each day and focus on my next project. For now I'm just trying to make sure Little One is in a beatable form before the next update. The ending will be sparse, and I'll add both it and the opening later, but it should be completable.

My plan is to rest for New Years (eve, day, and day after). I'll try to upload a build on the last day of 2019, but I have to pick up some medicine that day and this post won't be tweeted until that day or after. On the days I'm resting, I'll flesh out the plans for my next project. The ending scenarios are planned, so I'll work back from those. Mostly, I'll be listing the mechanics and writing pseudo-code for them.

The openings and endings of my project may be done with vector art. It seems easier to make several panel images and flip through them like a book. Text will probably accommodate the images. Since I'm doing this alone, and some days are better than others, I'll take the route of least resistance.

Aside from the story images, there are a few things to add before Little One is feature-complete. The critters need animations and additional coding. Beasts need to be planned, modeled, ect. Several parts will need models and textures before being added. Part droppers need to be coded and added. Player damage, sleeping, and recovery needs to be coded. Several props and a couple dialog elements are still missing. I'm going to try getting the vacucell to suck up other liquids, and the critters will bring several items to the game. Many of the building upgrades are unfinished as well, and need models, textures, and programming.


Better as of late than never.


 Yesterday (12-29-19) I felt like I was moving through molasses. I managed to get the material droppers done and in the game. These drop a few materials daily to assist with building and part creation. After a nap I felt much better, but I usually relax after I take my meds at six.

I've added quite a few things to Little One. Mostly the parts and upgrades crafting. The upgrades seemed to work well without any extra coding in other areas. Sometimes I'll go to add something just to learn it's either there already, or I've done the preliminary work; making a feature easier to add. Keeping future and related features in mind as you program will help you add the needed functions and code to support future additions. Planning can help immensely as well, and I should have planned Little One a bit more.

Rush is quite a drug.

You've put it off long enough. There is a stack of work to do and the deadline is fast approaching. Past self has played and laughed and it's time for future self to pay up. In a fit of panic you get started and do three days worth of work in a single night. The quality is fair, the efforts exhausting, and there is little time to rest. At least you had fun until then.

Usually this can be avoided if you just start small and work your way up, but it was my favorite way to work. That strung-out feeling is adrenaline, a chemical your brain produces in response to threats. I'd agree that a deadline is a threat, but it was made that way through the magic of procrastination. While I enjoy rush jobs, I have a problem.

The adrenaline my body produces causes chest pains. Sometimes it's discomfort when I slow down, other times it's terrible pain a day or two after. Here are the two major problems. Little one has about a week and change to be completed, and I'll be trying to build a bigger game within the space of a month. Add to that the last bits of planning for my next project has to be done this month.

Little one doesn't have too much more. The NPCs are done, player seems solid, critters are coming along. I'll have to finish up the critters, add some props, add the parts, and program the upgrades and part fabricators. Most of the programming is already done, I just have to make a ton of assets to add.

Textures and animations will take the most time. I might drop some features and add them later. Beasts and difficulty levels seem like the first to be dropped. The parts needed may be dropped to 20. Simple upgrades will include inventory cells, energy and health boosts. This week is going to be hard.

My next project was to make a game in two months; one bigger than little one. I wish I had spent more time planning, but I should have plenty of resources. Some of the things made for it will be added to Little One and vice-versa.  The map needs added detail and grid separation. For brevity, I'll put together the endings and work backward from there. This game's current design is just a list of notes.

The final two days of this month will be used to flesh out Little One a bit. I'm hoping I can get the opening and ending scenes together, but they'll probably just be vector images. New year's and the day after will be filled with numerous tests and final planning to get my next project up. Once done, I'll furiously prep the player and several resources, mostly from other resources I have. My collection of failures will help this next project succeed.

Everything is burnt.

The wired mouse I normally take with me is failing. It could only be used on flat surfaces, but now it keeps disconnecting. I'm currently using a wireless mouse, but its middle button doesn't really click with me. There is another wired mouse at home, but I don't want it to fail. Either I'll have to acquire a new mouse, or deal with the wireless one when I'm in town.

I haven't been doing much on Little One these past two days, mostly my fault. Pushing myself too hard in any endeavor causes chest pains and burns me out. A health-protecting system my subconscious uses to prevent this pain is just to use burnout and depression against me. Sure, the pain isn't good, but I want to finish Little One this month.

The NPC accessories, animations, and textures are mostly done. Importing and assembling won't take long, but the dialog should still be written. Saturday I'll rest a bit, but I'm just going to ignore my body's protests and slowly pick up speed. The real problem is getting started, once I get momentum, I'm near-unstoppable.When my coding reaches 88 lines per hour, you're going to see some serious bugs.

I'll probably do a ton of planning on my two-month project this weekend. I'll have to get the planning done on that by month's end as well. Normally that would add more work and stress, but zero-sort is another stress reduction method.

Zero-sort operates on high-low impact balancing. If something causes higher stress than benefits, ignore it or break it down. Low-impact (result) options can also be chucked. When the value isn't worth the effort, postpone or chuck the idea. Bundle many smaller tasks into a relaxing time of fixing things. This is the low-stress low-value tasks that seem too small until enough pile up; it's like dusting off crumbs.Blog posts are low-stress but can have a nice impact. Rushing a few features to get a timely release is high-stress. If you have been regular with your updates, skipping one isn't a big deal.

This method is useful in decisions or cleaning/sorting items. Mainly, make any indecision into a specific answer, like yes or no. If I'm undecided, I almost always choose NO. When cleaning/sorting keep the things you want and get rid of the rest. If you just get rid of the things you don't want, you'll have a lot of maybe items that take up space. If it's clearly useful, keep it. If someone else can use it, pass it on.

I may be my own worst enemy, but I'm one of the few people I can fully depend upon, even if I cant always understand myself.

Doing things by half

Lately I've noticed something odd in the godot engine. My framerate dipped to 20fps and the max for an empty scene was 30fps. Sure, I've been adding stuff to Little One, but that frame drop was uncalled for. Clamping the framerate at 30fps was a bit unusual, so I did some digging.

Checking my laptop's processor in the task manager, I noticed that only half of my processor's power was being used. I'm pretty sure this was new. My screen's refresh rate was set at 60Hertz, so that wasn't the problem, or was it. Looking on the internet, I found a solution that worked; but I had to change a couple registry values.

Little One's frames went back to full, but "full" is still 30fps. Somehow the refresh rate indicated in the graphics settings is not the rate of my actual computer. With vSync on, godot runs at a max of 30fps. Without it, it could be more, but it still seems to be 30fps. Even with my processor now running at full, I'm still mired at 30 fps. I'll be checking my graphics drivers to see if I need to update.

Either an update fouled something up (most likely), or this is intentional. Why would Microsoft truncate the processing power of a computer? Is it to keep the PC from overheating or crashing? (LOL, I doubt that) Could it be because my laptop is over three years old? I'd assume it's because I have an AMD processor, but intel processors are also being slowed.

Personally I despise my laptop's speed being reduced which is why I messed with the registry settings. The hobbled refresh rate is another matter, but that's difficult to notice unless you're an indie dev.

Speaking of Little One, I've been editing the maps to make them easier to navigate (at all). I'm also testing out shadows, may have to add a flashlight. The caves should be navigable and the spire fields are actually explorable. The player model is in and has animations, but I'm not using the animations yet. I might have to refactor the player or create a secondary version, but that can wait. There are gates to destroy throughout the map, and their destruction is saved with the game.

Worst Laid Plans

I'm starting to see the working on video games needs a bit of balance. It takes planning, resolve, and steady progress to complete a game. Little One needed more planning before I started, but I'll put more into planning with the next project.

I should plan the critters and beasts, along with the parts needed. Some parts you'll have to find, others need to be fabricated. I'll have to model, texture, and animate these things as well. Minor static objects are not that bad, but animated, organic, or complex objects take the most time. Tubes and gears are easy, engines and ants tend to be more complex.

The player and NPC animations are simple and mostly done. Usually you can get away with just a walk animation for NPCs and maybe an attack animations for enemies. Bosses take far more work, as much or more than the player. The textures are also basic and need some work, but I still need to model NPC accessories.

Plants and resources need to be distributed across the map for the player to find. I might have a ship somewhere on my PC, along with some other resources. Might take stock of, and arrange all the old models I've made. It's time I gathered my resources and started a collection for later projects.

That's the good thing, even in failure you learn and gather resources. I advise keeping models, textures, and sprites; they may be useful someday.

Posts Versions: RED & BLUE

Might as well be walking on the sun.

 Match 3 or more, tap that group of blocks, connect every image of the same color. 

Fendish

Tasty!

Slumageddon

Delicious!

And yet, you lost. You still have more lives/energy/McGuffins so try again. Different parameters, power-ups, or strategy and you could win.

Your hearts are full!

Your fiends are full of energy!

Limited time to complete the challenge.

PLAY NOW!

It's all random, just luck based.

You think so, right?

Welcome to being wrong.

Look close at the fun little games you play. That time you should have been defeated, or the time you should have won. Blocks of the color you need are strangely rare this time, or power-ups are a bit hard to find. This is by design. Some games are programmed to help the player, others to hinder. It's not "Surprise Mechanics" it's programming.

I'll share some things I've noticed about Best Fiends. Mainly because I play it at times, and it's generous (except with the gold). You start with a single fiend and have to connect items of the same color to "attack" and defeat slugs. You can unlock\buy other fiends and their styles and level them up. If you lose a level, just ten gold for five moves (terrible deal). Playing over 500 levels I've noticed some things.

Fiends power up differently on different levels. One one level it would take twelve matches to power up a fiend; the next takes two or three times that. Understandable when some levels give you more moves.

Fiends power up differently in general. Depending on the power they have, the color they collect, or even the goals of the level; fiends power up differently.

Some levels start with the same items in the same places. It's not just the bombs or the item volcanoes, I've seen the same "block" patterns at the start of several levels. This shows that not everything is random and things can be controlled.

Items fall behind other items. Items should fall down when you remove stuff below them, right? All nice and orderly? Most people might not notice it, but I've seen an item fall behind another item, breaking a possible grand combo or last-move win. I'm not talking about items falling down a slope of other items; falling directly behind another item. This could be a glitch, but it doesn't seem frequent enough.

Some levels don't have items of a certain color. This happens mostly on smaller levels, making large combos easier. The color is not needed, and neither is the fiend. If a color can be omitted, then the amount dropped might also be controlled.

Needed colors seem rare. Sure, matching small groups of colors to make large combos with other colors is a strategy. But when only three of a particular color have dropped in the last five moves, something's fishy. I'm not talking about the levels where you have to "free" the color from slime and match an amount of it to "unlock" it. Juts regular levels with irregular scarcity.

You have to "unlock" the color before it starts dropping it. Now I'm talking about those levels. There are blocks of the color hidden under slime. Remove the slime and match\blast enough and they'll start dropping. Now you can collect enough to complete a challenge, maybe.

Needed colors seem numerous.They are letting you win, don't you feel special. Sometimes you'll start a level and there are more than enough of the color you need to collect. So many you don't need a converter power-up. Just make sure you complete the other goals for the level.

Some power-ups have exact placements. Usually, on any chain that completes a power up, the power-up drops at the column you started the chain. Sometimes an obstruction will change that, but it's a nice trick to place power-ups (Ru's bomb) at opportune spots.

Facts:
Color drops can be turned off/on even during a level.
Fiends power up at different rates for different reasons.
Some levels start with the same pattern every time.

Rumors:
The amount of a color can be controlled.
Items can arrange themselves when falling.
An entire level's drops could be arranged from start to finish.
The placement of "block" and item drops could be controlled.

Like with any game, the player doesn't know the extent of control the game has. From keeping the player alive, to arranging drops, anything could be controlled. Far more than people realize, and some games are less friendly than others. Some seem innocent, but watch the patterns.

An extra bit of control can make the game more/less challenging, or it can control the player.

To Kill an Indie Game Dev

For those of you who don't know, I have a heart condition; two actually. I was born with a congenital heart defect called Tricuspid Atresia. This means the tricuspid heart valve is missing or abnormally developed. The defect blocks blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle. A couple surgeries, when I was a few months old and again at two years, "fixed" the problem. I was on medicaid until I was about thirteen, or maybe a little younger. I was living with a guardian who felt it wasn't worth it to pursue my medicaid. My God bless his special heart. That's a southern insult/curse.

At around 16 I moved back with my mother, who had remarried (my father died from cancer when I was about eleven). I got my G.E.D. and mostly did physical labor to earn enough for what I wanted. Went to college, the second time I got degrees in networking and web design. This was a community college and it was almost a decade ago. Then, around early 2017 I noticed my heart didn't feel right.

It felt like someone squeezing my heart. I was out of breath, tingly everywhere, lightheaded, and I felt pressure in my chest. After a week or two of this, I went to the doctor. The EKG machine look about as old as me, but the doctor was skilled and nice. She diagnosed me with Atrial Flutter, a type of abnormal heart rhythm. Atrial Flutter is similar to AFib, but the beats are more regular. Basically, the top chambers of the heart beats 2-3x faster than the bottom chambers. I was originally prescribed aspirin and metoprolol.Later I was taken off aspirin and put on xarelto, another blood thinner.

Let's put this into stark relief for those that don't quite get it. I naturally have a fast heart rate and low blood pressure. The Atrial Flutter is triggered by an increase in my heart rate. The medicines I take lower blood pressure and thin my blood. Even standing can trigger my Atrial Flutter if I don't take my medicine. Most physical activity reduces the effect of my medicine. 

I live in the United States.

It is a shame that I need disability to get medicaid. I just want proper medical treatment for my heart, without being slaughtered by debt. This could have been fixed years ago, but the government is dragging this out, hoping I'll die or get discouraged. Thus, I'll be trying to do what I can to get support, but nobody seems to care. Attempted negligent homicide, and I'm not allowed to properly defend myself..

The symptoms are getting worse. Stress now causes near-debilitating chest pains, and my left arm has gone numb twice in two months. My new years resolution is to remove the threats to my health and well-being; permanently.

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AE :: Mumbly Joe

Developing video games is harder than most people expect; that is the biggest reason many fail or abandon projects. The release date for my game may need to move up, but I think I am still on schedule. The prospect of writing the velocity script frightens me; this script will "play" the inactive maps and take care of the NPCs. I have decided to only have one main type of town. This plan will make most of the towns look similar, but will reduce my work load. I hope people will play this game; else, all is for naught. To increase my creativity I wrote a simple word generation script and posted it on BlenderArtists.