This past month, as I mentioned in the subtitle, has felt like I haven't been getting as much done as I should. There are a few reasons for that, but at the same time, I still see it as forward progress.
After putting out all my initial content in December/January, I had a surprising number of companies reach out about things like publishing, localization, art, sound design...etc. A big part of what I enjoy in game development is actually doing a lot of those things myself. Sure, some of them can be tedious, but they’re all part of the process. Since I'm still new to the industry, I also wanted to take the time to learn about these different services, which meant sitting down for calls with every single person who reached out. That was both time-consuming and stressful, but I’m getting better at it, and it’s definitely something I need to keep working on.
Because of all these conversations and industry learning experiences, I haven’t had as many long, focused work sessions on the game itself. So yes, from a pure game development standpoint, I could be doing more. But in terms of learning and expanding my understanding of the industry, I’ve grown more in the past month than I have in the last seven years of making games. And that’s still progress, just in a different way.
It’s also tough because so much of the work happens behind the scenes. Sometimes it takes me a couple of days just to fix a bug that needs to be fixed, or to rework a mechanic that I know will pay off in the future. Because of that, I don’t always have something flashy to post like, “Look at this brand-new mechanic I just added, woah!” But I have to remind myself that this is all part of the process. As long as I’m working on the game and making forward progress, that’s what really matters.
But I did just make that NEW TRAILER which was pretty cool!
I'll quickly cover the things that I've added into the game as well in the past month.
New Stuff
- points earned from snowballs
- lodge (unfinished)
- text chat local/global
- voice muffling (when behind certain "hard" walls)
- camera rework
- cannons with added in-air ragdoll control
- reworked sleds to be "seats" (this is for overall combining of mechanics)
- key rebinding options
- emotes / new sitting animations
- muting / volume control
- names over players heads
- racing (finished? maybe? it's pretty close)
Going Forward
There's a couple things that I have planned for the near future
Controller Support
I think controller support is a big feature. There won't be a lot to show (it's one of those "behind the scenes" mechanics) but for the long term I think people will appreciate it.
Some other ones which might be nice:
- radio chat (or some form of party chat)
- shoving players (I think the more player interaction the better)
- visual assets (fences, rocks, more trees) I think this could help greatly with the immersion of the map
- changing some visual feedback (leaning on sled and others that I can't think of right now)
- maybe rework snow (the current system doesn't work with no light source, so night time can't be a thing right now)
- snowmen making (and breaking)
- hot cocoa dispenser
- skate park area
I realize some of these things will take longer than I expect and so maybe this isn't a "next month" type of thing, but these are definitely some priorities when it comes to future updates.
If you haven't seen the new trailer, check it out here!
It was a lot of fun to work on!
Follow Along with Development
- Join the Discord if you like chatting with other sled-minded individuals
- Follow on Instagram / TikTok / YouTube for daily updates
- Follow my developer page
- And of course, Wishlist and Follow Sledding Game
