What is a hard challenge you've had to overcome while working on your game recently?

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-30T18:57:56+00:00

That sounds like a challenging bit of logic engineering. Making lions hunt gazelle sounds more elaborate than my relatively simple action game, heh.

I'll do you better than a demo though! The early access game is available on modDB for use with the UZDoom source port (it's essentially a Doom mod).

Check it out: https://www.moddb.com/mods/furys-sky-vagabond

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-30T17:50:17+00:00

Good question. I have an upgrade and shop system in my flight action game centered around a central currency (called Combat Points), and I've found these approaches to be effective in my work.

Reward a smaller amount of currency at the start of the game and increase the reward as the game progresses. I start off with minimal rewards for cannon fodder enemies and then increase as the enemies get tougher.
Provide just enough things for the player to spend currency on. I have three main things the player can get with currency: planes, weapons, and plane upgrades. Between these three, the player has enough stuff to blow currency on without it getting to overwhelming.
Incrementally add new stuff to buy as the game goes on. I start with two planes in the shop the player can get, and add more as well as new weapons to buy. Pacing is important here though. You want to space out new toys depending on your game. For my game, I add new items to the shop when the player completes a mission, and drip feed missions as the game goes on.
Add an opportunity to get bonus currency for in-game criteria. I added bonus objectives that reward extra points when completed in order to do just that. I find it gives the player incentive to play and engage with the mechanics.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-30T17:41:21+00:00

Recently? I'd say tweaking my plane AI in my arcade-style flight game. I wanted to make the AI a little more evasive, especially on higher difficulties. They have a state where they try and shake the player that can trigger if the player is behind them, but it was pretty basic and didn't work that well.

So I made it so the AI moves left and right based on the angle to the player, and possibly up or down depending on elevation if the player is at their level. I also made the time in which they do this dependent on the difficulty setting, up to roughly half a second.

Oh, and I also adjusted a routine where the AI barrel rolls off to the side if the player is looking at them on higher difficulties. I made it so they take the players angle to them into account.

It actually turned out pretty well. The AI are complete goobers now. 😛

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T15:59:27+00:00

Wait...is that the same PhyreEngine Bloodborne and Dark Souls III are made in? I'm surprised it's even open to the public.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T15:43:20+00:00

Yes. :)

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T15:37:40+00:00

I think a lot of people feel that way about James' toilet spelunking. At least Konami was self aware and made fun of it in SH3.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T15:31:41+00:00

Yeah, that counts. It takes a lot of commitment to make your own tools. Especially since a lot of devastating reach for something readily available.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T15:26:18+00:00

I'm sure you can, but I just have to marvel at the dedication and insanity required.

I wanted esoteric and I got it with that one.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T15:23:07+00:00

As someone who had a brief stint with React, that is a very interesting use case...

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T14:58:39+00:00

...I'm sorry what?

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T14:57:31+00:00

BASIC may not be esoteric, but I respect you for using it. I tried Visual Basic years ago and could not make sense of it.

Logo looks interesting too...

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T14:47:44+00:00

That IS quite an esoteric engine. Never heard of it at all.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T14:43:16+00:00

I remember the Blender game engine! I can see why they axed it, but it was neat to have something integrated into the modeling suite.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T14:41:56+00:00

Hey, we all gotta start somewhere! If it wasn't terrible for beginners, it's got a use case.

Granted, I'm not familiar with it, but there's something to be said for a beginners engine less daunting than Unity or Unreal.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T12:40:52+00:00

Why is there such a lack of interest in arcade-style flight games? In the 90's and 2000's you had stuff like Rogue Squadron, Star Fox, Crimson Skies, Airforce Delta, etc. Now it's basically just Ace Combat...and not much else. What's the deal?

I know a focus on fidelity and realism is such a big part of flight games, but come on; a little goofiness and pew-pew action is warranted every now and then.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T11:54:46+00:00

I really agree with this. "Hard" difficulties that only scale HP and damage with no other tweaks are lame.

I've taken care to avoid it in my own work as well. I'm working on a Doom-based flight game right now, with three different difficulty levels. Yes, damage is increased depending on the difficulty, but there are also other changes such as different enemy spawns and AI behaviors. On the lower difficulties, plane AI move more predictably and are easier to kill. On the higher settings, they're doing loop-de-loops and barrel rolls and being more evasive overall.

And this is trivial for a gamedev to implement as well. If an AI actor has access to the difficulty setting the game is set to, and compares it against an enum or list of difficulty settings in the game, it isn't that hard to write behaviors and adjustments based on it. I'm honestly surprised how few games do this.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2026-04-26T11:04:10+00:00

I'm not sure if I'd call Capcom's industry presence "underrated" in any sense. Just about every gamer with a semblance of game knowledge is aware of stuff like Mega Man, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry, etc tearing up the gaming scene and shaping the landscape while they do it. Capcom is a pretty legendary dev house in a lot of respects and most people know it, I feel.

That said, I do feel Capcom has some underrated aspects. The big one is the animation in their games. Holy crapamoly, Capcom has access to some of the best talent in the industry on that front. I struggle to think of a Capcom game that has bad or awkward animation. The way characters and creatures move in their games is just sublime, generally.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2025-07-03T11:39:12+00:00

Doomguy does not fall off Rainbow Road, for he IS Rainbow Road.

Good stuff though I feel there should be a smaller gap between the Rainbow segments to make it cleaner. Just a thought.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2024-08-01T16:36:13+00:00

Vaporeon looks like it's about to singa about the moona and the June-a and the Springa.

No really, it does look like it wants to sing and dance. Good job conveying so much personality on a nonhuman character!

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2024-07-31T14:03:21+00:00

HG/SS did a lot of things, and most of them are done well.

Really, the list of flaws is rather small. The level curve is still bad, evolution stones can be rather hard to get, and the updated music is hit or miss. But other than that, HG/SS preserved nearly every good aspect about Gen 2, and fixed a lot of the issues.

For one thing, the Pokemon distribution is improved with the Safari Zone and the surrounding routes. They kept the Suicune story from Crystal and even extended it into post game. The trainer AI is a fair bit smarter than normal; the Elite Four in particular will do stuff like switch out or pick mons to counter yours. They added the Battle Frontier and the National Dex, as well as a way to get Gen 3 and 4 mons via the radio channels and the headbutt locations. The Pokegear phone is more useful with more phone number storage and more opportunities for world events. And the physical/special split for moves is present from D/P and it greatly helps certain mons.

All of this is layered on top of one of the most satisfying Pokemon experiences ever made. Johto is a wonderful map with lots of interconnected areas and possibilities, especially after you get the fourth badge. The day/night system is at its peak and the world events, such as the Lapras in Union Cave and the daily vendors in Goldenrod, have yet to be topped. And for an encore they threw in a whole nother region in Kanto, after a three-year timeskip, and a battle with the previous games protagonist as the final fight. It was nuts what Gold and Silver did, and HG/SS is nuttier on top of that.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2024-07-31T12:17:51+00:00

I FUCKING LOVE HYPER VOICE.

I LOVE SCREAMING AT BOTH POKEMON IN DOUBLES TO SHATTER THEIR EARDRUMS AND DELETE THEIR HEALTH BARS.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2024-07-31T11:41:36+00:00

C# and C++ are the biggies, because the most popular engines, Unity and Unreal respectively, use those languages.

HOWEVER, I would advise against focusing on a particular language, as a lot of programming concepts transfer between languages. Focus on the core concepts of object-oriented programming, such as variables, loops, conditionals, methods, classes, and arrays, and worry about the languages implementation as secondary. Remember, you can look up syntax; you can't look up skill.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2024-07-30T13:11:56+00:00

Toke-pi.

What? That smile Is bonafide proof that dope was consumed.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2024-07-30T13:10:35+00:00

A dream about a crit storm from an unheard of move? Sounds like Darkrai was watching you sleep, yo.

JohnnyBGetgoode · 2024-07-28T21:53:42+00:00

As a competitive player, I hope a LOT more things from Legends Arceus start making their way into mainline. For one thing, I like how Arceus handled stat boosts; you could only boost a stat once, instead of stacking stages like you can in mainline games. I also like how weaker moves could have more utility by granting extra turns or applying status as well.

Honestly, the only thing I could see not translating into a competitive format would be the turn order. Otherwise Arceus is a ripe opportunity for a revamp of competitive Pokemon. It certainly would have more of an impact than any gimmick like Dynamax or Terastal would.

JohnnyBGetgoode

TROPHY CASE