Building New AI for Lumbermill! (Indie Game Devlog)

[@TonsOfHunStudios]

Sweet! I like the aesthetic of indenting the code depending on the branch it's in the tree. The mask idea is really smart too! Definitely nice not to have redraw 47 sprites again :D Glad you got a website up too!

[@BWDev]

Thank you! Would be pretty difficult to read the tree otherwise 👍

[@rocksfire4390]

@@BWDev could always use regions to describe the actual states. this way you can hide entire states of code when you want to focus on a part of it. also when you go back to it, it will be much easier remember what everything is.

[@svensktdurkslag]

@BWDev If you allow the constructors of the nodes to accept the childs you will get the indentation "for free" and get rid of the AddChild calls.

[@BWDev]

Robert Säll I’d have to define the tree backwards to use the constructors like that though unfortunately, which would be harder to read

[@svensktdurkslag]

@@BWDev sure but if you define the nodes only with their own constructors (if that is possible?) you will read the tree "forwards", since you dont need to assign the created nodes to variables.

[@paralax3615]

Loving the devlogs! They always make my day 😄

[@remcon559]

3:51 "not responsible for this" haha lol

[@WS-xd4sd]

Just thinking - rewriting some base functions based on feedback and past experience says that this is not something you're doing to pass the time - keep listening, stay creative and keep an open mind and this will be amazing. It's no wonder views and subscribers are starting to become exponential! Loving your work!!!!

[@mayteagames9790]

People like you made me want to make devlogs and you are still give me determnation to keep on going

[@hm4266]

You are great, please continue work on a game

[@casualpigeon1979]

i think it would be pretty neat to see things like rabbits and squirrels in the forest to make the scene feel more alive

[@TheHanutaXD]

0:36 we all know how that road will lock in the end :D

[@isto_inc]

Your voice over work is top notch, something that is greatly under appreciated. Consider the game wishlisted!

[@ChrisRisingOfficial]

Hey man, just wanted to say I appreciate this. These videos are such a pleasing combination of inspiration, relaxation, and information. Keep it up dude.

[@Chadderbox]

Those specs you chose for your PC are really well picked. Great bang for your buck gaming PC. If I upgrade, I might go for the same thing.

[@TeamOP]

I'm excited for the release of this game.

[@yujicortkristos3851]

For a lumberjack AI you need a tree. Mindblowing :o

[@nextProgram]

Wow, great video. I like how you explain the details of the stuff you’re implementing, like the behavior tree. I hope my content can be as good as yours one day!

[@WS-xd4sd]

gets better every week - i wanna play it when your're ready to release - I'm sure you'll know when time is right.

[@lifeinthefoyer8687]

Love the actual woods, I would love to have places to go like that close-by.

[@georgio2778]

BWDev: roast my pc cable management in the description! Everyone: uno reverse card

[@aj_they]

Love to see the progress that's gone on! Excited to hopefully play the game at one point!

[@MrPavarok]

Very Inspiring project! Love the amount of 'thought-process' information you include.

[@arikaprasius9229]

A cool addition to the path system could be that the lumber-jacks walk faster on paths and even faster on stone paths. ;) like your vids

[@BWDev]

That’s the main purpose of the paths, so I agree!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Great video my man! The game is looking clean. I'm currently working on getting better at AI as well, so it's nice to see someone else's perspective!

[@DecrareOld]

great video!

[@ReedHarston]

Great upgrades to the game overall. Nice work! And that is a great PC build. A nice balanced selection of parts. It has just enough of what counts, I like it. 😎

[@pingu4396]

Always look forward to your videos man. Cant wait to play Lumbermill.

[@marvel7ful]

Beard is always necessary :) 0:46

[@BWDev]

Of course!

[@llamagaming3637]

you could make workers move faster on different tiers of path, adding some sort of special use for the paths which would make people a lot more likely to use the different tiers

[@gary-huang]

Ayyy multi threaded path finding :D

[@heirald4403]

cant wait untill its out!!!!!!

[@Sularin1x]

There needs to be a laborer role titled.... "Branch Manager"

[@devinpellot2424]

Keep on going!! once i get my PC this is a must-have for me. :)

[@bakersaid185]

Maybe a good compromise to the screen shake is to have a small radius that start strong in the center then fades at edges like shock wave, also maybe adjust the size of the radius and shake strength based on how big the object is

[@sypdev]

Im so glad youtube recommended me this! Great video :)

[@urgalten6203]

So after selecting which trees to chop down, it'd be good if the selected ones get some kind of marker, like a little icon or something above them, so that the player knows which ones he has already selected.

[@PL9050]

There should be a slight speed boost (or it can be more energy efficient) when an employee walks on a path (the better the path, the bigger the speed/energy boost). So a brick path might have a 5% boost, while a dirt path might only have a 3% boost.

[@BWDev]

That's the plan 😊

[@PL9050]

BWDev Oh wow I got a reply from some one with more then 20,000,000 subscribers! (=

[@ScriptLineStudios]

This game is looking amazing!

[@cineblazer]

LET'S GOOOOO ANOTHER LUMBERMILL VIDEO I'M DROPPING EVERYTHING AND WATCHING

[@spreadsheet894]

Really good stuff. I like the game and I LOVE the content! :D

[@RandomOstrich001]

5:58 "which ill soon replace with a trailer" it has been 4 years. i think its well pat 'soon'

[@BWDev]

lol oops

[@stevewilliams4793]

Time to wishlist! :D

[@tdgchan]

YOUR CABLE MANAGEMENT IS so much better than mine...

[@BWDev]

This isn't the roast I expected

[@ruthpol]

Really nice stuff! :)

[@Hen03rik]

always lovely with a new vid by ben¨

[@tinsaus5498]

I feel like the bricks in the brick path might be a tad too big when compared to some other thinngs in your overworld. For example, 1 brick is wider than the river. Which seems a bit much. Although I very much do like the look of the path itself, so if it was my design I honestly wouldn't know what to do with it yet. Leave it be or scale it a bit differently. Not saying you have to change it obviously, just figured I'd point it out. :) Also, just ran into your channel and loving the videos and idea of the game. Can't wait for it's release. Keep up the great work.

[@Matthewgb204]

When your further along you should add a section to your website where we can apply to be beta testers for the game

[@jerome2794]

You're making me wanna start learning programming fr...

[@GamesInHouse]

Nice PC setup!

[@xd-fu6ry]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@zocz9072]

love it!

[@thomaskaaecolding4504]

i think it will be a great idea if there was sometimes small animals thats steal things from conveyer

[@theycallmenick8241]

Good vid Ben!

[@Daycare_Jr]

Yesssss!!!! Finually another one!!

[@Ben-vu6su]

Make sure as you continue with the game don’t let the player build paths over trees. Just in case you didn’t think about that.

[@BWDev]

You’ll have to bulldoze or chop down trees in the final game 😊

[@juanls2221]

Have good day everyone!! 😄👍🏼

[@BuaFULL]

Awesome!

[@AlwaysToxic]

Hey, maybe use a drag option to put multiple tiles at once? Also in order to delete trees there also should be an area to be deleted instead of deleting single tree (perhaps adjustable with a mouse scroll?)

[@Juke172]

3:00 I wouldn't trust that indentation to exists forever. It might get formatted out someday when you refactor the code or the editor changes, plugin added, or you forget it's there or anything else. Use comments or something like that too. Of course you have it on paper so not so much of a problem in this case. Styling code doesn't last forever, especially if and when you are working with multiple developers.

[@carsonburke4727]

If you need any help with the front end of the lumber mill site, I’d love to help! Good luck with this project.

[@kingo1539]

Imagine having your cables be seen This post was made by hidden cable gang

[@sighencea]

Can’t wait to play this game. I’d like to help you out with the website and build one for you. Let me know if you like the idea ✌️

[@AtamrarisTibia]

I'd like to remind you, that I have a question for you in your former devlog about achievements. I understand if you found it uninteresting, and that's no problem mate! :D I know that you might get a lot of responds like these, and if it was unnecessary, just ignore it and never bother you again, i'll be okay with it, but in case you didn't see it, it was "If that's true, I am looking forward to play it! It would be cool to also have some kind of mechanic of supply and demand, for example for short period of time something like basic planks, or firewood could be of higher price to sell. It could also be liked to some events. I don't know whether you played games from Paradox Interactive, but something similar could be awesome. Also, here is my cool (at least for me) idea for an achievement. Following the path of evil mage - have no trees in at least 9 chunks of your forest. That's reference to Saruman from Lord of the rings, if you haven't watched it. It could also be linked to some easter egg, in the moment you achieve it - a semi-loud yell could be heard (also reference to Lotr) edit: if you liked that achievement idea, I could think of a lot more easter eggs and ideas for achievements. Just add me on steam, my steamid is "hedwige", with wolf avatar."

[@nicstar1704]

can i have some spaghetti? oh wait. it's all cables?

[@netcore10]

Perhaps instead of the screen shaking, the item could stamp down into the ground? or having the item shake instead?

[@senanisgodly]

The website of the game: www.lumbermillgame.com

[@knighterez5083]

You should add fixing and choping animations like that it will look better because when I look at a lumberjack choping rn something's missing for me

[@BWDev]

I fully intend to add them. The games a work in progress!

[@dontlookatmypfp6047]

when this game comes out i am making a video about it

[@mg70gaming66]

Your cable management is messier than my code.

[@Arctan95]

Hey dude! Great to see this project coming along. I'm working on a game which requires a similar job system and my approach sounds exactly like your first pass - a stack of "existing tasks" then execute and interrupt as necessary. Do you have any reading material/sources on behaviour trees by any chance? I understand the basic logic behind them, but I'm not sure how to go about setting one up and multi threading it. Nice to see you've moved to the new path system, are you doing marching squares to lay out your path masks? Sick progress mate, keep it up! Edit: Just watched further into your video and it's in the description, cheers boss.

[@BWDev]

Yep it uses marching squares with a blob tileset. That video is good for the basics of behaviour trees, but this one explains things in a bit more detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqavpqqwnL51ask

[@Arctan95]

@@BWDev I've been considering picking up a copy of Behaviour Designer off the asset store as it's 50% off, just to have a look how they structure it all. With the marching squares - I wrote an implementation recently in HLSL, which is passed a tile map and 'value texture' and draws the correct textures in a shader; this was for a Terraria-like clone, so efficiency was paramount, might be overkill for this project, but if you get to the point of needing lots different paths and rivers, it could be a decent solution. I'll put up a video over the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the link man, great stuff 😊.

[@georgeaustin7805]

YES moar BWDev

[@matt10y27]

Create padding under the wishlist button on your website. On my computer screen it's touching the bottom.

[@Thonder]

I just saw your last vid last night

[@thegreengoblin5483]

blips

[@Bomtoi]

TIMBEEEEER!!

[@matilozano96]

It'd be sensible to allow the possibility of disabling the alerts for when the npcs drop below the threshold. It's probably manageable (even useful) at below 10 workers, but if you have, say, 30, it'll become pretty annoying quickly.

[@BWDev]

Hi, that was for testing purposes - not a feature of the game 🙂

[@jacobbellet401]

Could you do a tut on how to use swappable hair and clothes for sprites?

[@natelevine]

I’m loving all of these devlogs! I’m just curious, what coding language are you using?

[@BWDev]

C# 😊

[@adriandeveraaa]

What game font do you use? Its lovely!

[@zeligsoundofficial]

music and sound help? 👀

[@yustestudios]

Wow! It really looks so good man, I will follow this project , keep the good work man! I develop games too, look it up bro!

[@eleer12345]

Pathfinding should not be so resource consuming since you have pretty small map and a few agents. If it does not cause you any issues, dont solve it, otherwise search for some optimalizations (if you are using A* pathfinding project, this optimalisations are already implemented, you just need to configure it) checkout this example: qiao.github.io/PathFinding.js/visual/ Move red dot to the top right corner and try to find best path using manhattan / euclidean with unchecked "allow diagonal", which is the most common implementation of A* and you will see the difference. Heuristic scale drastically improoves your search times (did not find any visualisations on the internet and was little bit lasy to make one), but definitelly check it out if you need to improove your pathfinding performance!

[@BWDev]

Thanks for the explanation I guess? I am already using A*. While it doesn’t cause huge stutters, there’s nothing wrong with optimising - and pathfinding is known for being resource hungry. My point in this video being once you have a large number of employees simultaneously calculating paths at once it does have a noticeable effect on performance. The move from single to multithreaded was the most significant optimisation I could have made with the current implementation.

[@psyneur9182]

Hmm, you're making a lumber business game and you show video of an area that has been deforested? AND you claim you're not responsible for that? Very likely story.

[@Martin-hj4re]

instant like from me

[@overalltommy5376]

Howdy mate got a question for ya when do you think the game will be ready for relece on steam?

[@Hycord]

Yayyy

[@codelyoko363]

At 2:35, I noticed you have a bunch of custom options for Employee, Policy, Etc. Are those scriptable objects?

[@BWDev]

Nicely observed, yep they're scriptable objects with the [CreateAssetMenu()] attribute

[@pavah7026]

Is every tile one game object?

[@ReedHarston]

Could you not reuse a bunch of the path masks just rotated 90º or 180º so you don't need all 47? I guess too late for that now since you already drew them, so you might as well use them, but I am curious if there is some limitation that means to you can't do that.

[@BWDev]

That’s technically possible - but as the shapes were already drawn and using 47 of them means more variation in the tiles, using 47 was the better option visually. It’s also a lot less taxing than having to figure out how a mask will be constructed from parts and then rotating them all correctly. It also reduces the number of objects in the scene, as having to use multiple sprites to create a mask and storing each sprite renderer in memory could add up pretty quickly. Rotation in isometric is also trickier then you’d expect as it often messes up shadows. The masks themselves each take at most a minute or so to draw, so considering those limitations - creating 47 sprites is much better!

[@ReedHarston]

@@BWDev Makes sense. Thanks for sharing!

[@revelmonger]

What cooling system did you use for your computer? Im getting into building a new computer and im curious

[@BWDev]

Nothing fancy, just stock cooler and case fans for now

[@revelmonger]

@@BWDev I was just curious since my current computer only has a 1080 but stays around 85 degrees

[@NathaNeil27]

I'm also making a management game (an RTS) using C#. Are you looking for help working the project?

[@soara2583]

what are you using to make this game

[@branidev]

good energy from your videos ;) you can see it by like/dislike rate 180/0 ;)

[@mulethedonkey2579]

cant go onto the website

[@mumbo130]

Quick question what game engine do you use?

[@smellfish1430]

Bruh ur cable management looks like the windows pipes background.

[@Jellyjam14blas]

Can you zoom in/out the camera?

[@BWDev]

Yep 👍

[@hshackleton678]

Hi, I'm mildly red-green colour blind and becuase of that I can't differentiate the dirt paths from the background grass :( Would there be a colourblind mode as an option to over come this? Thanks!

[@BWDev]

Had a few people request this so will definitely be looking into it, thanks for letting me know!

[@locoboys6822]

Hi i am new at proggraming, is there any free site where i can learn C#? ty :)

[@thegreenknight7448]

Will this game work on Mac?

[@Old-KillerCODE2267-Channel]

There should be level up

[@IgnoredSoul]

beans?

[@BWDev]

soon

[@IgnoredSoul]

@@BWDev yeeeeeeeeee :)))))))

[@theghastlygamer2484]

-1 minute ago 5 comments NANI