I added a crafting system to my indie skiing game | Devlog 8

Devlog 8 - An item crafting system inspired by Kirby 64. Subscribe for more ✌️
WISHLIST ON STEAM: store.steampow...
DISCORD: / discord
TWITCH: / solomongumballtv
Follow josue on youtube: @xjosuecruz and ig:
/ xjosuecruz
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:16 New Character - Nash
02:48 What's with all the robots?
03:30 Robots & Environment Design
07:11 New item system inspirations
08:26 New Abilities
10:12 How Item Combos work
12:08 What's next?
#unrealengine #devlog #gamedev #indiedev

[@_Cotton]

Nash seems like he would have multiple podcasts

[@catioropulguento]

Now you made me think of a kangaroo character named "Joey Rogan" interviewing Nash in the game lore.

[@BlueBeetle1939]

@@catioropulguento Joey ROOgan

[@pineball43]

@@catioropulguentoNash starts trying to shill for his brand and Joey just starts making gorilla noises

[@Bombetina_Again]

When seeing how Nash looks when he is frozen, I realized that the ice cube being the same size as the other characters ends up making him stand out in a weird way, and I think that making the ice block bigger for him would probably make him it becomes a giant obstacle even if it had the same collision box, I think a fun and interesting way is to make it so that when a character is frozen, he becomes a custom statue that makes fun of the character or reflects his personality, for example if Nash is frozen he turns into a statue posing flexing his muscles with different proportions than it has, this allows you to take advantage of the game's cartoonish style to make statues the same size, thus having the same hit box even if it doesn't fit perfectly with the model, you can even do it with that the statues have the same base to better highlight the area of their hit box.

[@solomon-gumball]

This is a hilarious idea. I will respond fully in the discord thread you started!

[@natethegrape3337]

i didn't expect to hear about a crafting system in a Mario kart like skiing game, none the less for it to sound like a good idea. yet, here we are. i fucking love these devlogs btw, I become a jolly fellow when I see them in my notifications

[@unsupervsedcat]

jolly fellow lmaooo (in a nice way)

[@BlueBeetle1939]

The shrunken tail is especially clever loving these new characters!

[@safeish2958]

I love how comedic the story behind Nash is. The game looks great and I love the storyline!

[@Pvydrow]

This game's art style is exactly what I try to make my art look like, I love how stylish and sharp it is with these really cool color palette

[@daglin]

Tip for the animation: in skiing the arm that points to the mountain peak actually has to go forward and the other one backwards makes it look more realistic The arm movement needs to be the exact opposite of what it currently is

[@HalloElmer]

I have been following this series from episode 2 or 3 and I love the way this is heading. You still have a long way ahead of you, but never give up on the dream! I’ll buy a copy if the game is finished. Keep up the great work!

[@WasatchWind]

I absolutely love the item system. Can't wait to see how it influences player strategy in races.

[@solomon-gumball]

Thanks wasatch, always great hearing from you

[@Orca4YT]

It would make sense to rename the power-up from what I beleive says “r3d-h3d” to “h0t-he4d3d This would just be a silly little pun because it’s combining explosive and heating.

[@lvm6464]

I definitely will wishlist the game. Love the progress you are making. The new item system will probably create really intersting gameplay mechanics. However, one thing to think about: by making the items strategic and not random, you are removing what call a "negative feedback loop" in game design. Idk if you are familiar with positive and negative feedback loops. So just a explanation: You know in mario kart, when you are really far behind, you get a stronger item (like a bullet bill or something). But when you are really far in front, you get a weaker item. Or even get a blueshell if you are to far ahead. This is what they call a negative feedback loop, which keeps the game close. In monopoly, for example, it the opposite. When you are ahead and have a lot of money, you can buy more houses and get even more ahead. That is a postive feedback loop. By making the items system like build parts, i think you remove the option to make a negative feedback loop. I am not saying you should change it back, because I actually think that this item system is really interesting. But maybe it is handy to think about how you then will create negative feedback loop. How do you make bad players keep up, and don't reward the good players to much. Hope this comment helps :)

[@domolutz]

I love that you and Josue found eachother. Your game and devlogs were very good before but together you seem to inspire eachother so much. These devlogs are some of the most entertaining ones on YT and the game is looking better and better by the day! Feels like I was part of the team. Would love to help animate these characters

[@wickerkev]

lego racers had a similar item system where the red brick pickup was weapons, green was boost, blue was shield and yellow was traps. Picking up a white brick would upgrade whichever brick you had, so the boost would turn into a bigger boost, then into a bullet bill type boost, then finally a warp. Was alot of fun upgrading your pickups mid race.

[@hongyizhou1734]

loveddd lego racers!

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

This was my childhood!!!! I got so good at the short cuts and warping at the right time!! Dracula and the later levels were really hard tho! The music and vibe of that game still hasn't been matched. I was so disappointed when Lego Racers 2 came out. It barely worked and was boring. Probably the first game i was let down by.

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

This and Ep1 Pod Racer was my childhood!!! Its probably the only reason I'm good at driving on keyboard :P

[@Buraasen]

The items look so great! 🤩 Also, I totally get geeking out about unlocking new performance super-powers such as 'baking normals'. Been there 😅

[@sadcherries8172]

'Baking normals' is the 2035 version of 'pwning noobs'

[@cattomcatto]

I love watching you improve your game to perfection and I can't wait to play it and a big thank you to Josue for all his help with character design this game looks amazing

[@Blue_Lighted]

Item system is very unique, excited to see how it gets developed on over time! Although, I could see good players easily pulling ahead of the pack (especially considering shortcuts) since they can choose what boxes to pick up without having to fight against other players for specific boxes.

[@SxitGtwitch]

Looks great! For the 3D model performance you should defently try out LODs and maybe even "Amplify Impostors" (I think it's only for Unity) as LOD 2 or 3

[@tilofuder5182]

I feel like having the order of the machine type matter would pair well with the "swap" mecanic. For example, bomb + rocket could be a missile, but rocket + bomb could be an instantaneous speed boost that damages nearby players (kinda like a rocket jump of some sort). That would be twice the work but it would add so much strategic depth to the game

[@fishflop_]

Really cool look into your process. Love the art style and designs and the item system sounds fun.

[@Gebuildet]

I'm watching this series since part 1 and I'm very impressed and also happy on how the game is evolving. Keep up the good work! ^^

[@Snowbalet]

nash has such a cool design bruv. i love seeing the process of making this game too!

[@omentribe9895]

I'm so hype for this game I love your dev journey on this game the art style is dope. The power up combination system is also truly unique.

[@jennareynolds1403]

The crafting reminds me of Lego Racing, where you combine different brick types to create combinations. Very similar, and thats good because that mechanic is underused. LOVED Kirby 64!

[@theunityguy_yt]

oh man I love this ability system - being able to combine abilities is such a cool idea! Great job👌

[@merccc1]

One of the better indie devlogs I have seen. Game looks fantastic. Just a nice feel to it all. I could see this being a gem that rivals the big race games with the way it is heading, only lacking in not being part of the already established franchises to have their iconic characters and fanbase. I am a tad surprised that you did not seem to get inspiration from snowboard kids on n64 considering all the other inspirations around that era, but I could have simply missed it.

[@nixonscherbarth1974]

That Crafting different elements adds a super nice feature to your game. Love that!

[@nakomedesign]

Great job guys! It's very inspiring to see the progress! Josue brought a lot to this project, glad you guys make a great team!

[@Philsosopher]

I am so obsessed with this

[@TheRealRandomations]

Rocket + AI = M.O.L.E The M.O.L.E (Mountaineering Onslaught Leverage Electronic) is a small robotic mole with a drill nose, screens for eyes so the eyes can show emotion, and a lever on top. When used, the user pulls the lever, and the M.O.L.E jumps out of their hands and burrows down. For the next 15 seconds, you have the opportunity to click/interact with another player, which causes the moley machine to jump out the ground and follow the target. Unless the target manages to escape by boosting, breaking the mole with a power up or some other means, the mole will explode and stun the target. This could theoretically work as Explosive + AI, too.

[@itachiuchiha07077]

Noice

[@stateflower3213]

You're a G if you saw this video the first time it was released

[@solomon-gumball]

lmao

[@itzfroggi22]

Did watch the 1st one, didn't know it got reuploaded XDD

[@MRTree-zz3wf]

Same I got so hyped that a new vid finally droped

[@bitesizedgaming263]

If you had a third slot just for storing an item you've picked up, it would give players more flexibility and options when swapping and combining items. The bumper could be used to cycle through which two are in the crafting slots and which is being stored It would also be cool if before the race starts you had the option to choose an item you could repeatedly spawn for yourself on a cooldown, which would also create more strategy/ flexibility

[@SaltySkip]

Each upload is giving me "New Challenger Approaching" excitement. I can't wait to see the other characters in action.

[@usagi2076]

Hi, I've found your channel a week ago and been watching your devlogs ever since, your videos inspired me try game deving myself so i decided to give it a try on unity. Congratulations for your content, it's super awesome to see how much your game had evolved, i wish you success.

[@Legendary_Honey]

You have so many creative concepts. I'm genuinely looking forward to this.

[@flesheaterrrr]

you guys are making really insane progress, congrats and good luck on the grants

[@anodomaniD]

this is so groovy, I am incredibly excited to follow development!

[@gatorsoup]

Love the new character. I especially love all the concept art though. (It is all very aesthetically pleasing!)

[@mimumi3723]

The addition of "crafting" is a truly interesting idea! Can't wait to try it out.

[@gabesybabes1]

This looks amazing! Kirby 64 is one of my favourite games so I am so hyped for the item combos. I do have a suggestion you might want to consider. In order to improve the pick-up-and-play nature of the game, it would be better to force players to USE the item combo they have before they can get new ones. It seems more natural to me that once you have both slots filled, you should be unable to pick up a new item. I think this would improve the gameplay a few ways: 1: Fewer buttons to worry about At 11:32 when you talk about ‘how item combos work’ you mention pressing a button to swap the part slots (and that affecting the new machine and also the possibility of a button for disposing of parts.) I feel like these ‘swap-out’ features are a bit clunky and over complicate the combo system to the point where it might seem too much for new players to learn and distract from the main experience: racing. Remember that the core appeal of Mariokart is its very deep racing mechanics with very few inputs to worry about. 2: Encouraging thoughtfulness and skill Tactically discarding items is an important skill in Mariokart, as a misused mushroom can send you off the track, or a bad green shell throw can hit you right back. 3: More player interaction By removing the ‘swap-out’ feature, you are taking a mechanic out of the HUD and releasing it into the game world. This ensures more items are released onto the track and may lead to a lot more unexpected play moments. 3: More discovery You want to watch out for players optimising the fun out of your game. At first, I’m sure everyone play-testing will want to experience every combo. However, over time I can see many players (especially younger ones) just cycling through parts until they get the penguin missile (or whatever is their favourite) over and over again, with some trickier to use items never being seen because they are discarded whenever created. Beware the bloat: Remember that players will always keep asking for more features even when they may be harming the game. A bit long, but I had a lot of thoughts 😅 feel free to ignore me. I believe in you guys so much! Overall, this game looks absolutely incredible. The combo mechanic gives you a great USP as a racing game. I can’t wait to see your future developments!

[@leonardobnd4294]

Amazing progress, I love the new Character, the skylift and the crafting system/power ups!

[@nightninja1219]

when reverse skeeing with the boost rocket ability, you could make it so that the character does a backflip, and while doing so its rocket fuel/fire coming from the rockets gets directed towards the players ahead of him making it a fun way of *burning* your enemies while doing a backflip for extra cool points. Sorry for the hard to understand explanation. great work by the way

[@R2D_YT]

This game is really coming together keep up the awesome work!

[@cosmicspacething3474]

Tbh I feel like most, if not all the playable characters should at least have one major redeeming trait to round them out, and instead of having one protagonist they each have their own version of story mode like Smash 64. You don't have to drastically change the story though, the major plot points can stay the same.

[@Nebur1230_]

The Fier and robot is a turret that burns the area around it self so when you go on it you do what Fier does

[@SecretZoneGames]

It looks so fun. I'm glad I found out about this now, the system you created is brilliant!

[@MarcelE80]

The game is looking better each time! Great stuff

[@hollowedboi5937]

You got a consistent pace of production, an amazing character-environment concept designer, and your means of thinking and problem solving by thinking about intentionality behind the characters-environment-powers and gameplay is all so high level. Super awesome guys I can’t wait to try out a demo if it comes

[@cftpafan]

This is so cool! You're an inspiration of a dev and I can't wait to get this game!

[@kn-ki4637]

Its really exciting to watch how you progress on this game🔥 Keep it up

[@Lolpop751]

This progress is seriously impressive and it all looks.... GREATTTT

[@2DVincent]

this game keeps getting cooler.

[@alltidtratt3564]

This game looks so fun! Looking forward to play it!

[@Orca4YT]

Another type of part that could spawn are defensive or shield. They could work in a way where if someone uses a power up on you, it would knock back and hit them. Or it could just be defensive.

[@gresenolpholt354]

I really like the duality. You dont often see devlogs where another major player is given half the screen time. Its really impressive! And it makes me think youre very humble!

[@briggsy5488]

This is giving major nostalgia to my favorite n64 games snowboard kids 1+2. I'm so ready for this game!

[@cneto94]

Listening to this game's concept makes me think of Speed Racer, and I love it.

[@miauw8762]

These devlogs keep better and better

[@panpukinart]

Hell yeah, I was so excited to know more about those power ups :DD Really awesome devlog as always, I really enjoyed it!! Love how things are coming along

[@gibs9731]

That rat looks like an angry version of Sid from the movie Flushed Away! :D You should make a character that resembles their "Le Frog" as well that can extend his tongue to grab poles and make sharp turns/drifting! ;)

[@RegularBiscuit]

this went from being another game devlog to one of my favourite series on yt rn!

[@danieldiekmeier]

I’ve been watching since the first devlog and I’m absolutely amazed by the progress. Maybe the shoulder button could always discard one of the items instead of swapping them? Looks like you‘d only want to swap them if you want to override one of them, so you might as well discard it. This would solve both use cases with one mechanic.

[@flipmostyles2583]

giving players the option to shoot of 1 item at a time or the combined weapon would be a good idea, for cases where the player might have wanted to get a double green (turbo) but picked up a red (bomb) by mistake now they can ditch the bomb while still being able to use it as a weapon. You could make a button (shoulder buttons on control) to swap between the 2 individual item slots or the combined item. love the look of the game so far and please you have to add achievements.

[@meganaute386]

Such a sick direction and concept! Great devlogs.

[@youcannotknow6129]

looks great! i have some ideas for some of the item combos freezing + bomb: some bullet bill type transformation where you uncontrollably roll down the hill, speeding up and getting bigger, bowling over other skiiers, until it explodes at the end. i think this would create a lot of silly chaotic moments with this huge tumbling snowman head while having strategy on where to use it, like maybe you can get stuck in some trees and lose time. bomb + ai: i saw the homing bomb and thought it took up some of the same design space of the penguin missile, so this ones kind of a spitball. something like the thundercloud from mkwii (everyones favorite item), where its intelligent little nanobombs that blow you up at particularly bad times, like over a pit or right before the goal. you can transfer them to other skiiers by bumping into them, like the thundercloud. this one sounds unfun and toxic but i like the idea of ai nanobomb robots so ill share it anyway ai + heat: places a stationary heater that melts the snow around a radius, causing the surface to become slower or slippery. kind of like a longer lasting bomb buddy, an area denial tool that causes other players to crash and bump into each other fire + rocket and ice + rocket: two counterparts, maybe fire gives you a flamethrower and ice turns your poles into some ice spears. both are used to attack other skiiers as well as destroy projectiles/structures (like the penguin missile or the ai+ heat idea). fire is maybe more aoe and harder to control, while the ice spears are single target and more precise ai + ai: ski gundam transformation 💥 and one more idea, some sort of wildcard pick your own item box would be cool as a catchup mechanic. maybe it appears after first place takes a box, so that people behind them can get it and choose an optimal item. though this may just not be necessary looking forward to playing this!

[@tan_i_am]

This game is really turning from a mariokart inspired game into something entirely it’s own and it’s absolutely stunning. Keep up the amazing work man, I’ll definitely be in line to buy it once it comes out.

[@dominusreturn7470]

You should make a blind character or maybe a sloth character that falls asleep midway of the race (One of the AI character), would be hilarious to watch him in the back fall into trees and such. There could also be an achievement if you have him getting 1st place, if you plan on implementing that.

[@pineball43]

if you combine two ai machines, i think it should create an omochao like buddy that goes and annoys/distracts nearby skiers

[@jakab174]

the fact that you expanded and work with more people will make this project a huge success! Very good decision!

[@luapmartin]

❤ that’s a wonderful update. When you displayed the character on a line I saw twice the same character and thought why not bring a character that has a twin (good or bad twin) that some kind of shortcut to asset creation but has proven to be useful in practice in the styles of game your inspiring from. Anyway thanks for sharing your updates. Congratulations to the team, keep it going! Cheers 👋

[@solomon-gumball]

Hey thanks so much for the idea. We actually have a pair of twins planned. I don’t want to say too much but the winklevoss twins are the main inspiration

[@luapmartin]

@@solomon-gumball rowing DLC leak reveal...

[@solomon-gumball]

@@luapmartin 🤫

[@JuhoSprite]

Was looking forward to seeing your next devog, man Im really hyped for this one🥰

[@milantiquestudios7460]

Looking good. I like the character design

[@Orca4YT]

At first mention, I didn’t like the parts idea, but now I’m totally convinced.

[@crusDbumcheeks]

yup. this is officially going to be game of the year when it comes out

[@thelilmilkman]

Looks amazing so far!

[@olson5000]

I feel like this game has the potential to do very well!! I hope you don't let a publisher take over any control because I could see this hitting the mainstream market and being popular with kids and adults who are both gamers and non-gamers

[@juleeeeeeee]

i watched all of the devlogs and i really like your game and progress bro keep it up🤝

[@thelionszen3352]

I've been following since your first devlog. and youre looking great!

[@blue-cloud-studios]

Alright that item system is really freaking cool so much strategy!! and the new character looks so good can twait for this game to be finished

[@MRTree-zz3wf]

The fact that I knew who the fourth character (the duck w the fur and puffer jacket) and was due to me watching all previous episodes like 5 times is sad? Or it shoes how addicting and great these vids are you choose

[@vegillito]

The new design is really awsome 🔥🔥

[@mikejox]

impressive Graphicss and clean UI the game is really shaping up to be great

[@emovard3n]

Cables on ski lifts always go in straight line. There are some examples in the world where it turns, but it is challenging and occurs rare ;)

[@Orca4YT]

The daft punk style of Theo shown in last video could make a really good other style for Theo.

[@peskybird7627]

For the item swapping, I think that rather that the items switching spots, you would have an item selected (indicated by a think white outline) and then press a button to select the other one. Then the item that you have selected would either be swapped out when coming into contact with a different item or would be discarded if you pressed a different button.

[@loficovers_]

love the look of this! already wishlisted, can't wait to try a demo down the line!

[@Orca4YT]

Idea: sort of like Mario Cart, you should make it so once you select the skin (and maybe skis or snowboards), you select the cosmetics, and once you’re done with that you choose the colors. Also, the daft punk-ish style of Theo that was showed in last video would be perfect for a second style of Theo. Or for that matter, any other styles Josue made.

[@TheSpiritForceGD]

This looks fantastic man. I will say about the issue of changing item combos, discarding certain items or swapping primaries; I think all of that is unnecessary. The items should just be expended upon usage. Not only is this simpler, but keeps people from getting too comfortable and relying on a single item or combo all the time. This also makes balancing the game easier for you as no one item combo will be in a player's hands at all times once they learn which ones are the most optimal. They'll be forced to adapt as they earn and use machines or machine combos.

[@JirehMont]

I love nash's design it's so iconic

[@TifuBlackmoth]

Love the combining items idea!

[@jojoviviator9258]

I have been looking forward to this! Okay, so after watching, great job. Overall, still think you've got a good thing going, but I'd like to give some constructive feedback. First of all, please think about trying to prevent scope-creep. Make a vertical slice of an entire race when you can. Second, the crafting system, while very unique, and interesting, does take away some things the more more traditional "Mariokart-esque RNG boxes" gave you. Mainly; a system to create dynamic catch-up opportunities, and of course the joy of RNG-gambling. Perhaps think of some ways to re-introduce those in other ways? Finally, I loved the old penguin missiles. Having them be robots make them slightly less interesting to me personally, and I also really enjoyed there more physics based bouncing all over the place. Perhaps have characters have a few free crafting combinations. Like if you have a certain part already, Nash can always craft it with a rocket part once per game? And other characters other parts? Probably hard to balance, but could help make characters even more unique. Experiment a bit with crafting to see what fits the game. You're doing a great job, and I can't wait to play it!

[@SubzeroBlack68]

Nash reminds me of Biff from Back to the Future. I would also replace the idea of using blatant drug use with something like Performance enhancing cheese and other food. Something more lore friendly with world building. Saying "drug use" blatantly would cut out the kid friendly markets. Oh and look into Lego Racer their race item building and combining. Instead of mix and matching items, it works like this: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green - are the item types. White - Is the upgrade block The reason its done like this is because it can get confusing for the player to memorize all the combinations and become frustrating when they mix and match incorrectly. So picking up any of the item types changes the effect, while the white block doesn't. Though its your game and your vision of it. Just throwing out my thoughts.

[@officialdominikbecker]

For the crafting system: You might want to look into the early Lego Racer games (for PS1). They had a system where you could combine different parts, too.

[@murrayscreations8659]

Dude i couldn’t wait until you made another vid! This game looks awesome!

[@JirehMont]

I've been watching streams and been tuning into the discord and seeing all the progress I kept asking to myself when the new episode was coming out lol

[@cursedcatgames]

I know you said you wanted to wait on the discard mechanic, But for it I think You could add in the ability to discard your secondary powerup (maybe with the other trigger) in exchange for a passive buff for a few seconds, Though they could have negatives too to prevent spamming. Like discarding a heating item, making ice abilities do less to you (Or let you break out faster if you get frozen by it) but also making heat-seeking items have more tracking.

[@buried935]

This reminds me of the snowboarding scene for hoodwinked, character and location.

[@Tcgtrainer]

Dudeee, this is so cool!!, congratz.

[@Orca4YT]

In a long time, I feel a map maker would do the game good. Most racing games lack that, and it would keep the game with constant new content.

[@samster_vfx]

Dude! So sick. Love the world building you’re doing through your environments. Really awesome stuff mate

[@ardsleytank7769]

It's funny to me you're citing Mario Kart as a source of inspiration, as this asthetic and world *really* reminds me of the Crash Bandicoot games, especially Crash Team Racing. Fantastic work! Can't wait to see where you go wirh this.

[@solomon-gumball]

Someone else mentioned the same thing. I personally love the art style of Crash so that's great to hear. Certainly has more comic book influence that Mario Kart does