steellotus54

[steellotus54]

A devpost? It’s about time for one of those.

I’ve put this off for too long, but I have some free time for a minute, so now’s the best moment to finally unveil my first project! So, without further ado, I hereby announce..

RETINA

A puzzle-platformer metroidvania about memories, letting go of the past, and finding oneself; RETINA is now in development!

From here on out, I’ll be cataloging the development of the game as it happens! In this first (technically 0th) devpost, I'll go over my progress so far and an overview of my rough plans for the game.

RETINA Development #0 - You Gotta Start Somewhere

Over the past couple weeks, I've been busy trying to get some basic movement and animations working. That has been substantially more difficult than I thought it was going to be.

In hindsight, this makes sense, given that I'm still relatively new to using Godot and GDscript. In any case, I've managed to get basic running and jumping working, as well as a rudimentary dash ability and test level; which you can see here:

The dash is pretty janky in its current state, though: The vector is added to the player's current velocity, which is technically how it's supposed to work, but that means it only nudges the character a bit when they aren't moving. The dash vector is also determined by the cursor's global position, which is what allows it to work in the code currently, but that causes a player intent issue - the direction the character dashes in sometimes won't match the one the player wants them to. Unfortunately, I'm still not entirely sure why this is the case. Using coordinates in relation to the viewport (the camera, effectively) would fix this, but that has its own problems I need to work out. Additionally, the velocity issue means that it's possible to gain speed theoretically infinitely by just dashing along the floor. Oops!

Once I fix the dashing issues, my next goal is to implement crouching, sliding, and/or climbing walls. After that, I intend to start working on adding a grappling hook mechanic.

A Roadmap(ish)

Since RETINA is the first game I plan to release publicly, I'm trying to keep it relatively small in scope. That said, I've found that I'm rather incapable of keeping the ambitious side of me in check, so we'll have to wait and see.

Currently, RETINA is planned to be split into several distinct zones, of which two are currently in progress at the time of writing. I don't have a concrete final number of these zones in mind, but I want to aim to have a minimum of 4 in the final release. At the time of writing, I also have an idea that would necessitate having there be a variation of each zone - I'll talk more on that later in development.

When it comes to the narrative of the game, I'm aiming to convey the plot with no spoken words - some non-diegetic text will be present that will give you hints as to what's going on (The text on a game over screen, for instance), but otherwise no dialogue is present. I also plan to make a number of animated cutscenes - These are probably going to be the most ambitious and time intensive parts of the game artistically. I want there to be at least two cutscenes for each area, totaling to a minimum of 8, but the final number will depend of a variety of factors, including the scope.

Speaking of cutscenes and narrative, I also intend for RETINA to have multiple different endings. Currently, I'm aiming for three - One acquirable from the outset, one for finishing the game, and a secret "true" ending requiring finishing the game under certain conditions.

With regards to releasing the game, I currently only have plans to make RETINA available on PC for Windows and probably Linux. Mac support sounds like a pain in the ass (even though I'm using an engine), and I don't have a Mac to test on, either. I'm highly unlikely to publish it on consoles seeing as though this is my first release project, but I might consider porting it to Switch in the future when I've got more experience.

Moving Forward

All in all, this is a highly ambitious project. I can't promise a schedule for these devposts due to permanent extenuating circumstances, but I'm hoping I can at least get around to making a devpost once a month. Furthermore, this game is going to take a really long time to make. I can't promise a release window of any sort, and RETINA is likely going to be a multi-year project. Real life sucks, we unfortunately all have to participate in it, and it takes more of my time than I'd like.

Having said all of that, thanks for reading! I hope you're as excited about this game as I am, and I'm looking forward to going on this development journey with y'all!

[steellotus54]

Me, in my infinite foolishness: "I should stop lurking about and actually post things about my games! Especially with there only being a few people actually following me, it'd be helpful on the nerves." Also me: *does not do this* "Why isn't anything happening."

[steellotus54]

the whole mutual thing is really overhyped on this site. sometimes interests don’t match up and that’s the only reason why there isn’t a mutual following. if you’re a regular in my inbox or my notifications, i have visited your blog before. if i didn’t want you around for any reason, you would be blocked. so yeah. you can spam my notes and/or talk with me (and possibly become my friend) even if i’m not following you back. no worries.

[steellotus54]

This is how you do a pinned post right?

Hiya! I'm Marisa, but you can call me Mari. I've been lurking about for a while now, and I figure it's time I changed that!

Literally everything is below the cut, on account of there being so much text.

My Tags

Whoops, I left this empty on purpose! I’ll add tags here as they become necessary, so check back every once in a while.

What I do (and want to do)

Worldbuilding (Been doing it in some form in my spare time for as long as I can remember. No idea how good any of it is, but I’ll occasionally post about it nonetheless - I love talking about the stuff I make.)

Pixel art (I've lost track of how long I've been doing it for, but nevertheless I'd like to think I'm at least decent at it.)

Game Development (I have too many ideas and must make them. With Godot, of course.)

Make music (Of the chiptune variety specifically. I got famistudio a while ago and I have no clue what I’m doing. I’ll figure something out though.)

Stuff I Like (in no particular order)

Splatoon Franchise (I'm a series vet, played since the first game's testfire!)

Celeste (One of, if not the best example(s) of video games as an art form. I can and will die on this hill.)

Terraria and Minecraft (I'm a sucker for sandboxes where you can build shit. Granted, I'm mediocre at actually doing so, but what can I say.)

Mindustry (The best game you can play on a phone. And it's on steam + itch. And it has official mod support on all platforms. And it's still receiving content updates. And- Dies)

Ultrakill (Sensory overload: the shooter, but it’s fun so I don’t care.)

Octopath Traveler 2 (I'm Very Normal about Castti. I'm totally not obsessed with her what could you possibly be talking about.)

No Man’s Sky

Noita

Slime Rancher

Cult of the Lamb

Electronic and Chiptune music (I fucking love this stuff and I cannot explain why for the life of me.)

Where to find me (and not find me)

You can find me on bluesky (where I post my art) and youtube (where I rarely post video devlogs and whatever else comes to mind). Relevantly, you will not find me on tiktok or instagram - I choose not to use either of these platforms for a variety of reasons, and I will not expound upon them.

Boundaries

This list is not a DNI. It describes how I will act or respond regarding certain situations or kinds of people, because that’s how boundaries actually work. Also note that this list is here for transparencies sake and is non-exhaustive. I can and will make liberal use of the block button for reasons not listed.

I block TERFs, radfems, and bigots of any other variety on sight. This blog is a trans-friendly space, and I will NOT tolerate bigotry when I see it. This is your first and only warning.

Additionally, fuck JK Rowling. If you interact with JK Rowling's works, you’ll get blocked.

While we’re on the subject, don’t refer to me with traditionally masculine terms (dude, bro, and the like) or he/him pronouns - I don’t care what your reasoning is. If you do it once unintentionally as a force of habit I won’t be particularly aggravated, but repeat occurrences will result in a block.

I don't mess with gacha games (or any others that are microtransaction-heavy for that matter) as I believe them to be predatory and unethical. If you recommend that I (or anyone else) play any gacha game(s) on my posts, you get blocked.

I'm here to have a nice fun time, NOT to have arguments with randos. Try and pick a fight with me, and you’ll get blocked. What constitutes 'picking a fight' will be determined at my discretion. Quote: "I am not interested in discourse. I am right."

If I didn't put something here and/or you want clarification about something, I encourage you to ask, but I request that you respect my decision to not disclose information about myself. To state this more clearly: Do not pressure me to post (or otherwise make public) information about myself. If you do, I WILL block you immediately. This extends to non-personal information of any variety. Who I am offline is none of your business, end of story.

Don’t ask me for donations or to boost a donation post. I understand that finances are tough for a lot of you, but I don’t have the money to spare, nor is this the correct blog to be asking for this kind of assistance from. These requests will be deleted when they are received. I will block you if this occurs more than once.

Last, but certainly not least: If your blog is untitled and/or lacks a profile picture, I will block you if you follow me. You look like a bot in that instance. I shouldn’t have to explain this.

That just about covers everything! I hope you find my little corner on this hellsite at least somewhat enjoyable to pass through. May good fortune find y'all!

[steellotus54]

Hi how do you evil boop?

You hold down the button until it does its little spinning animation 3 times.

[steellotus54]

hehehehehe.

I beg your pardon?

[steellotus54]

So i’m looking back at my drafts and am greeted with this:

??? will this even work?

I have a strong feeling that something will break if actually press the button. Realistically, probably not. Eh, someone else can test it.

[steellotus54]

Ik i’m shouting into the void, but to the person i just bonked with a splash wall: I’m sorry lmao

replay code is RFSR-01QQ-YQ1L-FU75 for those who may want to see it for themselves

[steellotus54]

okay so before halftime in the current splatfest happens i need people to know something i found out about the sprinklers that spawn in for grabbing the ultra signal (make sure your sound’s on!)

listen closely, and you’ll notice that when i’m close to it, it plays a sound from the team’s idol.

it’s adorable and i love it.