[SoloDev] "LifeDev" My game about overcoming CPTSD

nande · January 23, 2024, 9:59pm

Devlog 15

New build is available!

This is the 2nd pass of the 3rd chapter (#02). It’s a bit stub.

Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

----- Game

General

New:
- New feature toggles (environ, music, noises, global illumination, strobes).
- Change features during gameplay.
- Added a bunch of Light base classes. With some useful features (like animation, strobe flag, intensity).
- Base puzzle class with a bunch of util features (story management, rewards, dialogs).
Optimization:
- Re-exported (optimized) some assets.
- Some managers are AInfo now.
- Reorganization of assets and code.
Settings
- Added custom checkbox class for features.
- Improved widgets initialization.
- Implemented re-load and apply. Also for sounds.
- Improved menu organization.
Fixed cam-shake, quality settings, strobe/animation/flashback flicker, feats reloading on settings, settings resolution scale bar, streetlight flicker.

Art

New: Word-cubes used for puzzles and others, Wide cabinet, toilet, mirror, bathtub, curtain, bar, Room02, Living00, street light.
New: Sounds for ambiences, noises, and rain. New Music!

Chapter 2

New: New music! It’s pretty cool and quite different!!
New: new character. exchanged them.
New: New puzzle.
パラメーター adjustments.

Chapter 0 and 1

New: Added some new objects. New puzzle.
Improved some interactions. Re exported some assets.

---- Subsystems and plugins

Flashbacks

New: AnimSpeed is configurable in config file.
Optimization: Fixed issues with de/activating unnecessarily.
LD: Added debug feature flag.
LD: Fixed setting the correct end value when adding values (as opposed to just setting one).

Dialogs

New: Added GetIsShowing, Get.

Story

New: Exposing step flags to be editable in the World Outliner.
New/LD: Added option to finish after dialogs.
Fixes and cleanups. Added logs.
Prevented sequences from having recursive dialogs.
Greatly improved the flow. Specially with child classes.
LD: Fix end step fading in and fading music.

Inventory / Flags

New: Added Flags::Instance

Interactions

New/LD: Added dialogs for items usage.
Re-parent sfx to the base mesh.
Improved anim logs, stop callable in editor, trigger begin on reset.
Added stub OnTrigger and OnTriggerLocked delegates. Ensure it has no issues with child classes.
Fix animator fade using invalid material.
Optimization: and fix ticking while deactivated.

Sound

New:
- CSounder: function to set a float param safely.
- Fade music on level and hold.
- LD: Added feature flags for music, noise, and environ.
- LD: Cross-fade music with environ.
- LD: Handling feature flags for Environ, Music, Noises.
MusicManager Fade and SetIntensity are overrideable.
LD: Fix music intensity on restart. Environ start.

Utils

Optimized QuickMesh WPO evaluation.
Moved a couple of functions to utils.
Fixed fade material on low quality.

Significance

New: (Optionally) Handle occlusion.
New: Flag to use concurrent/sequential calculation.
New: Debug flag.
Fixed issue breaking animations.

nande · March 2, 2024, 7:04am

Devlog 16

New build is available!
New chapter is available!

This is the 1st pass of the 4rd chapter (#03). It’s quite stub.

Try it at : LifeDev by Nande!
Wishlist at: LifeDev on Steam

Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

------ Game

This was a challenging sprint for external reasons. So i got less than the previous sprint. Also most of the work was in improving, refactoring, cleaning, and some for the next chapter. So this chap is a bit more bare-bones than i’d have liked. But in truth i always like more.

General

New:
- Save game is working! (This was a lot of work.) (Please note each release will probably break previous savegames)
- A lot of preemptive work for next chapter. Not visible yet, sorry.
- Added custom StoryManager.
Settings:
- Basic key remapping. (Note this sucks atm so use carefully).
Optimization:
- Re exported some optimized assets.
- Attempt at disabling WPO on meshes.
- Optimized data layers for objects “Outside” and Chap 01.
A ton of minor bugfixes, cleanups, and reorganization. Including plugins.
Added helper to set up character poses.

Art

New: Piano, plants x2, books, shelves, trashcan, small table.
New: a lot of art for the next chapter (not visible yet).
Improves to light.

Chapter 3

New: The whole chapter. New puzzle.
パラメーター adjustments.

Chapter 0, 1, and 2

Some tweaks on dialogs, puzzles, items, story flow.

------- Subsystems and plugins

Flashbacks

Improvements:
- Fixed SetMax and SetMin default duration.

Dialogs

Story

Optimization:
- Disable steps’ cameras while not active.
New:
- flag to automatically modify the flashback progressively during dialog sequences.
- Delegate for DataLayer changed.
Improvements:
- Fading and step switching cycle. Cover blind for level switching (and others).
- Changing steps, fading, and input enable/disable.
- Data layer loading is not recursive now.

Inventory / Flags

Improved “Clear” function to Inventory and Flags.
Improved flags SetAll delegates.

Interactions

Improved delegate handling.
Improved rewarding, fade, and delegate cycle.
Added “IsReversed”. Default one depends on the StateNum.
Added “IsOneShot”. Adjusted “DisableWhileAnim”
Improved SetMobility, Locked.
Puzzle
- Added ResetOnFail, OnReset, ResetTimer, and other reset utils.
- Moved a bunch of code to the plugin.
- Improvements. SetEnabled, DoneActor.

Sound

Utils

Added BP async callbacks.
Added IsEditor, IsDebug, CameraFade.
Improvements and fixes to GroupBox.

Significance

nande · May 27, 2024, 5:33am

New build is available!
New chapter is available!

This is the 1st pass of the 5th chapter (#04). It’s quite stub.

Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

------ Game

This was a very challenging sprint for external and internal reasons. Since this is the “last” chapter of the story, i decided to do many things differently. That includes changing the scheduling method. So it took way more than usual, but i think it was worth it. So everything is quite bare-bones and possibly confusing. Enjoy!

Important note: The button for erasing a save slot does not ask for confirmation! (That’s on TO-DO)

Important note: Compared to version 0.4.0.4, version 0.4.0.8 has less testing and a couple considerable changes, so it’s deemed more likely to have issues. Yet 0.4.0.8 fixes a couple really important features, and adds some interesting features. So i highly recommend trying 0.4.0.8. But if you were to have issues with that, please try 0.4.0.4.

General

New:
- Data layer for outside houses is now more granular.
- Added lights and puzzles to the outro.
- - Saved flags to the save.
Implemented light flicker based on sound. And a somewhat elaborated sound system.
Settings:
- Improved remapping options.
- New: Implemented movement and look sensitivity!
- New: Beta: Implemented different audio submixes (channels), with different volumes and attenuations.
- - This was plenty of work and is still a new feature. Issues might arise.
- - Reworked the attenuations, classes, levels.
Tweaks:
- Interact drag.
- Sound attenuation.
- Improved logging. (It’s log log log log, It’s better than bad, it’s good!)
- Improved movement input.
- (Created and) Fixed some packaging issues.
- Improved characters pose utilities, and base classes.
- Added end of game count for dialogs shown.
Fixes:
- datalayers, hitboxes, sounds, materials, plants, tv interact, cabinet, texts, chapter titles, map dependencies.
- A bunch of issues related to load a chapter directly from save.
パラメーター adjustments.

Art

New: Pots, stove, boxes, fridge, egg, pencil, particles, plates, sponge, sink.
Optimized a couple of assets.
Fixed some missing shadows.
Redone char18.

Chapter 4

New: New chapter!
- New room, new flow.
- New music with new mixing system.

Chapter 0, 1, 2, and 3

Some tweaks on dialogs, items, story flow.
- Improved some dialogs, books.

------- Subsystems and plugins

Flashbacks

LifeDev:
- Improved FlashBack curve animation.
- Added player movement change based on FlashBack.
Fixed issue with rapidly changing the target value.
Optimized the tick. Only ticking when needed.
Fixed possible crash.

Dialogs

Tweaks to styles.

Story

LifeDev:
- Option to automatically increase the flashback based on the dialog. Towards a given target and by a given increment.
- Improved dialog triggering flow.
- Added a few options to show, hide, enable, and disable interacts on step.
- Expanded ability to show/hide actors on step.
- Added option to automatically handle the rain on a step.
- Fixed issue of not destroying actors on step unload quickly.
- Added the FlashBack Randomizer to the step and normalized the usage.
A few refactorings.
Replaced the camera preview mesh with a better mesh.
Fixed the teleport player feature to also set the camera.

Inventory / Flags

Reworked the flag functions.
Beta: Considerable refactor to how the flags work and the functions provided.

Interactions

LifeDev:
- Added option to enable an interact as reward.
- Added option to start a new step as reward.
Fix an issue with some fades.
Fixed issue with SetEnable not working on the constructor.
Fixed issue on reward actors.
Fixed double usage of items.
Dis/Enable interacts on fade.
Improved the flow for interactions, rewards, fades, etc.
Some refactors.
Improved system for interact hover detection. Now with two methods to choose from. As well as some parameters.

Sound

LifeFev:
- Fixed environ playing during intro.
Fixed Noiser not activating on certain cases.

Utils

Moved GetAnyGameViewportClient here.
UI
- Implemented message box.
- Implemented base button.

Significance

Various fixes and cleanups.
Fix for android running on background thread.
Added TickWhenPaused

nande · October 18, 2024, 7:43am

This is some work after 0.4.0 . Life got busy and stuff happened. And it made sense to publish a new DevLog with the bits and pieces i’ve collected. Before starting the new sprint.
There were tons of things going on outside this project. Which made it really hard to make progress (if any progress at all).
Anyway, i tried my best, and decided to at least push to keep momentum. That proved to be hard and even impossible at times.
But i’ve managed to do a bunch of … stuff, which led to a lot of interesting improvements and additions.
So, i’m making this devlog to start the build with from a more stable point.
And also because a lot of time has passed and i feel it’d be nice if i give an update.
The build published won’t have any new content, but it will have all these improvements.

------ Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

------ Game

Important note:

General

New:
- PORTED TO 5.4!! :party:
- - This was less work than expected. But still required an effort.
- Intro logo.
Tweaks:
- Rework character collider size.
- A lot of rework and refactors.
- Improved the docs all over the place.
- Constness, TObjectPtr, likely.
Fixes:
- Settings confirmation dialog.
- Various fixes on stuff that wasn’t working.
パラメーター adjustments.

Settings

Reworked the whole settings ui:
- Ton of work.
- Ported a bunch of things to cpp.
- Created base widgets for features and feature groups.
Improved graphics settings.
Added AntiAlias, Dynamic Resolution, Frame rate, something else?
Added confirmation dialog on game load, and slot erase.
Audio audio volume preview.
Audio filter on pause.
Bunch of new feature toggles. (Ghost pool, flashback post process, speed post process, fov).
Fixed scroll on qualities.
Fixed control sensitivity to only apply on apply.
Improved screen resolution scale.
Fixed/improved loading and applying.

Art

New: Match box.
Optimized a couple of assets. Re-exported a bunch.
Fixed some outside meshes.
Removed unnecessary collisions.
Updated text colors.
More houses on the outside. Light blockers. And spaced lights.
Added speed post process.
Animation for the text.

Chapter 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4

CH04:
- Fix char particles
- Fixed pencil material
CH03: Fix lights
- Added tape03, and batteries. Changed level flow.
- Improved datalayer.

------- Subsystems and plugins

Flashbacks

LifeDev:
- Animate camera FOV with Flashback.
- Fixed lights state after fb.
- Added ghost pool. And feature flag.
Added OnTo and OnEnd delegates.
LerpStable.

Dialogs

LifeDev:
- Made text color white.
- Added new dialog material.
- - With performance switch based on quality settings.
- Fixed animation.

Story

Inventory / Flags

LifeDev:
- Dialog shown count at end of game.
- Time count at game end.
- Added foxy flag.
- Actually removing post processes on features.
- Improvements on handling feature flags.

Interactions

LifeDev:
- Fixed double enabling.
- Improvements on fade.
- Fixed lights starting “off”.
- Added item use result. Added Error.
Made Interactions replicated. !!!
CAnimator:
- Animation and subsystems using lerpStable.
- Added CAnimatorData to animate primitive data. with HSV.
- Added CAnimatorMPC. with HSV.
- Added ::Flip ::Mirror ::PlayMirror ::UseLog.
- AnimMat: Fixed removing duplicated animations. Added removing for data anims.
CAnimatorPID:
- Improved workflow. Added OnGetVal. Improved docs.
Randomizer: Added ::AnimValue ::AnimRandReverse ::AnimMirror.
Not grabbable by default.

Sound

LifeFev:
- Base widget for sound slider.

Utils

Added JNetUtils.
Materials:
- OKLab Palette Material function
- Palette with HSV
- Added: Checker, Alternate, DitherQuant.
- Added Kawase functions.
Pool:
- Fixed unlikely crash using console commands
UI:
- MsgBox:
- - Fixed MsgBox multiple accept.
- - Reworked style.
OctTree:
- NEW: Oct tree class that handles lots of actors. Works in tandem with the pool.
- ::Rebuild, ::Update, ::Add, ::Iterate, ::HasLoops, ::Contains, ::Overlaps and many more!
QuickMesh: Disable worldpositionoffsetwritesvelocity by default.

Significance

JSceneView

Added stub plugin for sceneview.

try it on itch-io Devlog 18 - 0.4.1.0 - Life happens - LifeDev by Nande!

wishlist on steam LifeDev on Steam

support on patreon https://www.patreon.com/posts/lifedev-devlog-0-114229596?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

nande · November 22, 2024, 7:35am

This is the 2nd pass of the chapter 03. It does not contain a lot of new content, but it does contain a good amount. Also, it contains a lot of improvement all around, including stability and performance. This was the 1st sprint after my forced pause, it was very challenging, but i’ve managed to keep progressing. So, here it is. Enjoy!

------ Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

------ Game

Important note:
If the game has problems, make sure to delete old config files.

General

New:
Tweaks:

Improved the docs all over the place.
Constness, TObjectPtr, Branch prediction hints (Un/Likely), cleanups.
Improved initialization and load flow.
Tweaked the interaction distance.
Fixes:
Fixed the music not loading correctly.
Fixed Ghost pool being active during intro.
Fixed a few collisions (cabinet, wardrobe, shelf).
Fixed some foxification initialization.
no パラメーター adjustments.

Settings

NEW:

Added new default features (Nanite, ghostpool, speed, megalights (not yet working ;))
Added new speed post process.
Enable LifeDev.ini to be overrideable by the player.
Fixed loading the settings during the intro stage.
- Fixes move sensitivity start at 0 on a rare case.

Art

NEW:

Pictures. Not yet in the level: matchbox, knife and fork.
Re-exported a bunch of assets for improved performance/space and visuals. (wardrobe, fluorescent, wordcubes, clouts, piano, key, tap)
- Finally deleted a few deprecated materials.

Chapter 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4

CH04:

Tweaks to some interacts.
Fixed the matchbox. Added sounds.

CH03:

New: New music!
Added interacts (picture puzzle, picture, heater, socks, books…)
Improved dialogs.

------- Subsystems and plugins

Flashbacks

Dialogs

LifeDev:

Improved UI working. Moved some stuff to cpp.

Story

LifeDev:

Added functionality to activate and deactivate (separately) interactions on each step.
Fix step destroying asset during fadeout.
Added ability to query the current chapter.
Plugin:
Fixed logs for dialogs not found.

Inventory / Flags

Plugin:

Fixed “hot” items not changing on the ui.

Interactions

LifeDev:

Improved collision settings.
Interact managing Hidden on fade.
Fix fade hidden when not using fade.
Plugin:
Improved default auto activation flow. Added some logs to detect incorrect setup.
Puzzle: Improved auto activation.
Simplified code.
Better support for 0 seconds duration animation.

Sound

LifeDev:

NEW: Added a bunch of new sounds.
Adjusted a bunch of (loudness) volumes.
Fixed an issue with ambience sound volumes.
Fixed issue where environ would not fade-in after disabling the music feat., when the fb is >0.
Fixed attenuation on the environment.
Improved attenuation occlusion.

Utils

NEW:

Added ability to use lambdas on DelegateWrapper.
Added array shuffle.
Added static array length.
Added Plot4 material function.
JUtilsSys, JUtilsNet.
Improved ease of usage for CodeCurve.
Added new default to CQuickMesh to improve performance.

Significance

Improved header usage.
OnChange also notifies the old value.

Play it on itch.io LifeDev by Nande!
Wishlist on steam LifeDev on Steam
Support on patreon Jerónimo Barraco-Mármol | Creating a game to overcome CPTSD and self-improve | Patreon

nande · January 8, 2025, 5:45am

This is the 2nd pass of the chapter 04. This is a HUGE milestone. Now all chapters contains 2 passes. This can be considered a release point. The Alpha version.
It contains some new content, and also quite a few improvements all around, and a TON of fixes.
This sprint was still very challenging, but i’ve managed to keep progressing. I’m actually quite happy with the amount of work that i’ve managed to achieve.
Thanks so much for everyone following the project and supporting me in one way or another!
My humble appreciation for you
So i really hope you enjoy this !

------ Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

------ Game

Important note:
If the game has problems, make sure to delete old config files.

General

NEW:

Moved to 5.5!!!
Added FBUtility editor widget to speed up tests…
Added MegaLights support.

Tweaks:

Improved the docs all over the place.
Constness, TObjectPtr, Branch prediction hints (Un/Likely). And other cleanups docs and fixes.
Improved build pipeline for windows.

Fixes:

Fixed settings menu on the intro not working well.
Fixed crash on hot-reload (yes, hot-reload).
Ghost pool flag is saved.
no パラメーター adjustments.

Settings

NEW:

Added new features.
- MegaLights are working now
- Dialog auto skip, with configurable time.
- Configurable default flashback duration.
- Configurable Interact drag.
- Experimental: Batch ticks & Concurrent tick. (see engine docs).
Added Dynamic resolution, FPS cap, AntiAlias mode.
Added version number.
Added Main Menu button.
Revamped ui. Works better.

FIX:

Issue with menu interfering with music and flashback on intro level.
Fixed issue with speed min/max + foxification.

Art

NEW:

Re-exported and adjusted a bunch of assets for improved performance/space and visuals. (bra, clout03, shirt01, clout01, bed, card, fake window, tv00, door00, walkman00, shirt01, ghost03, kitchen, rice box interact size, door collision).
- Finally deleted a few more deprecated materials.
Added more stub assets to the level.

FIX:

Fixed a bunch of assets (bed).
Removed a bunch of unused assets (char18, char22, test char, snake).
Fix TV button’s outline.
Improved Flashback post process (a lot, medium rework).
Improved Ghosts.
Fixed a couple Vertex Interpolators broken from 5.4.
Fixed some DataLayer assignment on some assets.
itsraresight changed name to Ovlune.

Chapters

CH04:

Added card and modified the flow.
Added matchbox, knife, fork, pictures.
Fixed poem03 look at description. Added patch to allow multi-dialog item description.
Added matches and reworked pot interaction, also with stove.
Added and improved dialogs.

CH02:

Fixed card reward soft-lock.

------- Subsystems and plugins

Flashbacks

LifeDev:

Fixed flashback post process with outline.
Fix animation duration on multiple triggers.
Fix flashback auto increment on dialogs working better with current value.
Improved the GhostPool actor and ghost items.
- Made some stuff on ghost item configurable through Ini files.
Experimented with objects only on flashback side.
- Created a new material and functions.
- Added FB_Depth, FB_Offset functions.

Dialogs

LifeDev:
Plugin:

Removed (unused) dialog type and emotion.

Story

LifeDev:

Fix step stopping RandFB at end.
Disabled input during camera blends.
Disable pointer text on blend.

Plugin:

Improved handling wait time (in tandem with camera blends).

Inventory / Flags

Plugin:

Interactions

LifeDev:

Improved how interactions can interact with other interactions. (And reworked some instances).
- Added Interacts to fade out.
- Added ability to select instances at runtime based on the class.
Fixed checking for rewards.
Fixed fade and active on failed item reward.

Plugin:

Added HoverStencilID property. Configurable by default via Ini file, and also per instance.
Updated default config ini.
Fixed crash with StateNum==0.
Removed network code.
Changed some pointers to WeakPointers.
Added instigator.

Sound

LifeDev:

Added TV noise. Removed unreal engine’s sound.
Updated musics’ MetaSound version.
Adjusted some sound levels.
Fixed certain sound effects not working on windows.

Utils

NEW:

Added CamFade function. (fade according to distance to the camera).
Added FakeWorldUV function. (something with screen coords to uv).
Added Float3ToUV function.
Added Equals function (to quickly test for equality).
Added CQuickMesh::SetUseCustomDepth.
Added GetPIEWorld and IsPIE.
Added Hidden material.
Removed some old materials. Now voxel material defaults to non-color correction.

Significance

NEW:

Added ability to calculate distance based on the origin component.

Links

Play it on itch.io LifeDev by Nande!
Wishlist on steam LifeDev on Steam
Support on patreon Jerónimo Barraco-Mármol | Creating a game to overcome CPTSD and self-improve | Patreon

nande · January 28, 2025, 5:51am

CTA: I’m looking for people interested in playtesting the game in its current state.
If you’re interested please let me know Thanks!

nande · February 15, 2025, 6:29am

This is the time between time. This sprint was done while i was preparing other things.
I’ve been organizing a couple of playtests, and gathering feedback.
I’m also preparing to tackle the next cycle of the game (a whole horizontal slice that could last another year and a half). So i’d like to have a good idea of where to go.

------ Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

------ Announcement/Important

Playtest

I’m looking for people who would like to playtest the game and give me feedback.
This is truly important for me at this point, and your feedback will shape what the game will become. Please contact me if you’re willing and able.

PLUGINS!

I’ve decided to publish my plugins already.
They are free and open source.
The links are below, under the title of each one.

I haven’t put time on the documentation (since i had other things to do), but the code it’s well documented and easy to understand.
I plan on improving the documentation, as well as cleaning them up as i go.
Then i want to publish them on Fab, though that proved to require more time than what i have available at the moment.

My wish is that someone finds them useful.

------ Game

General

NEW:

Started working on a hint system. That works with the card 00.
- Done a lot of work. It’s working, but barely used.
Added on-screen icon while autosaving (top-right).

Improve:

Improved and tweaked some dialogs.
Enabled PSO precache and other PSO optimizations (less chance to get a stutter).
Lots of cleanup. Removed lots of unused stuff.
Improved savegame stuff, including startup flow.

Known issue:

Timer might reset when reloading from a savestate.
no パラメーター adjustments.

Settings

NEW:

Added confirmation before going back to menu and quitting.
Added feature flags for:
- Dialog text, Hint (Card Intention),
Added work in progress story “Backlog”. Temporarily hosted in the settings window.

Improve:

Disabled the “speed” post shader by default.
Improved the feature flag for using savegame.

Art

NEW:

Redo the toilet.
Cleaned up some materials.

FIX:

Hover post process after DOF. Changes how it looks. I like it more and works better with the other post processes.
Re-exported more assets.
A bunch of missing dynamic shadows.
Drawer meshes.
Windows’ opacity.

Chapters

All:

Improved dialogs.

CH04:

Matches flow rework.

CH01:

Rejig some drawers.

------- Subsystems and plugins

All

PUBLISHED FIRST VERSION!!!
Added lgpl-3 license (work in progress).
Overall cleanup and improvement. Removed old stuff, tobjectptr, branch prediction, constness, crash prevention.

Flashbacks

Reworked flashback post process.
Added/improved some flashback material functions.

Dialogs

Plugin:

Added OnAdd delegate.

Story

Inventory / Flags

LifeDev:

Fix on inventory item change.

Plugin:

Added field for sound on item’s usage. Also implemented in the game but haven’t added any sound
Item.Description is now an array.
- Allow the game to show multiple dialogs for very long descriptions.

Interactions (and animations)

LifeDev:

Puzzles: set the cubes to read the current letter on the hover.
Piano: show rotating error message on failure.
Fix stove’s hitbox.
Added a few basic features to support hints easily.

Plugin:

Wait for puzzle anims to finish before finishing the puzzle and trigger actions.
Fix ItemLogic world creation and BeginPlay.
Expose AInteract::HintTime to settings.
Big rework on Anim subsystem.
- Now handles dynamic materials (float, vectors), custom primitive data (float, vector), material parameter collections (float, vectors), actor/component transform, and sound parameters (float) (e.g. metasound).
- improved the code a lot.
- improved delegates.
Added several features to support hints. (In a custom way).
Default config file.
Added UseSweep to AnimatorTrans.

Sounds

LifeDev:

Moved FB stuff out of generic AMusicMan into the game music man.

Utils

Lots of work on material functions. Add and improves.

NEW:

Added TWO new dither methods. DitherBayer and DitherHalfTone.
Added simple column sprite-sheet (flip book).
Added EqualsStencil.

Improves:

Improve material functions: Quantizer, QuantizeUV, ShiftRange, Fade, BoundsFade, DitherBayer, DitherHalfTone, Voxel*, others.
Cleaned up old voxel materials. Finally deleted old materials.
- Not using color correction by default.

Significance

Avoid printing warning during cook.
Other minor improves.

Links

Play it on itch.io LifeDev by Nande!
Wishlist on steam LifeDev on Steam
Support on patreon Jerónimo Barraco-Mármol | Creating a game to overcome CPTSD and self-improve | Patreon
Support on liberapay https://liberapay.com/nande
Interact on the forums [SoloDev] "LifeDev" My dream game about overcoming CPTSD

nande · March 16, 2025, 7:03am

This is the time between time. This sprint i focused on polish while i was doing other stuff, like waiting for feedback, and other real life things that required my attention. I tried to work a bit on marketing, narrative, and design, but without much progress (though trying is as success, and i did a lot of research). I still wanted to keep progressing with the game, and programming makes me happy, so i did some polish while things settled and i was a bit more in a place to continue with the regular sprints. So the new sprint (the one after this devlog) is the start of the 3rd cycle! Yay! Super amazing. So i hope you get excited about this devlog and the upcoming progress As always thanks SO SO much for your help and support <3.

------ Sprint log:

Explanation and demo

------ Announcement/Important

Playtest

Play-tests are still open. If you want to help me with your feedback, please contact me :)

New plugin for emergent behavior

I've created a new plugin for emergent behavior gameplay! Read more down below on its section ("Behave").

Plugin now use the MIT license!

So, this is an important change.
I rather LGPL3, but i've decided to change to MIT.
The major reason i prefer LGPL is that it incites people to also release the modifications of the plugin back to the community (AFAIK). That's actually quite important to me. Unfortunately MIT does not enforce that.
The downside with LGPL is that i've had the misfortune to know people who did not understand much about licenses and only used MIT due to being simple to understand.
The only point that i find reasonable to not enforce LGPL though, is a clause that states that you either need to release a relinkable object file or use a dll. A clause that i do not care *at all*.
But since i know how unlikely is that someone will actually take the time to evaluate a license (with a lawyer maybe), an edited lgpl is not useful.
So in the hope that more people can use the plugins and feel at peace, i've decided to use a license that's easy to understand and permissive enough.
I'm sure the people that would like to contribute will do it regardless.

------ Game

General

NEW:

Implemented a few modes: New game plus, Kiosk (for expos), and Demo (demo build).
- Just a stub at the moment.

Improve:

Some cleanups and general improves.
Improvements to the GhostPool management.
Improvements to handling the chapter flow, and improved handling the end of the story.
Fixed and improved subsystems and manager initialization flow. For great stability and determinism! Fixes some issues with feature flags.
Moved the outro stats to its own screen.
Improved packaging flow. Changed a few things to work with the Feature flag system, so it’s set automatically to the correct group (file saves, test data layer, etc.).

Known issue:

The boxers have some weird color on a side due to a bug in ue.

Settings

NEW:

Show current foxy value.
Ability to tweak foxy value on new game plus.
Ability to change blur amount.
Ability to change the ui scale!
Ability to invert Y coords on camera movement B)
Attempt to add a debug panel.
Added (experimental) flag to disable saving game during runtime.

Improve:

Reworked saving
- Added a saving icon!
- Improved loading and saving.
- Improved saving handling.
- Added experimental version tag to the save game.
- Fixed saving settings (flags and feats) when changed on the intro menu.
- Fixed loading settings and feats on game start.
- Ensure saving new feature flags.

Art

NEW:

Light switches (1 base with 3 options).
(Shampoo/conditioner) Bottles. Might not be on the build.

Improve:

Generalized two ui buttons and replaced them on a bunch of places.
Improved the MsgBox.
Improved dialog aesthetic. Colors and such.
- Fixed issue with pop-in animation and different line counts.
Basin position.
Improved the dithering effect and used it in a few more places. Now everything looks a bit more coherent and nicer.
Reworked inventory ui. Items’ Colors, number, logic.
Reworked shaders for hint (intention) and hover.
Improved a couple of cameras positions.

Chapters

All:

Reworked how the walkman/tape/batteries interact/flow (a big work).
Tweaked some dialogs.
Attempt to add precomputed lights (when disabling lumen). Also, HLODS.
Tweaked arrangement of some objects. (Fixes some issues).

CH04:
CH03:

Improved interaction with door.
Improved piano puzzle.
CH02:
CH01:
CH00:
Experimented adding some messages on the flashback side.

------- Subsystems and plugins

All

Some plugins got updated.
Overall cleanup and improvement. Removed old stuff, tobjectptr, branch prediction, constness, crash prevention.
I’ve changed license to MIT!! (see explanation above)

Flashbacks

Fixed issue with FB values not changing at the correct speed between chapters.

Dialogs

New:

Major rework to the dialogs. More data driven. Easier to add tons of them without the need to code. (Inspired by the GDC talk for Firewatch and Steam’s L4D/Portal/Etc.)
- This inspired the additional features for ‘dialog conditions’.
- To support this i’ve also added a bunch of automatic (generic) dialog events, as well as flag tracking.
- Still experimental, i’m confident i broke something, and i haven’t added many dialogs just yet. Still some technical features missing.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj-2vbiyHnI
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAbBID3N64A

LifeDev:

“AutoDialogs”: Item.Look, Item.Fail (not usable, not ready, bad target, no target), Item.Use, Inter.Trigger, Inter.Look, Inter.Unlock, Inter.UseItem, Inter.State, Inter.Activate.
- Most of these are also automatic flags. So now i can (and super easily) have logic on the dialog, puzzles, and interaction; to check for any of the above things. Via the shiny Eval subsystem and conditions (or directly via flags).
Finally removed all \n from items and dialogs. In favor of multiline text fields. Small performance gain.

Plugin:

Renamed sequences to groups.
Added a Condition field to dialogs and groups. To be evaluated by the new and shiny Eval subsystem.
Ditched changing the behavior depending on row names’ postfixes.
Added group types. Sequence, Random, Match (pick first matching condition), Pick Loop (pick one using a condition, loop around), Pick Clamp (like PickLoop but clamp instead).
Added Comment field to both dialogs and groups.
Some other fixes and improves.
Cleanup. Removed unused stuff.

Story

LifeDev:

Added FlagsFinish. Which allows to finish on certain flags.
Reworked some old steps to take advantage of new features, and also work better.
Generalized screen shakes for any step.
Other improves.

Plugin:

Protected against a really unlikely crash.

Inventory / Flags

LifeDev:

Added a bunch of “Auto flags”. For stuff happening in the game.
- Many are the same from “Auto Dialogs”, but also: “Story.Step.Start.xxx”.

Interactions (and animations)

LifeDev:

Fixed issues with Puzzle finishing timings.
Added text for the current letter on word cube puzzle to help during flashbacks.
Added a new puzzle with books (not in the build yet).
Added a new puzzle with the shampoo bottle (not in the build yet).
Added RewardIntersTrigger, which points to other interacts to trigger as a result of the current interact trigger (yes, it makes sense to have it :))
Improved IsOneShot and DisableWhileAnim.
Added Interact ULockCondition. Unlocks the Interact using the new Eval subsystem. (Soon to be ported to the Interact Plugin).
Added overrideable method for Unlock. (To be ported as well).
Spot:
- Added UseOrder to require items to be used in order.
- Added UseStateInc to increment state on each usage.
Added light switches. This is mostly a test. only added to a couple of rooms.

Plugin:

Improved fading material handling.
Interact:
- Fixes on Interact::DisableWhileAnim and !UseAnim.
- Added HintCondition. Enables hint using the new Eval subsystem.
- Added UseStateLoop to loop states when triggering past the last state.
- Added SetActive to control whether it’s enabled to be interacted with.
- Added SetState to control the current state. Also fixed an issue with the state count.
- Moved Texts from Anim to base Interact.
- Added OnHint.
A big rework on Puzzles to be Interacts.
- removed DisableOnInter.
- Added a Type Condition, that uses the new Eval subsystem to unlock/complete a puzzle.
- Fixed sequence always locking.

Sounds

LifeDev:

Added a new song, that plays on the main menu when new game plus is available.
Fixed issue of music initialization on the main menu.
Fixed outro music.
Re-enable optimization (Auto manage attachment).
Fixed music playing twice.
Fixed music volume levels on intro/outro screens.

Utils

New:

Added JUtilsMath. Moved two functions there. Added a few more.
Added MathEval. A function that evaluates simple math expressions. Super useful.
Added ToggleDataLayers.
Important: Added Eval a subsystem for advanced math evaluations.
- With many operators of my own.
- Allows to use user defined variables.
- Helps decouple the system and plugins.
- Uses pure UE c++ code. No external dependency. Uses optimized UE classes. I can extend it in the future quite easily.
- I’ve started experimenting with this to add conditions to the dialogs, interactions, and other things

Improves:

Improvement to the MsgBox class.
- Buttons creations. Hide on done.
Pool
- Fixed issue with reducing pool on ItemMax < Current.
- Ensure pool empty on destroy.

Significance

Behave

NEW:

New plugin for emergent behavior. It’s pretty nice. Aims to allow mechanics like the Sims, or Slime rancher, (Or FEAR/TombRaider/Others).
I’ve made this after watching the Slime rancher and sims talk. So it’s a bit inspired by it (thanks so much GDC for the talks). But the design is my own idea. Later on, i’ve found about GOAP and StateTrees and i’ve included some of it. It can behave as any of those.
This plugin is on a beta stage (experimental).
The architecture/design is pretty stub/prototype. And has not undergone much optimization.
I’m still testing whether it’s going to be useful for this project or not. It’s quite possible i won’t add it, since it detracts a bit from the current scope, i don’t really feel the emergent behavior mechanic fits with the feeling/idea i want to transmit, and could add a ton of extra work for no real value (real value would be a mechanic that reinforces the narrative and tells the story). In any case i’m pretty sure i’ll add some sort of emergent narrative in some way. The work with the Dialog/Flags/Eval systems already provides a great deal of power for emergent narrative.
I haven’t published it just yet. But i plan to do so sometime soon (when i get some free time, energy, and motivation). Even though it’s beta and the code quite not up to my standards, i will publish it anyway in case someone wants to try it out, or help with, or have fun, or learn.

In any case i think i might just move to use StateTrees by UE. (which i discovered after doing this plugin). I think it’s much more mature, and also a good skill to learn for my professional career. Though i’m certain that being able to create my own GOAP/StateTree improves my skills more (and require more skills) than knowing how to use a StateTree. So i think of this was a great exercise and learning experience for me. Though maybe i use it in another project just for fun, specially if i discover it’s more flexible or performant than state trees. One cool thing about this plugin is that it’s compatible with the Significance subsystem, planning happens on a background thread, And the tree is totally dynamic at runtime.

Slime rancher emergent storytelling.

See this one. It’s loosely based on the first person’s talk. And the comment about Layered GOAP.

Also look at state tree. it can do very similar stuff. and it’s much cooler.

good video in bt, with good ideas for decorators

non combat ai

Links

Play it on itch.io LifeDev by Nande!

Wishlist on steam LifeDev on Steam

Support on patreon Jerónimo Barraco-Mármol | Creating a game to overcome CPTSD and self-improve | Patreon

Support on liberapay https://liberapay.com/nande

Interact on the forums [SoloDev] "LifeDev" My dream game about overcoming CPTSD

nande · March 23, 2025, 10:41pm

screenshots:

nande · March 30, 2025, 5:01am

New Ko-Fi page if you want to support the development. https://ko-fi.com/jerobarraco

Patreon also has one time donations

New trailer !

moffaclan · March 31, 2025, 6:41am

Just gave this a wishlist and I’ll be trying out the demo as soon as it’s available. Intrigued by your premise, art direction and the weighty themes. Great work so far!

nande · March 31, 2025, 9:31pm

Thanks a lot! <3
That really helps me.
You can play/get the early access on Itch.io
and also you can play the demo 2 chapters on steam.

i’m always looking for playtesters, so if you’re keen to give feedback let me know.

nande · April 16, 2025, 7:59am

Devlog 23 - 0.5.0 - Chapter 00 Pass 02

------ Announcements

This sprint i’ve focused again on a chapter. Like usual.
This is the 1st sprint after the first alpha.
The previous cycle was composed of 2 passes on each chapter.
So it could be considered 2 horizontal slices (and 2 cycles in one).
That was a super important milestone, because it meant the game was playable on all chapters in its minimum expression.

This is the 1st sprint of the 3rd cycle. The third horizontal slice.
My plan for this and the next sprints in this cycle is to focus on improving the quality of the content,
without adding much more content, and avoiding moving more features, while also improving the narrative and dialogs.

So, ideally, it will be more focused on narrative design, than technical features.

Still i tend to work on new features and technical stuff, because i love it.

Play-tests are still open. If you want to help me with your feedback, please contact me :)

Explanation and demo

------ Game

General

NEW:

Added a feedback form, that opens when the game is closed. To make much clearer the intention of the build, as well as making it much easier for play testers.
Added ability to load datatables from external jsons. In the future it will allow to load fan-translations during runtime. (As well as adding/removing dialogs.)
- If you’re interested in helping translate (without chatgpt or other AIs), please contact me.
Added ability to change the language. But since i only have english at the moment, it’s not showing.
Make the demo have 2 chapters. Demo is now available at Steam.
Added some features for captures (e.g. trailers). Show/hide pointer, text, etc.

Improve:

Fixed light count stats.
Added a DataLayers for each room. This allows me to organize/load assets based on location. Previously i did it only based on the chapter.
- Chapter DataLayers do still exists, and they work together.
- This is a work in progress. I’ve only organized the chapter 00. The rest will be done later.
Some improvements to the GhostPool.
Limited camera pitch movement to avoid gimbal lock.

Known issue:

Settings

NEW:

Now showing: Time (for speed running?), Build version, Engine version.
Ability to change the foxify value on new game plus.

Improve:

Reworked pausing the game. Now a bit more animated (time dilation), and better timings.
Fixed FeatsGroup scrolling.
Added a button to delete the current game config (in case something went wrong on an update).
- Reworked where the config is stored.

Art

NEW:

Dustpan, Broom, Screw driver …
Started working on a new room. (Not finished/added yet.)
New spark particles.

Improve:

Reworked the Flashback material (again).
Improved Ghost materials. For the particle ones and the GhostPool.
- Now with fading on distance to camera and other objects.
- And proper particle color and alpha fades.
Fixed some shadows.
Reworked the Range scan effect for the “Hints” (Card0).
Done quite some work exploring dynamic lights. But removed them for now.
Reworked the intro menu. Improved the logo animation, and other stuff.
“Fixed” stereo z-fight on windows.

Chapters

All:

Fixed a bunch of texts that weren’t localized (into being localized).
Reimported and optimized a bit a couple of rooms (Hall).
Optimized room 01 and 03 walls loading.
Fixed issues with the radio.

CH00:

Added some dialogs, and hints (card 0 (intention)).
Added some new interactions. Specially books, a toilet, a shelf, some light switches.
Added a couple puzzles (phone, bottles).
Started working on a book-based puzzle, but could not finish it. So it’s not added.

CH01:

Fixed small issue with a tape that was not properly occluded.
Fixed wait on C1S5

CH02:

Fixed poem’s dialog being truncated.

CH03:
CH04:

------- Subsystems and plugins

All

Note that usually i update the repo for the plugins a few days after the devlog (if i have extra time).

Flashbacks

Added some texts on the walls.

Dialogs

New:

LifeDev:

Moved one of the old dialogs to the new auto dialogs (Unlock Dialogs).
- This was a low-hanging fruit, the next ones are going to be much harder.
Improved a lot of dialogs. Including card pickup.
Added some dialogs.

Plugin:

Story

LifeDev:

Fixed step activating interactions on Start. IntersActive.
Added ability to animate the camera’s transform dynamically with the FlashBack. UseFBAnim.
- Works in tandem with the Dialogs automatic flashback change. Used on Chapter 0’s end.
Added ability to end a step when one or more flags are set. FlagsFinish.

Plugin:

Inventory / Flags

LifeDev:

Added item usage animation.
- Did some extra work on item usage on code.
Improved how items look. Colors, icon for item cooling down, etc.

Interactions (and animations)

LifeDev:

Added ability to activate an interact only if it has not been triggered before. This is persisted to SaveState. UseActiveOnce.
TV now follows Flashing lights feature flag.
Fixed puzzle to clear on reset with IsOnShot.
Fixed (auto) label generation on init and runtime. (Used for auto dialogs and auto flags).
Added light switches.

Plugin:

Added Label. Used for auto-dialogs and other features.
- Updates automatically from the actual label in the outliner. Can be used, and changed, at runtime.
Added ability to start/stop particles for each state on an Interact. Particles.
Added ability to start sounds for each state on an Interact. SFXs.
Rework how the interacts initialize their Active state.
- Added a function for setting the state on constructor. This was quite some work. SetStateNow.
- Fixes some issues behind the scene with initialization and triggering events on object begin play (on spawn and chapter load). So now it’s much cleaner, and deterministic.
- Added a flag for UseAutoActivate. Which can be toggled on the Outliner.
- - So that i can easily set up instances without having to create new classes.
- Rework how the CAnimatorTransform initializes its transforms. Added CopyTStart.
Added ability to remove hint on Trigger (UseTriggerDeHint).
Fixed issue with Unlock.
- Reworked the unlock flow, and unlock overrideable.
- Added ShouldUnlock overrideable.
- Added UnlockCondition.

Puzzles:

Fixed CPuzzle OnDone delegate for Sequences, to only trigger at the end.
Fixed bug on OnUpdate delegate.
Added GetCurrents.
Added OnUpdate auto-dialog.

CAnimator:

Made CAnimator default to 60fps. (Affects all types/children of CAnimators.)
- This improves a lot the fluidity of animations. 30fps can lead to the impression of the game being less performant.
- While this requires technically more processing power than the previous 30 fps. I’ve decided that 30 is just too little for transformations.
- They also CAP at 60, (means they don’t go over that). And most of them are also hooked to the Significance subsystem, so they adjust their fps dynamically.
- Some animators have been optimized to run at 30. Like the one for Sounds and some used for Lights.
Added ability to selectively not be affected by the World Time Dilation. UseTimeDilation.
Added CAnimatorTime to animate time dilation (super fun to use).
Reimplemented bounce functionality without modifying the IsBouncing flag. More re-trigger-able.
Update is public. Since that’s super useful.

Anim subsystem:

Added loop, bounce, and reversed.
Reworked fades’ parameters to use a structure.
Added faders for a Generic fader. Has a curve, loop, bounce, reverse, duration, etc. But you can use your own code.

Sounds

LifeDev:

Sounds for toilet, switches, radio.

Utils

New:

Added LoadJSONTable and LoadCSVTable. To load a data table from a json/csv file at runtime.
Added SetLocale, SetCulture, GetCulture, GetAllCultures.
Added GetUsername.

Improves:

Removed game pause from ShowUI and indirectly from BaseUI.
Fixed ArrayShuffle.

Significance

Avoid register on editor non-play. That is, avoid triggering a distracting, but harmless, warning.

Behave

Added priorities to tasks.
Added TaskGet and TaskRem.
Added task Wait, Pick, Random, and maybe others.
Added PlanSpread, and cost fuzzing.
Added looping.
Fixed plan triggering multiple times.
Improved cost calculation.
- Recalculate plan on running task.
Implemented parallel (multithreaded) plan on pick.
Some optimizations.
Reworked the flow a bit.
Reworking loading, creating, adding, and removing actions.
- Removing actions is new.
- Now more data driven.

------ Links

Play it on itch.io LifeDev by Nande!

Wishlist on steam LifeDev on Steam

Forums https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/solodev-lifedev-my-dream-game-about-overcoming-cptsd/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jerobarraco

Mastodon: Jeronimo Barraco-Marmol (@jerobarraco@mastodon.gamedev.place) - Gamedev Mastodon

Support on patreon (one time available) Jerónimo Barraco-Mármol | Creating a game to overcome CPTSD and self-improve | Patreon

Support on liberapay https://liberapay.com/nande

Support on Ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/jerobarraco

nande · April 20, 2025, 1:05am

LifeDev Soundtrack is available on Steam!

nande · May 26, 2025, 8:28am

------ Announcements

Sprint

2nd sprint, of the 3rd cycle. Chapter 01/Pass 02.
This sprint was challenging too. My aim was to do more on narrative, and i did manage to do some.
I also made a ton of refactors, which were difficult, but also important.

Moving to Steam

Huge news.
Time and effort are extremely critical aspect for me (not by choice).
In order to optimize my time, and make the most of it: I’ve decided to move fully to steam.
For that i’ve just released my game on steam. So:

You can now buy it on steam (please don’t buy it on itch.io unless this is the only place you can get it).
I’m not going to update itch.io anymore (though i truly love it).
Also, i’ve opened the community on steam, and closed the one on itch.io.

The game is not finished yet, it’s on early access.
I’ve made a mistake setting up the game, and now steam won’t allow me to set it as EA. I know that will be confusing, but i can’t change it now.

I will keep improving the game, and the price will keep increasing, just like on itch.io.

Play-tests are always welcome open. If you want to help me with your feedback, please contact me :)

Explanation and showcase

------ Game

General

This build contains massive amounts of refactorization:

I’ve decided to change the mechanic for using items with interactions. This impacted the flow considerably.
Refactored data-layers to have layers per room, and per chapter.
- Helps to manage assets much more flexibly. Improving load.
Refactored to use SoftObjectPointers on several classes.
- I did not need it before. But now it helps me to set up some references by code, as well as improving memory and load a bit.
- It was a considerable amount of work.
Dialogs support multiple data tables now.
731 commits vs 637 on previous sprint. Not the type of metric i care about, but still a ton of work.

NEW

I’ve also added a new system for small prompts (hints) on how to use the game. “Teach” (See Inventory).
- It’s called “Teach” instead of “Hint”, since the hint system is another thing.
I’ve also integrated Sentry. This is a service that reports crashes and bugs to me.
- Sentry and the new “Teach” was fairly quick, but took a considerable amount of work.
Added support for SM5 shader model on linux. As well as SM6.
The feedback form is show upon closing the game. Feedback is welcome
Added Thanks file
New feature flags, mostly for debug.

Improve:

Lots of optimizations and bugfixes. A more than usual.
- One of them is the Garbage Collector async performance.
- Improved build sizes.
- Implemented some new micro-optimization technique.
Improved spawn/init cycle.

Known issues:

Settings

NEW:

Added toggle for Auto Exposure. Off by default.
Added toggle for Status screen message. Off by default.
- Useful for debug and speedruns.
Added a feedback box right on the settings!

Improve:

Reworked how the settings ui is activated.
Show play time on save slot.

Art

NEW:

Have been working on a room. Not yet in the usable.
New assets: Phone, Clock, Scissors, Notebook, Screwer. Not yet in usable.
Switch spark particles.
Started working on a new entity, with nice shaders.
- I’ve put a lot of work in this. (Not yet visible, though :P)

Improve:

Improved the shoes of one of the characters.
Optimized reflection method.
Removed camera aspect ratio change.
Improved material memory usage a bit.
Improved the necessary permutations a bit. (Space, load time, memory usage, build times).
Improved PSO cache settings.
Reworked all light values. So that it works better with baked lights, and Lumen.
Improved the ghost post-process.

Chapters

All:

Implemented the effect for the Card 0 (intention). When i say “hint”, i refer to this.
Added new mechanic/effect for Card 1 (What works). Took quite some work. Though it’s not noticeable yet.
I’ve done a ton of rework on the flow to:
- Accommodate for the new item usage flow.
- The cards are not used as items anymore. You can still use them by themselves.
Implemented camera animation for some of the chapters. This is a work in progress.
Fixed a lot of text that was not localized. So that from now on everything can be localized if it needs to.
Added some decorative assets (pencil, screwer, pictures, books, etc.).
Added interactions: Notebook, screwer. Not yet usable.
Added phone puzzle and interactions.
Improved a bunch of collisions, and audio sources.
Text on walls. Improved the visuals too.
Have added and improved a bunch of dialogs.

CH00:
CH01:

Added a bunch of Hints (Card 0).

CH02:
CH03:
CH04:

------- Subsystems and plugins

All

Public repos for the plugins are updated on a later date, when i have the time to.

Flashbacks

Dialogs

LifeDev:

Did a TON of refactor of dialog variables.
- And, I’ve moved many of the dialogs to the new “auto-dialog” system.
Improved some item descriptions and other text like that.

Plugin:

Added ability to have multiple data-tables at the same time.
- For both, groups and dialogs.
- This allows to have data-tables per chapter, and also more general ones.
Improved flag for printing warnings on missing dialogs.
Improved flow for adding dialogs and groups.

Interactions (and animations)

I’ve done a TON of work and refactor with interacts.

LifeDev:

Added UseActiveOnce. Manages an item to be activated only once. Regardless of chapter. Using the savegame. Useful for items in multiple chapters.
Refactor: Moved the functionality from the “Spot” to the LInteract. Fixed some bugs. Still work in progress.
Refactor to consume items on unlock. For the new item usage flow. Work in progress.
Fix hide interact prompt on reward.
Improved puzzles so that:
- They can be Hinted.
- They can manage the puzzle pieces SetActive.
Removed RewardStep, as it was redundant with the step.

Plugin:

Added ability to set particles to use for each state.
Added CInteractor::OnTrigger.
Added Interact::TriggerForced, so force trigger even if locked.
Improved sound playing. For looping sounds.
Refactored the activation and auto-activation flow.
- This was a big piece of work. It improved much more how interacts are initialized and set-up.
- Added a flag UseAutoActivate that can be set on the editor.
Fix interactor triggering OnHover on a destroyed actor. (Took some effort).
Fixed/Improved hiding, deactivating, fade, etc. And their flow.
Improved flow for unlocking. Now using condition.
Hints
- Refactored the collision settings, to allow objects to be hint-able but not active.
- - Work in progress that i might refactor in a different way, on the next sprint.
- Fix ensure to hide stencils on deactivate.

CAnimator:

Added UseDilation option. To ignore/compensate time dilation.
Added a CAnimatorTime to animate global time dilation.

Anim subsystem:

Added TimeFade, global time dilation animation (here too).

Inventory / Flags

LifeDev:

Fixed inventory refresh on item usage.

Plugin:

Fixed Mod and Use with Consumable.
Added OnlyConsume on Mod.

Teach:

Added a system, to prompt the user with hints. Called “Teach”.
- It’s the typical “you can use an item with the mouse”. (Also known as New User Experience (NUX)).
Has plenty of work on it. Interacts with the Flag subsystem.

JSignificance

JUtils

New:

Added SoundSheet to audio. (To be moved to the Sounds plugin)
Added FakeLight material function. A material based quick and cheap dynamic light.
Added KawaseBlur for post-process.
Added SphereNormal and some materials to work with pseudo water.
Added FastMod. A micro-optimized modulo function.
Eval:
- Added a list expression. With “random pick” and indexing.
- Added round function.

Improves:

Improved QuickMesh collisions.
Fixed ReadTable, LoadCSVTable and LoadJsonTable.
Improved material functions for water, and Choose.

Sounds

LifeDev:

Upgraded some meta-sounds’ versions.
Added a bunch of sounds.
Refactored sounds to use the interact plugin’s sfx-state functionality.
Fixed location of some sounds.
Adjusted audio volumes.

Plugin:

Have a way to specify the sound of each state of the Interact.

Story

LifeDev:

Fixed step FBDlgAuto with manual dialogs.
Added/Improved finish a step with flags and or items. Made them a list.
Fix possible crash due to flags.

Plugin:

Implemented ability to tween camera positions in sync with flashback and dialogs.
Improved camera tween on steps.
Fixed loading on steps. Made step transition to wait for data-layers and other async load.
Improved avoid unload and load the same datalayer.
Improved advancing step on interact trigger, and flags.