Version 0.1 - Game Base Creation, Systems, and Sprites

TLDR;

• The First public version of the game.
• Map partitioning system into 16x16 tile chunks.
• Inventory system.
• Player needs system (Health, energy, hunger, and thirst).
• Action system, with requirement checks, such as item or item category (e.g., Axe) or Need (e.g., Energy).
• Navigation system, object collision, and object selection through the mouse.
• Day and night cycle system, with clock and “days survived” count (no way to die, YET).
• Item loot on the ground in the map.
• Building system, with the possibility to build shelter and fire (doesn’t consume inventory items yet).
• Poor lighting around the player at night, and lighting via built campfire.
• Sleeping action to recharge energy.
• Exported to Windows, Linux, Android, and MacOS.

DevLog

I started the game project on March 10, 2025. I didn’t jump straight into the code, first doing some planning about the game’s theme, what it would have in it, the deadline for the first version release, among other topics.

My first definition (which obviously changed) was that the game would be more interface-based, only with on-screen buttons, text, and images representing what was happening, but everything static. There wouldn’t be dynamic exploration, walking around the scenery, or clicking on objects to interact with. I was inspired by the game Survive, available for Android, which I had played years ago, and I wanted to follow a similar style.

One of the requirements was that each map would be separated and would have its own 2D design, and each player action could cause a change on that map. For example, when building a shelter, the shelter sprite would appear in a predetermined location. The player could then choose to travel to another neighboring map by choosing one of the directions North/South/East/West.

When I started programming, this idea quickly evolved into: why not have a continuous map, with the player choosing where things would be built? But this change quickly raised more questions, and then the game began to look like what came in version 0.1. One of those questions was: if the map is now continuous, and not in chunks, there wouldn’t be the “Travel” action between maps anymore. Without partitioning the map, it was also impossible to accurately determine what the player could or could not perform as an action, so they would have to interact with objects that existed, such as trees, water, animals, etc. In the end, it was a big evolution, moving from a text and on-screen button game to a more dynamic one, more similar to the games we generally consume.

My inspirations quickly turned to current ones: The Long Dark, Don’t Starve, The Forest, Conan Exiles, and others.

As the game systems were being created, several ideas of what it could have in it started emerging as well.

However, I needed to respect my deadline at least for the first version launch, alpha of course, but to start announcing the game’s existence and start gaining followers for this idea.

My initial deadline was two weeks, starting from March 10. It took me three weeks to release the first version, but the scope had grown quite a bit, plus I had to start designing all the sprites from scratch. Most of them are prototypes, they didn’t take much work (just solid colors or with little detail), but still, creating everything from scratch had its effort.

The first version is still very raw, barely something to be called a game. It doesn’t have an end goal yet, just the test of several interconnected systems. However, it allows testing of concepts.

The next step will be to define a roadmap for the features that will further enhance the game and make it more fun, gradually resembling a complete game. Things like reducing hunger and thirst over time, losing Health if any Need is empty, and dying if Health reaches zero. And urgently working on a warning and notification system to alert the player when something is missing to complete an action (You need an axe to chop the tree or You have no energy).

I really hope that the game can reach many people interested in this type of game and that they will follow the development, give feedback and constructive suggestions, and that soon there will be something complete and fun to play.

See you soon.
Murilo.