Development Log: One Month In
Tags: python, contributorswanted, hackathon, gamedev
Published: 2020-06-29 23:16:47

Happy almost-July!

We've reached the end of GAME MODE 2020, and while we've made significant progress, DiamondQuest is far from finished. What now?

## Revisiting Expectations

DiamondQuest's development was slowed out of the gate by some unexpected changes to our team, difficulties nailing down the main structure of the game, among other delays.

Yet, even before June, we knew it was a very real possibility that DiamondQuest wouldn't be ready by July 1st! That's just the nature of software development.

![Good, Fast, Cheap...pick two.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/q7u673e9n1tzmoxapwkb.gif)

But that's okay. Even though the official GAME MODE 2020 is over, we're continuing development on DiamondQuest, and will continue to update this development log accordingly. Our regular game engine development work is calling to us, but we'll keep devoting some of our time to DiamondQuest until it's done.

Besides, we're rather proud of what we accomplished in June, regardless!

## Map Generation

With the help of open source contributor Harley Davis, Jason C. McDonald was able to finish the map generator:

![DiamondQuest: Randomly Generated Map](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/r5uxnkvuh02zhtda1zfi.png)

<sup><sub>DiamondQuest block textures by WightKing for MousePaw Media. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike-NoDerivatives 4.0</sub></sup>

The deeper you go, the lower the probability of encountering caves and dirt, but the higher the probability of encountering treasure. This is generated by the *final* code (more or less), so improving the map generator is as simple as tweaking a couple of constants later.

## Player Movement

Elizabeth Larson, Jason, and Harley built the model that the player avatar, The Miner, will use to be "aware of her surroundings", and to specify whether any particular player action is possible or not.

That player movement is largely functional in the model, although it doesn't yet render on the screen. Elizabeth is expanding the sprite sheet for The Miner so we have all the artwork we need for that avatar.

## Menu

Wilfrantz Dede has been working on the model for rendering the game menu. Because of our disability support goals, we have to design the menu interface to be easily navigable with only one key press at a time.

## Math Puzzles

Adeel Hussain and Graham Mix have been building the model for generating the math puzzles the player has to solve, and getting the pieces in place to render that puzzle on the screen.

## Treasures!

Open source contributor Anna Dunster has been creating some *amazing* artwork for the treasures you can find in DiamondQuest!

![Ammonite](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ofv137xfxnbbjvgjmqm9.png)
<sup>Ammonite fossil</sup>

![Vescular Basalt](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/4tmq6q3vvfub4ag308hd.png)
<sup>Vescular Basalt</sup>

![Ruined Book treasure](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/hrepdzu9oqw27o0aoz2t.png)
<sup>I hope it's not overdue...</sup>

![Lost Sock treasure](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/p1x8x6ildkqaifbuasco.png)
<sup>Oh, *there's* my other sock!</sup>

<sup><sub>DiamondQuest treasure art by Anna Dunster for MousePaw Media. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike-NoDerivatives 4.0</sub></sup>

## Want To Help?

We'd love to have your help! Whether you're a coder, an artist, a sound designer, or a musician, your contributions would be greatly appreciated.

Visit our website to learn more and join in the fun: https://mousepawmedia.com/developers/contributing