Vapor Warehouse - Game Idea

I have been struggling to find a new project to work on. Not that I don't have ideas; quite the opposite. But all of the ideas in my mind compete for my attention based on my whims. Some days I want to follow my heart: work on a 3D, first-person, cooperative game like Lethal Company because I know I would enjoy it with my friends even before it's finished. Other days (even other moments of the same day) I want to create something more achievable. Something that either utilizes my current skills or gives me opportunity to test new skills.

I've realized that I should just work on Vapor Warehouse. It's a simple project with a clear vision, aesthetic, and theme. Moreover, I've come to realize that I could create small programs and games within Vapor Warehouse to test my programming skills. It would fit perfectly into the premise of the game: recreating old vaporware technologies.

These miscellaneous projects can be anything: shader demos written in Godot's version of GLSL; renders of 3D scenes; finished 2D artworks; small animations; heavily processed reference videos (my original idea for the game, which would show some 80s anime heavily filtered); simple VFX demos; ASCII games; pixel art games; calculators and other utility programs; and so many more possibilities.

Mechanics

• Open boxes to get pseudo-random components (3D components with 2D icons)

• Drag components into inventory

• Sort & categorize inventory (manually and automatically)

• Drag components into 3D viewports

• Build devices in a dedicated, central 3D viewport

• Boot up devices in a dedicated, right 2D viewport

  • Test devices (showcase a simple boot up simulation)

  • Run devices (showcase one unique feature)

    • Shader showcase

    • Processed media under fair-use

    • 2D art showcase

    • 3D art showcase

    • Small games (ASCII, ANSI, pixel)

• Sell parts and devices to meet company quota

• Receive messages from NPCs in a right side window

• Manipulate adjustable windows (2D & 3D)

• Work under a daily time constraint which defines a clear start and end of day. Total of 14 days.

My Skills Needed For the Mechanics

• Programming

  • Data Structures & Algorithms (for inventory & sorting)

  • Custom Input Mapping

  • Entity-Component-System (ECS)

  • Modular Coding Practices

  • Drag & Drop implementation

• User Interface (UI) & User Experience (UX)

  • Godot Control Nodes

  • Godot Responsiveness

  • Godot Custom UI Elements

  • Visual/auditory feedback for user actions

  • Resizable panels

  • Managing multiple sub viewports

• 3D & 2D

  • 3D hard surface modeling

  • 3D PSx texturing

  • 2D icon design

  • 2D sprite animation

• Graphics Programming

  • Godot Shader Language

  • GLSL Basics

  • Post-Processing effects in Godot

  • Toon shader (rework)

  • 2D VFX

  • 3D VFX

• Gameplay Systems

  • Inventory Systems

    • Data Management

    • Sorting & Filtering Algorithms

  • Randomization & Loot Systems

    • Pseudo-randomness

    • Probability & Rarity tiers

  • Building System

    • Defining a base focus (chassis)

    • Snap to isometric grid

    • Floating components

    • Component interaction logic (how parts can/cannot connect with each other)

  • Economy Systems

    • Handling sale value of components in isolation versus components in a functional device

  • Time Management

    • Game clock

    • Event Scheduling

• NPC Interaction

  • Message handling in UI

  • Reactive dialogue system

• Mini-games

  • Retro Game Design

    • ASCII/ANSI Graphics

    • Pixel Art Graphics

  • Game-within-a-game architecture

• Media Processing

  • Audio/Video Playback with modular effects

  • Fair Use understanding

• Audio

  • Event triggers

  • 90s era audio design

• Debugging

  • Standard error handling practices

  • Logger system integrated into debug build

  • Unit testing

2024 astrobeef