Robo Instructus devblog Updates on the development of coding puzzler Robo Instructus

Robo Instructus in 2018

I'm that guy who quit his job to sit in his house making games. I'm currently working on robot engineering game Robo Instructus. For my previous weekly posts look here.

After some months of effort on Robo Instructus alpha-1, the start of a new year is time to focus completing, polishing and finally releasing this game of robot engineering. Why don’t we take a look at the main goals for 2018.

New puzzles

Alpha-1 being a first slice of the game it naturally doesn’t contain enough puzzles for even a small game. One of the most important tasks is simply constructing more satisfying puzzles for players to solve. I’ve decided to make the game fairly short, so I’ll probably end up doubling the number of puzzles. However, the new ones will require more effort than the initial “tutorial” puzzles. In the end I want the game to provide around 8 hours of puzzling and more for perfectionists and tinkerers (the best people).

Adding the story

Though a almost pure puzzle game at it’s heart, an interesting story weaved around it can provide a reason to continue or at least a rewarding distraction for continuing. After finishing enough puzzles I want to craft a story around the traversal between them. A small voyage of discovery into the depths. I won’t be talking much about this to try to keep it fresh for release, lets see how it turns out!

Sound & music

With length and plot in the bag it’ll be time for a nice score and subtle use of sound to bring the game to life. It may feel like sound & music is ignored or forgotten but it has a huge effect in making a player take something seriously and therefore enjoy it.

While simple sound effects could already have been added, the music will require a little more thought to the desired effect. I’m waiting a little bit for a more solid idea of where I want the plot to go.

New art

My placeholder pixel art will eventually be replaced. Once I have a full idea of all the assets I need I’ll hire a pro and get some sexy pixels into the game. This will make a huge difference I’m sure, so I’m looking forward to sorting this out!

Publicity & release

The most important goal is building some buzz for the upcoming game. I need the final art to do this really. Once I have it I can construct trailers, launch sites and contact the press. No matter the quality of the game, it’s success will be decided here.

So bring on 2018. I’m looking forward to completing this project and bringing my robo-software engineering fruit into many homes this year!