izzymaekgaem

[izzymaekgaem]

IzzyCraft - Devlog 1 - Doing the Thing

One of the annoying parts of developing anything is that you have to, well, do the developing. That can mean a whole lot of things for every project. But for this project specifically, it means I have a whole lot of learning ahead of me. So let's get down to it!

Doing a checklist

To keep track of my progress, I made a Checklist to list what needs doing and what I've already done. It's structured in major and minor milestones. The major ones are for each step of the development process, and the minor ones are tasks I have to complete to finish each step. Generally speaking, I will probably not fulfil all of these in order, they're just a good general rule of thumb to follow. That being said, I should definitely start at the Design Document.

Design Document

A design document is one of the most important parts of the early development process. It helps you envision the end product, and keeps you on track while you work. It basically creates a set of guidelines to guide you through the development process. It tells you what you originally set out to do, what inspired the project, and what the end result should ideally look like. Design documents can vary a lot in size and scope depending on the project, but for this one, we'll keep it fairly simple.

Design Documents are also living documents, meaning that they're not set in stone. Over the development process you may find that some mechanics didn't play out the way you intended, or that a feature you planned on implementing might be super out of scope for the project. This means that, for most projects, design documents can and will change over time.

For this project, I'll be borrowing the template from Pirate Software's website, but adapting it from an Game jam project to a Minecraft mod. You can find the design document for this project here. You will notice that not every section of the document is full! In all honesty, that's because I'm not entirely sure what to put there yet. But such is the nature of the design document. I can add to it as I go.

Doing the Thing

And now that I have gathered a checklist, and written up the first version of the design document, I am ready to start Doing the Thing! These are the tools that I have found work when I am doing a project. They help me stay focused, in scope, and give me a sense of obligation that staves off procrastination. For you, dear reader, different tools may be more helpful. Find whatever makes your brain feel like Doing the Thing, even if it's different from what everyone you know does.

previous: IzzyCraft - Devlog 0

[izzymaekgaem]

IzzyCraft - Devlog 0

First off, let's start with an introduction.

Hey! Name's Isabel. I'm a Comp Sci student in her 20s living in Portugal. I've wanted to try making a Minecraft mod for a while now, and I decided that right now's a good a time as any to start. I wanna keep track of my progress by making one of these every now and then. I'm gonna try to keep this something that I do… every two weeks maybe? But I'm not gonna hold myself to any specific posting schedule for now. Keeps me from going insane.

So, what's this about?

This blog will be a development log of my attempt at making a Minecraft mod. It's something I've always been curious about trying, and I figured I could start learning instead of just sitting on my ass wondering what it's like. I have decided to try the Fabric API out, because it's the one I've spent the most time actually playing on, and I've never really had many stability issues with it. Since this is Minecraft, I will also have to learn more Java, which, coming from someone who learned Python first… is gonna take some getting used to.

I want this development log to serve as practice for any potential attempts at game development in the future, hence the blog name. I guess you could say that everyone reading this is part of my little experiment.

Basic Idea for the mod

The working title is "IzzyCraft", for no other reason than I think it rolls off the tongue well.

The end goal of the mod is to introduce a fantasy rpg flair to minecraft by adding a bunch of your traditional fantasy species to the game. They will replace villagers in their respective biomes, and the player will also be able to chose what species to play as, similar to the origins mod, but with more mechanical balance tailored for online play.

So far, these are my concepts for playable species:

Underground (Found in Cave biomes in the Overworld)

Dwarf:

Darkvision: You see better in the dark.

Size: You are noticeably shorter than the base game model, and can fit through 1.5 block tall gaps without crouching.

Unshakeable Stance: Knockback has less effect on you.

Sky sickness: If you spend more than one day without sleeping with a roof over your head, you will become Skysick. Weapons and tools will take longer to draw, and you will restore health slower. To cure Sky sickness, you must sleep with a roof over your head.

Dark Elf

Darkvision: You see better in the dark.

Size: You are noticeably taller than the base game model, and need spaces to be 2.4 blocks tall to be able to fit without crouching.

Iron stomach: consumables with harmful effects (poison potions, suspicious stew, rotten flesh, etc.) have a reduced effect on you. You can eat raw mushrooms, including nether wart.

Sky sickness: If you spend more than one day without sleeping with a roof over your head, you will become Skysick. Weapons and tools will take longer to draw, and you will restore health slower. To cure Sky sickness, you must sleep with a roof over your head.

Surface (Found in the surface of the Overworld)

Human:

Base player.

Wood Elf (Found in Jungles and Old Growth Taiga biomes):

Nimble: Weapons and tools have a slightly faster draw speed. You have a higher sprint speed.

Size: You are noticeably taller than the base game model, and need spaces to be 2.4 blocks tall to be able to fit without crouching.

Bark skin: Negative effects on throwable and lingering potions, as well as potion tipped arrows, have a reduced effect on you.

Fast metabolism: Your hunger bar decays faster.

High Elf (Found in Flower and Birch Forests):

Arcane: Level caps on the enchanter are lowered (can make higher enchants with less bookshelves).

Size: You are noticeably taller than the base game model, and need spaces to be 2.4 blocks tall to be able to fit without crouching.

Ward: Enchanted weapons deal slightly less damage to you.

Slow learner: Killed creatures drop less experience.

Catfolk (Found in Deserts and Mesas):

Agile: You have a higher jump height, and a faster sprint speed. You take less fall damage.

Size: You are the same size as the regular player.

Claws: Unarmed attacks deal slightly more damage.

Fast metabolism: Your hunger bar decays faster.

Halfling (Found in the Plains Biomes):

Sneaky: Weapons and tools have a slightly faster draw speed. You can walk without triggering skulk sensors.

Size: You are noticeably shorter than the base game model, and can fit through 1.5 block tall gaps without crouching.

Lucky: Your critical hits have a chance of dealing double damage.

Light build: You have less health.

Minotaur (Found in Savannas):

Charge: Your critical hits deal slightly more damage.

Size: You are noticeably taller than the base game model, and need spaces to be 2.5 blocks tall to be able to fit without crouching.

Bulky: you have slightly more health.

Horns: You can't wear helmets.

Nether

Piglin (Found in Crimson Forests and Nether Wastes):

Netherspawn: You spawn in the Nether.

Charge: Your critical hits deal slightly more damage.

Size: You are the same size as the regular player.

Piglin Reputation: You do not need to wear gold to keep other piglins from attacking you. Piglin brutes are not hostile to you, unless you attack them first.

Overworld sickness: If you spend more than one day without sleeping in the Nether you will become sick. Weapons and tools will take longer to draw, and you will restore health slower. To cure Overworld sickness, you must sleep in the Nether.

Tiefling (Found in Warped Forests and Basalt Deltas):

Netherspawn: You spawn in the Nether.

Borne of Fire: Fire enchantments deal slightly more damage.

Size: You are the same size as the regular player.

Lava skin: You are immune to fire damage (swimming in lava still damages you). You can stand on magma blocks without taking damage.

Nether Metabolism: Your hunger bar decays faster. You can eat nether wart, as well as crimson and warped fungus.

The End

Enderfolk (Found in the End Islands):

Enderman Reputation: You can stare at an Enderman without angering them. They are still hostile if you attack them.

Teleport: You can Teleport short distances without needing to use an ender pearl.

Size: You are noticeably taller than the base game model, and need spaces to be 2.5 blocks tall to be able to fit without crouching.

Silky hands: You can collect grass and leaf blocks without special tools.

Hydrophobic: Touching water damages you. This also applies to rain (but not snow)

next: IzzyCraft - Devlog 1 - Doing the Thing