The Future of Marble World
Hey everyone!
It's been 3 months since the last time I talked about Marble World in terms of planning and what is to come, and I'd figure it's time again for another one! Also I'd like to look back and see what has happened in the last 3 months!
[h2]Looking back[/h2]
In the past 3 months there have been some major changes for systems in Marble World and how things work. The game's stability has been increased greatly and the quality of the game has been improved with every patch. From time to time additional player requests have been fulfilled and there's a lot more to come! Here's a short summary of things in chronological order that happened in the past 3 month's that have improved Marble World a lot:
- Added steam workshop support (One of the major things that happened)
- Added a new Garden map including almost 100 decorational items for it
- Added a highly requested flat world
- Added a new building tool to build tracks with
- Added the scaling tool which was undoubtedly the most requested feature
Next to that also some more minor things got added like:
- Delete zones above and below every world
- Mass painting objects and simply hold and drag painting
- Ability to "sprint" with the camera using the Shift key
- Ability to see invisible painted objects
- More useful tools like snap to cursor and align to surface options
[h2]The future[/h2]
Whilst the full release of the game is still months away, it does seem to get closer! Last time I listed features & things I wanted to add to the game, and whilst this list did get smaller due to things being completed, more things got added!
Here's a revised version of that list, with the features in roughly order of when they'll appear:
- The Racing update (I can't give a date yet for this patch, but its soon)
- Major Track building update
- A desert theme
- The Pinball update
- A community picked space theme
- The big logic patch. (Similar to Terraria's wiring system or Minecraft redstone system, this will allow for dynamic tracks using logic gates / marble counters / pistons / effects being triggered etc.)
Now there are also a lot of other things left to do which aren't as big as the items mentioned above, these are things like:
- Improved rotation / move / scale tool. Especially the rotation tool will be easier to use and more clear
- A prefab / grouping system and workshop support
- A favorite system for all your favorite decorations or trackpieces
- Lighting control system & improved visual aesthetic of the game
- A tutorial + useful handbook to look up on how to do things
- Twitch + optional other social media integrations
These items are seen as "secondary" things to add and are usually filler content to the main patch content. (With the exception of the handbook, that has somewhat a high priority)
[h2]Current state[/h2]
Overall I'm very happy with the current state of the game! A lot of things are possible to build and it's pretty stable. After this next patch I do want to focus on some more player requested features & more clear introduction to the game controls for new players as this point has been brought up multiple times in the past days.
One last thing I'd like to mention is that I wasn't happy with how "difficult" it is to build tracks, even with the new system where you can simply drag and release it's not as flexible as it should be. However I found a solution for this! My best guess is that patch 0.1.12 will introduce this new system to Marble World and will make the current track building mechanic obsolete. More info on that whenever the patch arrives. :)
I'd like Marble World to be the best game that I can produce myself. But as a solo developer you can't know everything or have the best solution directly at hand unfortunately. So thanks everyone for pointing out things that aren't working as expected or things that you find difficult to understand or to use! By telling me something isn't clear or even asking how to use X or Y I know that that part of the game should be improved! You all are vital in the Early Access state of the game (and even after!).
Thanks for reading and thanks for your continuous support! I'm grateful to have such a great community :)
p.s. Don't forget to join on Discord for the most up-to-date news! https://discord.gg/jbx92tbMSG
You're free to ask any questions you have, suggestions to mention or report any bugs you may find or just have a chat. I check other social media's or the steam community forums too from time to time, so if that's more your thing that's fine too :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1491340/Marble_World/
It's been 3 months since the last time I talked about Marble World in terms of planning and what is to come, and I'd figure it's time again for another one! Also I'd like to look back and see what has happened in the last 3 months!
[h2]Looking back[/h2]
In the past 3 months there have been some major changes for systems in Marble World and how things work. The game's stability has been increased greatly and the quality of the game has been improved with every patch. From time to time additional player requests have been fulfilled and there's a lot more to come! Here's a short summary of things in chronological order that happened in the past 3 month's that have improved Marble World a lot:
- Added steam workshop support (One of the major things that happened)
- Added a new Garden map including almost 100 decorational items for it
- Added a highly requested flat world
- Added a new building tool to build tracks with
- Added the scaling tool which was undoubtedly the most requested feature
Next to that also some more minor things got added like:
- Delete zones above and below every world
- Mass painting objects and simply hold and drag painting
- Ability to "sprint" with the camera using the Shift key
- Ability to see invisible painted objects
- More useful tools like snap to cursor and align to surface options
[h2]The future[/h2]
Whilst the full release of the game is still months away, it does seem to get closer! Last time I listed features & things I wanted to add to the game, and whilst this list did get smaller due to things being completed, more things got added!
Here's a revised version of that list, with the features in roughly order of when they'll appear:
- The Racing update (I can't give a date yet for this patch, but its soon)
- Major Track building update
- A desert theme
- The Pinball update
- A community picked space theme
- The big logic patch. (Similar to Terraria's wiring system or Minecraft redstone system, this will allow for dynamic tracks using logic gates / marble counters / pistons / effects being triggered etc.)
Now there are also a lot of other things left to do which aren't as big as the items mentioned above, these are things like:
- Improved rotation / move / scale tool. Especially the rotation tool will be easier to use and more clear
- A prefab / grouping system and workshop support
- A favorite system for all your favorite decorations or trackpieces
- Lighting control system & improved visual aesthetic of the game
- A tutorial + useful handbook to look up on how to do things
- Twitch + optional other social media integrations
These items are seen as "secondary" things to add and are usually filler content to the main patch content. (With the exception of the handbook, that has somewhat a high priority)
[h2]Current state[/h2]
Overall I'm very happy with the current state of the game! A lot of things are possible to build and it's pretty stable. After this next patch I do want to focus on some more player requested features & more clear introduction to the game controls for new players as this point has been brought up multiple times in the past days.
One last thing I'd like to mention is that I wasn't happy with how "difficult" it is to build tracks, even with the new system where you can simply drag and release it's not as flexible as it should be. However I found a solution for this! My best guess is that patch 0.1.12 will introduce this new system to Marble World and will make the current track building mechanic obsolete. More info on that whenever the patch arrives. :)
I'd like Marble World to be the best game that I can produce myself. But as a solo developer you can't know everything or have the best solution directly at hand unfortunately. So thanks everyone for pointing out things that aren't working as expected or things that you find difficult to understand or to use! By telling me something isn't clear or even asking how to use X or Y I know that that part of the game should be improved! You all are vital in the Early Access state of the game (and even after!).
Thanks for reading and thanks for your continuous support! I'm grateful to have such a great community :)
p.s. Don't forget to join on Discord for the most up-to-date news! https://discord.gg/jbx92tbMSG
You're free to ask any questions you have, suggestions to mention or report any bugs you may find or just have a chat. I check other social media's or the steam community forums too from time to time, so if that's more your thing that's fine too :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1491340/Marble_World/