Building the Core Prototype — Devlog #1

TL;DR

First devlog marking the beginning of the first prototype by a new indie dev. I literally don’t know why you’re reading this.

The game is a clicker where you play as a newbie hacker on their road to pro.

Below is the first formal attempt at a devlog to force myself into the indie-dev mindset publicly.

Goals

• Write down the scope of the game.
• Define the minimum playable loop.
• Program the base systems of the project.

Progress by Areas

Player Stats

• strength
• points_per_second
• money
• hacker_level
• hacker_experience

Core Mechanics

• Active points by typing.
• Passive points over time.
• Scripts: requirements + rewards, managed through a task queue.
• Jobs: same structure as scripts, but focused on money and designed to be hybrid (manual + procedural).
• Task queue: the player starts with only one slot.
• Global message bus via signals (processes started, failed, completed).
• Global Selection Manager for hover/selection and displaying each element’s info.
• Instant-delivery item market (no processing time).

UI

I focused on creating a basic structure with no design yet, mainly to learn Godot’s native UI system.

More Details on the Mechanics

Script System: Panel showing the scripts available for the player to create. Each script has requirements to start development and rewards once completed.

Queue: The player can’t perform unlimited actions at the same time. They have a task queue (initially with a single slot) to manage actions that require time to execute.

Message Bus: Any event (start process, failure, completion) is shown to the player through a notification. This is handled with a global bus using Godot signals.

Jobs System: Very similar to scripts but focused on earning money. The main difference will be in code: scripts will be hand-crafted trees, while jobs are intended to be a hybrid system between handcrafted and procedurally generated jobs.

Selection System: I created a global selection manager to handle both hover effects and selection of any element. When a player selects a script, job, or item, all relevant information is displayed on screen.

Item Market: Unlike scripts and jobs, items don’t require time, so they are acquired instantly.

Challenges and Solutions

• Updated to Godot 4.5 with no issues.
• First pass at global architecture (managers + signals + queues).

Immediate Roadmap

Release the first playable version with the most basic mechanics working.