Devlog Day 9: Life at Pixel Farm

The final sprint 💨

Hello fellow devs! 🌱 I’m excited to share the final DevLog for my casual VR farming game, “Life at Pixel Farm,” which I’ve built for the GameDev_tv Game Jam. With just 26 seconds to spare before the deadline, I managed to submit my game (phew!). Earlier this week, I spent some time working on the Itch.io page, and it turned out great!

Last Minute Changes 🔧

Since the game was pretty much done for the jam, I didn’t want to change too much. However, I did decide to update the teleportation target so that it better fit the game’s aesthetic. I settled on a circle with an arrow in it, indicating the direction the player looks after teleporting.

While working on that, I encountered a strange artifact in Unity where a sprite was showing up in the middle of the scene. I couldn’t select or remove it, and oddly enough, it appeared in the sample scene of XRI that I hadn’t even modified! In the end, I “fixed” this by making that specific sprite transparent and created a new one for teleporting.

Improving Gameplay with Visual Feedback 👀

I also added a sprite to the planting area that becomes visible when players point towards it while holding a seed. This way, they can see what crop they’re going to plant and whether they’re pointing at the correct growth area.

While working on adding that crop indication, I decided to include a sprite for when an action like tilling or watering can be performed on the growth area. Additionally, I added one for when their selected action wasn’t possible. This visual feedback plays a significant role in enhancing gameplay.

Stressful Endings and Future Plans 😅

Of course, there’s always some stress (at least for me) towards the end of a game jam. While I submitted my project on time, putting together an APK proved challenging. For some reason, my game didn’t run correctly on my Quest. However, I hope that my submitted version works as intended.

If not, don’t worry! I’ll create a new APK soon. For now, though, it’s time for some well-deserved rest 😴

Check out this YouTube video showcasing gameplay from Life at Pixel Farm:

Thank you for following along with my journey!

Happy coding! 🚀