Development Log – September 2025: Core Game Loop Progression, Save System Implementation, and Combat System Overhaul

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Significant advancements were made to the core game loop, including quick save functionality, a new melee combat system with enhanced weapon mechanics, and comprehensive currency and level statistics management. Underlying technical systems saw extensive refactoring across game state and level management, alongside the introduction of a debug save builder.

Changelog

[MILESTONE]

  • Core Game Loop Progression: Significant advancements in the core game loop, including character selection, mission staging, and initial level loading processes.
  • Quick Save System: Implemented a new quick save functionality for player convenience.
  • Character Loadout & Customization: Established systems for selecting character loadouts and cosmetic items such as hats.

[GAMEPLAY]

  • Melee Combat System Overhaul: Introduced a new melee combat system featuring directional attack patterns, visual effects (VFX), and range indicators for abilities. The Kloppo character now utilizes this updated melee attack action.
  • Enhanced Weapon System: Added burst fire functionality to weapons and incorporated Inverse Kinematics (IK) with position overrides for improved weapon handling and animation realism.
  • Updated Healing & Range Systems: The healing system now integrates with a refactored range calculation system.
  • Currency Management: Implemented a new CurrencyManager to handle player currency, with full integration into the user interface.
  • Level Statistics & Rating System: Introduced a comprehensive system for tracking LevelStats and player performance, including mission results and a new rating system, all integrated with the UI.
  • New Characters & Gestures: Added a new Dwarf character model and the Kloppo character, complete with unique hand gesture logic and updated prefabs.

[GRAPHICS]

  • Character Customization Visuals: Implemented support for character masks, including configurable wearables and new UI elements for toggling them.
  • Melee Ability Visual Effects: Added dedicated VFX and range indicators for melee abilities.
  • Character Model & Animation Adjustments: Refined animation and sprite pivots for Gnome and Dwarf characters to improve visual consistency.
  • Level Up Reward Visuals: Added new visual feedback for level-up rewards.
  • Kloppo Prefab Update: Updated the Kloppo character prefab.

[UI/UX]

  • Game State Management UI: Introduced robust Busy and Pause Manager systems, providing clear UI feedback and control during game pauses and busy operations.
  • Currency UI Integration: Refactored currency-related UI elements for seamless integration with the new CurrencyManager.
  • Level Stats & Rating Display: Integrated the LevelStats tracking and rating system with the UI for displaying performance and mission results.
  • Character Selection UI: Implemented CharacterSlotUI for managing character selection.
  • Game Manager UI Layout: Refined the overall UI layout within the GameManager.

[PERFORMANCE]

  • No direct performance-focused changes were identified in this update, though many technical refactors may contribute to overall stability.

[FIXED]

  • No explicit bug fixes were identified in this update, primarily focusing on new features and system refactoring.

[TECHNICAL]

  • Core Systems Refactoring:
    • Busy & Pause Managers: Implemented dedicated BusyManager and PauseManager systems for comprehensive game state control.
    • Node System: Refactored the NodeManager to be static and updated node range calculations to use Breadth-First Search (BFS).
    • Character State: Improved character state management with new runtimeName and initial damage fields; refactored quest log and character stat handling.
  • Development Tools & Workflow:
    • Debug Save Builder: Added a powerful Debug Save Builder editor tool and utility API, including ScriptableObject presets for streamlined save file management and debug UI for quick level loading.
    • Asset Management: Refactored the GameAssetDatabaseExporter and removed an external software plugin to streamline project dependencies.
  • Level Management Infrastructure: Extensive refactoring of LevelManager and LevelStateManager to support new LevelStats, rating systems, level initialization, and start node handling.
  • Game Staging: Added GameStaging scripts to manage level startup.

This Changelog is automatically generated with Google Gemini based on my git commit history.

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