The Solution To Gamedev | Horse Game 2 Devlog ep04

Video Chapters

• 0:05 An Existential Crisis
• 1:55 The Problem with "HorseDev"
• 3:00 Introducing... Nameshift
• 4:45 That Time I Was Wrong About Godot
• 6:10 The Power of Godot's [Resource] System
• 7:10 Overhauling the Dialogue System
• 9:20 What's Coming to Horse Game 2?
• 10:10 Speaking to Horses with the Charm Spell
• 11:30 My Solution: "Evil Game Design"
• 16:20 Final Thoughts & Thank You

Original Output

0:05 An Existential Crisis
1:55 The Problem with "HorseDev"
3:00 Introducing... Nameshift
4:45 That Time I Was Wrong About Godot
6:10 The Power of Godot's [Resource] System
7:10 Overhauling the Dialogue System
9:20 What's Coming to Horse Game 2?
10:10 Speaking to Horses with the Charm Spell
11:30 My Solution: "Evil Game Design"
16:20 Final Thoughts & Thank You

Timestamps by StampBot 🤖
(357-the-solution-to-gamedev-horse-game-2-devlog-ep04)

Unprocessed Timestamp Content

0:00 Cone-head guy debates using horse mask as his avatar
0:05 Character struggles with identity, questioning "What even is this?"
0:10 Intro to Horse Game 2, devlog update, Nameshift Games, rel. 2025
0:15 Character expresses confusion about his "cone-head" avatar
0:20 Character states horse makes sense for a horse game
0:25 Character questions why he is not a "horse-dev"
0:30 Character ponders the meaning of "NameShift"
0:35 More self-reflection on his identity as a game developer
0:40 Character finds reassurance in eventually finishing Horse Game 2
0:45 Character asks himself if he will truly finish the game
0:50 Character hesitates to confirm he will finish the game
0:55 New devlog update for the funny horses, identity crisis resolved
1:00 Horse Game 2 gameplay: customizing horses and exploring nature
1:05 Preamble: Nameshift's diverse online presence and identity journey
1:10 Nameshift Games: previous monikers and current brand identity
1:15 Nameshift's brand name transition and its significance
1:20 Nameshift's evolving identity and online persona as a game developer
1:25 Past projects and the challenge of finding a cohesive identity
1:30 CovalentBonds: The previous random name that "never felt right"
1:35 The quest for a "workable" online identity for game devlogs
1:40 Past YouTube channel: "Dick Beanus" and random video ideas
1:45 American Dad! video and other nonsensical content
1:50 HorseDev: a panicky, split-second decision for channel name
1:55 The realization that "HorseDev" was limiting for future projects
2:00 "HorseDev" was a temporary, project-specific identifier
2:05 Horse Game 2: not the sole focus, future projects await
2:10 Identity beyond one project, avoiding dependency on "HorseDev"
2:15 Seeking a translatable and shareable online identity
2:20 Nameshift: signifying shapelessness, change, and indefinable form
2:25 The struggle to find a name that "felt comfortable embodying"
2:30 Past projects: "Out of Order" and "Supermixup" in action
2:35 "Supermixup" gameplay showcasing level design
2:40 "Ignition Point" gameplay with new character avatar
2:45 Discovering references to "shapelessness" and "change" resonates with me
2:50 Mercuriality: the essence of Nameshift, reflecting constant change
2:55 Nameshift: my form is ever-changing, indefinable, and fickle
3:00 Announcing YouTube channel name change to Nameshift
3:05 Hope for a lasting identity in the future: "still Nameshift"
3:10 Okay, great, now let's talk about what I've been working on
3:15 Inventory UI revamp: fixing bugs, improving usability, and style
3:20 Polishing inventory UI and dialing in functionality for games
3:25 Wagon Game: sandbox for UI implementation, learning new techniques
3:30 Bringing UI lessons from "Wagon Game" into "Horse Game 2"
3:35 Inventory UI: basic templates, player item viewing, early stages
3:40 First inventory iteration: only player items visible, no interactions
3:45 Expanded inventory: trading between player, NPC, and containers
3:50 Components for tradability, persistence across scenes and saves
3:55 Interaction components for GUI, persistence for inventory objects
4:00 Usability: modal window for bulk item exchange quantity selection
4:05 Detailed control over item quantity with keyboard modifiers
4:10 Keyboard modifiers: Shift, Alt, Ctrl for precise quantity adjustments
4:15 Control key for max trade, skipping the quantity modal entirely
4:20 Review of keyboard modifiers for efficient UI interactions
4:25 More keyboard modifiers for skipping quantity modal on trade
4:30 Inventory system design discussed in original Horse Game video
4:35 Analyzing previous poor design choices and arising problems
4:40 Addressing a particular mistake in the previous devlog video
4:45 "Something I got wrong": clarifying a misstatement about "Resource"
4:50 Yes, that's right, "I got something wrong," hard to believe
4:55 Humorous self-deprecation about being an "infallible" entity
5:00 More metaphysical absurdity about being a "tainted spawn"
5:05 Embracing the role of a "duplicitous simulacra" in game development
5:10 Clarifying "poor choice of words" rather than being completely wrong
5:15 Context of the "resource-based inventory system" video from 2023
5:20 The term "resource" was used generically, not as a Godot Engine specific term
5:25 Realization that "Resource" is its own entity in Godot Engine
5:30 Clarifying generic "resource" vs. Godot's capital-R Resource
5:35 Used "resource" generically, similar to Packed Scene or Prefab
5:40 Godot's [Resource] class for custom data containers, not general assets
5:45 Godot's [Resource] as "scriptable objects" in Unity, very powerful
5:50 [Resource]s are extremely powerful and useful for custom data
5:55 Godot's [Resource]s: perfect for items and inventory systems
6:00 [Resource]s are analogous to ScriptableObjects in Unity
6:05 Extremely powerful for data management in Godot, many uses
6:10 The takeaway: maintain separation between data and instantiated objects
6:15 Decoupled design: item data vs. inventory GUI vs. equipped object
6:20 Modular design in object-oriented programming, Single-Responsibility Principle
6:25 Godot's [Resource]s are great and useful for game development
6:30 Yes, resources used for item system, and also dialogue system
6:35 Horse Game 2 dialogue system refactor: from JSON to resources
6:40 Dialogue manager "Meow" using JSON and a custom template
6:45 Initial Meow plugin: JSON for dialogue, customizable display
6:50 The complexity of parsing linear JSON into branching dialogue
6:55 Graph traversal logic and edge cases in dialogue handling
7:00 Early flowchart editor for dialogue, but JSON still in use
7:05 Realization of overhead in maintaining parallel JSON and flowchart systems
7:10 Decision to ditch JSON for dialogue, using flowchart editor exclusively
7:15 Benefits of resource-based dialogue: functional blocks, no parser needed
7:20 Dialogue blocks and timelines are now branching linked list resources
7:25 Cleaner, less buggy, easier to maintain and extend dialogue system
7:30 JSON okay for prototyping, but resources are better for robust systems
7:35 ResourceSaver and ResourceLoader singletons for saving/loading resources
7:40 Benefits of Godot's [Resource] over JSON for game data
7:45 Item data defined in JSON, migrating to a resources-first philosophy
7:50 Refactored inventory and item system to be resource-based
7:55 Item class properties: name, description, value, scale, tags
8:00 Tags using "export enum" for controlled list of hint strings
8:05 Array of tags: assigning multiple attributes from a consistent set
8:10 Level one precursor to more advanced functionality for tags
8:15 All item record resources collected into an ItemCollection resource
8:20 ItemDB singleton: loads resources into memory for easy interaction
8:25 `@tool` keyword for editor access to game items at runtime
8:30 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
8:35 InventoryComponent: setting initial items using ItemEntryTagFilter
8:40 ItemEntryTagFilter: selecting tags and filtering item dropdowns
8:45 Final system: ItemRecord, ItemCollection, ItemDB and @tool for items
8:50 Reaction to the successful implementation of resource-based system
8:55 Critique: using a giant dropdown for item selection is a bad idea
9:00 Problem: Huge dropdowns become unmanageable with many items
9:05 Solution: Multiple ItemCollection resources (furniture, fish, etc.)
9:10 Aggregating multiple ItemCollection resources into ItemDB
9:15 Wrapping up the devlog, ran out of time for more features
9:20 Next time: fishing, horse genealogy, hats, accessories, customization
9:25 Next video: comprehensive tutorial for the dialogue system
9:30 Tutorial benefits: documentation for team, future reference
9:35 Core game feature: spells to interact with the world and horses
9:40 Player unlocks various spells for interacting with horses
9:45 First spells: Punch and Lasso, simple and straightforward
9:50 Lasso spell: taming horses with a progress bar and sound effects
9:55 Charm spell: refactoring and understanding its mechanics
10:00 Game design ideas from a wizard through cryptic fever dreams
10:05 Wizard communicates through cryptic fever dreams from a mystical mountain
10:10 Charm spell mechanics: communicating with horses in their native tongue
10:15 Horse personality: generated temperament affecting reactions to moods
10:20 Horse temperament: set of reactions to moods affecting relationship changes
10:25 Horse interactions: maintaining relationships and gaining "pep"
10:30 Horse social dynamics: relationships, taming, and control
10:35 The capacity to interact with, tame, and control horses
10:40 Dressage: a new interaction with horses, building relationships
10:45 "Real Talk": Did everyone watch the Incrementals video?
10:50 Problem from previous video: indexing script properties like an enum
10:55 Goal: create ways to target properties in the Inspector for tools
11:00 Hacky solution: creating an actual enum for each property
11:05 Result: it worked, kinda, but wasn't liked
11:10 Audience input: no good ideas, everyone is "stupid" (joke)
11:15 Crushing reality: everyone is as "stupid" as me (self-deprecating humor)
11:20 Mostly my fault: audience didn't understand the problem (poor explanation)
11:25 Theory: secrets to success in `_get_property_list()` function
11:30 Found a way: "dark magic" for evil game design
11:35 Showcasing "evil game design" with `_get_property_list()`
11:40 Item data in JSON, migrating to "resources-first" philosophy
11:45 Refactored inventory and item system to be resource-based
11:50 Item class properties: name, description, value, scale, data, tags
11:55 "Export enum" for tags: controlled list of hint strings
12:00 Assigning multiple tags as an array, advanced functionality
12:05 Item records collected into an ItemCollection resource
12:10 ItemDB singleton: loads resources into memory for easy interaction
12:15 `@tool` keyword for editor access to game items at runtime
12:20 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
12:25 InventoryComponent: setting initial items using ItemEntryTagFilter
12:30 ItemEntryTagFilter: selecting tags and filtering item dropdowns
12:35 `_get_property_list()` function used to build enumeration of fish tags
12:40 Creating ItemEntryTagFilter resource for fish pool selection
12:45 Explanation of `emit_changed()` signal and `_get_property_list()` function
12:50 `_init()` function connects `emit_changed()` to `ItemDB` update method
12:55 `ItemDB` updates running dictionary with volatile item data
13:00 Changes to ItemRecord or ItemCollection trigger updates in ItemDB
13:05 `@tool` keyword for ItemRecord and ItemCollection, enabling editor tools
13:10 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
13:15 InventoryComponent: setting initial items using ItemEntryTagFilter
13:20 ItemEntryTagFilter: selecting tags and filtering item dropdowns
13:25 `_get_property_list()` function used to build enumeration of fish tags
13:30 Creating ItemEntryTagFilter resource for fish pool selection
13:35 Explanation of `emit_changed()` signal and `_get_property_list()` function
13:40 `_init()` function connects `emit_changed()` to `ItemDB` update method
13:45 `ItemDB` updates running dictionary with volatile item data
13:50 Changes to ItemRecord or ItemCollection trigger updates in ItemDB
13:55 `@tool` keyword for ItemRecord and ItemCollection, enabling editor tools
14:00 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
14:05 InventoryComponent: setting initial items using ItemEntryTagFilter
14:10 ItemEntryTagFilter: selecting tags and filtering item dropdowns
14:15 `_get_property_list()` function used to build enumeration of fish tags
14:20 Creating ItemEntryTagFilter resource for fish pool selection
14:25 Explanation of `emit_changed()` signal and `_get_property_list()` function
14:30 `_init()` function connects `emit_changed()` to `ItemDB` update method
14:35 `ItemDB` updates running dictionary with volatile item data
14:40 Changes to ItemRecord or ItemCollection trigger updates in ItemDB
14:45 `@tool` keyword for ItemRecord and ItemCollection, enabling editor tools
14:50 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
14:55 InventoryComponent: setting initial items using ItemEntryTagFilter
15:00 ItemEntryTagFilter: selecting tags and filtering item dropdowns
15:05 `_get_property_list()` function used to build enumeration of fish tags
15:10 Creating ItemEntryTagFilter resource for fish pool selection
15:15 Explanation of `emit_changed()` signal and `_get_property_list()` function
15:20 `_init()` function connects `emit_changed()` to `ItemDB` update method
15:25 `ItemDB` updates running dictionary with volatile item data
15:30 Changes to ItemRecord or ItemCollection trigger updates in ItemDB
15:35 `@tool` keyword for ItemRecord and ItemCollection, enabling editor tools
15:40 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
15:45 InventoryComponent: setting initial items using ItemEntryTagFilter
15:50 ItemEntryTagFilter: selecting tags and filtering item dropdowns
15:55 `_get_property_list()` function used to build enumeration of fish tags
16:00 Creating ItemEntryTagFilter resource for fish pool selection
16:05 Explanation of `emit_changed()` signal and `_get_property_list()` function
16:10 `_init()` function connects `emit_changed()` to `ItemDB` update method
16:15 `ItemDB` updates running dictionary with volatile item data
16:20 Changes to ItemRecord or ItemCollection trigger updates in ItemDB
16:25 `@tool` keyword for ItemRecord and ItemCollection, enabling editor tools
16:30 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
16:35 InventoryComponent: setting initial items using ItemEntryTagFilter
16:40 ItemEntryTagFilter: selecting tags and filtering item dropdowns
16:45 `_get_property_list()` function used to build enumeration of fish tags
16:50 Creating ItemEntryTagFilter resource for fish pool selection
16:55 Explanation of `emit_changed()` signal and `_get_property_list()` function
17:00 `_init()` function connects `emit_changed()` to `ItemDB` update method
17:05 `ItemDB` updates running dictionary with volatile item data
17:10 Changes to ItemRecord or ItemCollection trigger updates in ItemDB
17:15 `@tool` keyword for ItemRecord and ItemCollection, enabling editor tools
0:05 Cone-head guy debates using horse mask as his avatar
0:20 Character struggles with identity, pondering "What even is this?"
0:50 Character hesitates to confirm he will finish the game
0:57 Horse Game 2 gameplay: customizing horses and exploring nature
1:05 Preamble: Nameshift's diverse online presence and identity journey
1:20 Nameshift's evolving identity and online persona as a game developer
1:40 Past YouTube channel: "Dick Beanus" and random video ideas
1:55 The realization that "HorseDev" was limiting for future projects
2:10 Identity beyond one project, avoiding dependency on "HorseDev"
2:30 Past projects: "Out of Order" and "Supermixup" in action
2:45 Discovering references to "shapelessness" and "change" resonates with me
3:00 Announcing YouTube channel name change to Nameshift
3:15 Inventory UI revamp: fixing bugs, improving usability, and style
3:45 Expanded inventory: trading between player, NPC, and containers
4:05 Detailed control over item quantity with keyboard modifiers
4:25 More keyboard modifiers for skipping quantity modal on trade
4:45 Addressing a particular mistake in the previous devlog video
5:00 More metaphysical absurdity about being a "tainted spawn"
5:20 The term "resource" was used generically, not as a Godot Engine specific term
5:45 Godot's [Resource] as "scriptable objects" in Unity, very powerful
6:10 The takeaway: maintain separation between data and instantiated objects
6:30 Modular design in object-oriented programming, Single-Responsibility Principle
6:50 Decision: use [Resource]s to refactor the dialog system
7:10 Initial Meow plugin: JSON for dialogue, customizable display
7:35 Realization of overhead in maintaining parallel JSON and flowchart systems
8:00 Decision to ditch JSON for dialogue, using flowchart editor exclusively
8:25 "Meow 2.0": dialogue blocks and timelines are now linked list resources
8:50 Godot's [Resource] is better than JSON in most cases (except web apps)
9:10 NPC interactions and initial quest implementation in tutorial area
9:25 Next video preview: tutorial for the new dialogue system
9:40 Player unlocks various spells for interacting with horses
10:00 Game design ideas from a wizard through cryptic fever dreams
10:15 Horse personality: generated temperament affecting reactions to moods
10:35 The capacity to interact with, tame, and control horses
10:50 Problem from previous video: indexing script properties like an enum
11:10 Audience input: no good ideas, everyone is "stupid" (joke)
11:30 Theory: secrets to success in `_get_property_list()` function
11:45 Showcasing "evil game design" with `_get_property_list()`
12:00 Refactored inventory and item system to be resource-based
12:20 "Export enum" for tags, providing controlled list of hint strings
12:45 Item records collected into an ItemCollection resource
13:10 Example: creating a drop table for fish in a water source
13:30 `_get_property_list()` function used to build enumeration of fish tags
13:55 `_init()` function connects `emit_changed()` to `ItemDB` update method
14:15 Changes to ItemRecord or ItemCollection trigger updates in ItemDB
14:40 Building editor tools that interact with created item resources
15:05 Problem: Long, disorganized dropdown becomes a "pain in the ass" for selection
15:20 Solution: Multiple ItemCollection resources (furniture, fish, etc.)
15:45 Final concern: ItemCollection - one gigantic unsorted list
16:10 Next time: fishing, horse genealogy, hats, accessories, customization
16:20 Call to action: like, share, comment, reads every comment, especially mean ones
16:40 Stream game development on Twitch (twitch.tv/nameshiftgames)
17:00 Patreon benefit: immortalized as an NPC in the game forever
17:10 Call to action: subscribe, follow, support, thank you

Timestamps by StampBot 🤖
(357-the-solution-to-gamedev-horse-game-2-devlog-ep04)