Devlog Day 6: Life at Pixel Farm

Tilling and watering 💦

Hello fellow devs! 🌱 Today is day 6 of building my casual VR farming game, “Life at Pixel Farm,” for the GameDev_tv Game Jam. I didn’t make a ton of progress today, but I did manage to tackle the day/night cycle and make some updates to the planting area. Let’s dive in!

Day/Night Cycle Progress 🌞🌜

The day/night cycle took me some time to figure out, but I finally got it working. I tried a few different methods before settling on one that just counts the angle (between 0 and 360) and advances the day every time it reaches a full rotation (360 degrees). I’m now considering turning this system into a 24-hour clock to make it more immersive.

While I got the cycle working, I couldn’t quite nail the lighting as I initially intended. It’s not terrible right now, but to make it truly shine (pun intended), I’ll need to create a custom shader. However, with only 10 days for this game jam, I’ve decided to hold off on that for now.

Planting Area Updates 🌱

I created a pixel art texture for the ground when it’s watered and ready for seeds! This update also included some changes to how the planting area works — it now shows the state of the soil depending on your actions. You’ll see grass, dirt, or wet dirt as you interact with it.

I also implemented tools like the hoe (for tilling) and watering can (for making dirt wet). The drying and dying plant processes are still in development.

Current Game Running on Quest 🕹️

Here’s a sneak peek of how “Life at Pixel Farm” looks running on the Meta Quest:

YouTube

That’s all for today’s DevLog! Progress might be slow, but I’m excited about what we’ve managed so far. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue our journey through this game jam! Make sure to follow the Itch.io page of the game.

Happy coding! 🚀