I'm Xenoparrot. I'm starting this DevLog series to tell about the development of Xenoparrot Puzzles. This specific log is to cover the time from the beginning until now, and explain the game a bit. I just really want people to enjoy this game, so I want people to know about it. With that in mind I'll be writing these to keep the record up to date with how this game is progressing, share my game dev experience, and hopefully attract some players to this game. But in case I don't at least I enjoy writing!

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What is now Xenoparrot Puzzles started in 2019 with a simple game about a square that could only change direction when it hit a wall.

I liked this game. I was proud of it as my first video game. But then I put down Unity for some time.

However, that premise set up 3 things that remained to this day: the painted backgrounds, the square character, and platforming.

Months later I returned, to try making games again. After a (failed) learning experience of a top down 2d game I went back to the square game to make it better.

The open ended levels of that game eventually closed in on the player as the weeks went on, until it was an entirely linear game pretty much like if Geometry Dash gave infinite jumps.

By a certain point it was a brand new game about maneuvering difficult corridors to reach a blue box at the end. This version introduced puzzle mechanics that stayed till now, like teleporters.

By this point we have the yellow keys to beat levels, the painted backgrounds, the square character who doesn't need to touch the ground, and puzzle mechanics. There was also no sound.

The next change brought us to the game Epic Birx, which is exactly like Xenoparrot Puzzles, except that everything looked worse. It also used a main menu instead of a hub level. Months went by before I realized how much better it could be, visually and audibly.

Now to explain what this game is, and what it's meant to be.

Xenoparrot Puzzles is a straight puzzle game really. Imagine any puzzle game—it has levels with varying challenges, and it gradually teaches you to overcome them. In addition they have little or no story to them. That is this game. The intention, however, was to add some story in the Library section. I have yet to do that. I'm preoccupied with levels and sounds. But when I'm tired of those I'll work on extraneous things like the Library. Assuming I'm not crushing bugs out of existence.

I wanted the player to feel in control of his birx, so I didn't put up visible blocks in the levels, nothing to infringe on player freedom to explore. To add to the personal feeling I wanted players to have, I allowed them to customize the colors of their birx as they chose.

“Why not?” I thought, “I have the omnipotence to allow or disallow the player to do anything, so I'll give them power over their color.”

I hope they like having that power, as opposed to getting choice paralysis from it. For those who want structure in their birx game, I let them choose the default colors whenever they want.

To better clarify the term "birx".

Bird + Orb (sphere) = borb

Bird + Box (cube) = birx

And that's where the species name came from.

I said I wanted the player to not have visible blockages to exploration, but I learned that unlimited freedom is damaging to the player. So I made very obvious the boundaries and what was or was not part of the level. It should be more player friendly now.

So we've covered the beginning, the concept, and a couple positive adds. Next I'll mention some development highlights and the game's future. Then I'll wrap up this first devlog, in favor of more specific information in coming month devlogs. Amazing, this was surprisingly short.

One highlight change was rebuilding the way a birx flies. Formerly the birx moved sideways using a joystick on the screen, and jumped once per press of jump button (with unlimited jumps). That system annoyed me when I wanted to playtest on the computer in the editor using a mouse. I only have one mouse, so I made flying and moving sideways able to be done with one hand. You know how that works now if you played the game. So far 1/2 people who played didn't easily take up the controls. The person who did get them was myself. I'm open to suggestions if the number of frustrated players grows.

Another highlight, although a bad one, is sound design. I apparently hate that aspect of game development. It annoys me. It never seems to sound good. I use a library of free sounds I've accumulated over time, and yet it never seems to be enough to get the effect I want. The birx still has no flap sound because of that. But when I get good sounds in, it feels great. That's all I have to say about that though.

Another important change was changing the game from a story led game to only puzzles, with some story available in the Library. There used to be a strong plot, and that still affects the order the puzzles come in currently, and some level designs. But the story was removed to make finishing the actual game more expedient. The text system that is used now is a remnant of a dialogue system.

The future of this game is simple in my mind. Finish the levels, finish sound design, finish the hub level (main menu). Not necessarily in that order. All throughout do general cleanup and fix bugs. The game will release on Google Play, and only be playable on android (because my phone is an android, and I think it's illegal to put an apple app anywhere but the apple app store, which costs big money). It will also stay on Itch.io.

At launch I'll release the game for free with no ads or in app purchases. Absolutely free. It's my first released game (not counting game jam entries), no need to charge for it. Also I always thought such overt ads in games was sort of a corruption to mobile games. The player becomes the product, and ad companies become the customers; the game is just billboard space for sale. Obviously most people are okay with that dynamic, that's the niche after all, but it just doesn't sit right with me. So I almost never download apps with ads for that reason, let alone games. Could just be me though. Either way, when I make games and want money for them I'll charge for the game itself or for in-app purchases, but no ads.

With that I wrap up this devlog. This is the first, hopefully one that helps attract attention to this developing game. I've worked on this game for a while, I think a year on and off, and I'm still not sure if this is the right time to show it off. But if it isn't, I'll learn that for future reference. Maybe showing the world a game before it even has decent sound is a bad idea.

Thanks for reading. I hope you play the game, leave feedback, and play the better version released with the aid of your feedback. Until next time.