Health Inspector Development & Cut Content
The day the contest I was announced, I checked out s&box to see if it was worth making a game in. It was.
The next day, we made a design document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hMITTX1w4k7B8Vickdhd6cUI5Mx5NLgXyv0csjTwghs
It's a simple game inspired by DarkRP, Citizen Burger Disorder, and Lethal Company.
You cook food and serve it to customers. Every third day, you have to pay rent (or you lose), similar to Lethal Company.
The Health Inspector visits sometimes, and makes you pay a fee if your kitchen is dirty.
The next day, we made a design document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hMITTX1w4k7B8Vickdhd6cUI5Mx5NLgXyv0csjTwghs
It's a simple game inspired by DarkRP, Citizen Burger Disorder, and Lethal Company.
You cook food and serve it to customers. Every third day, you have to pay rent (or you lose), similar to Lethal Company.
The Health Inspector visits sometimes, and makes you pay a fee if your kitchen is dirty.
I made a quick prototype.
It was good.
Serving customers bad food was a big part of the game, so we added that too.
Serving customers bad food was a big part of the game, so we added that too.
I used placeholder models made of cubes until my friend made real models.
Meat Grinder
Originally, you were supposed to be able to serve customers alternative food, for example, a Rat instead of a burger. This was confusing, so we changed it. Now, you process meat into Burgers with the Meat Grinder.
Originally, you were supposed to be able to serve customers alternative food, for example, a Rat instead of a burger. This was confusing, so we changed it. Now, you process meat into Burgers with the Meat Grinder.
Toaster
This was fun to code. Everything is physics based, and it auto-rotates your bread to slot into the toaster. This went through a lot of iterations based on playtester feedback.
Citizen Burger
The original idea was you could buy a chainsaw to make customers explode into cookable meat pieces. This was simplified so you can just use the new Meat Grinder.
If you feed a customer very bad food, they have a chance to become Unprocessed Meat.
Customer Orders
Originally customers were going to queue at a cash register. We changed this so now customers sit down, and you bring food to their table.
Originally customers were going to queue at a cash register. We changed this so now customers sit down, and you bring food to their table.
Rat
It was supposed to be an NPC that would steal your food and make a mess. I didn't have time to code it. Now it's just a secret unprocessed meat type.
It was supposed to be an NPC that would steal your food and make a mess. I didn't have time to code it. Now it's just a secret unprocessed meat type.
Drinks
Originally we weren't going to have drinks. Then we got the idea to add Coffee. It would have taken too long to code.
We then decided to add a soda machine.
We had about a week remaining on the jam, so it was looking good. However, after some initial playtesting, the players found the game too complex (without drinks). We cut the drinks and decided to focus more on playtesting and user feedback.
Originally we weren't going to have drinks. Then we got the idea to add Coffee. It would have taken too long to code.
We then decided to add a soda machine.
We had about a week remaining on the jam, so it was looking good. However, after some initial playtesting, the players found the game too complex (without drinks). We cut the drinks and decided to focus more on playtesting and user feedback.
Subway Train
The Chicago "L" subway train was supposed to drive past occasionally and vibrate the physics objects a little. I didn't have time to code this. Also, there were supposed to be cars driving past outside.
Minor Details
There are some other details that Diomonder modeled but I wasn't able to implement in time. For example, the wheels on the Health Inspector's car don't rotate (but you didn't notice)
There are some other details that Diomonder modeled but I wasn't able to implement in time. For example, the wheels on the Health Inspector's car don't rotate (but you didn't notice)
Rain
We wanted to make it rain sometimes, and customers would leave dirty footprints when they entered the restaurant (that you would have to clean)
We wanted to make it rain sometimes, and customers would leave dirty footprints when they entered the restaurant (that you would have to clean)
Music and Sound
I didn't have time to add music or more sounds.
UI
I didn't have time to make the UI look good. Here are some concepts.
Leaderboard
There is a leaderboard, but I think you can't see it.
Can you see these?
https://sbox.game/gvar/health_inspector/stats/leaderboards/v/total-customers/
https://sbox.game/gvar/health_inspector/stats/leaderboards/v/highest-day/
https://sbox.game/gvar/health_inspector/stats/leaderboards/v/total-violations/
Leaderboards used to be shown when viewing the game's info on the s&box main menu. I think I need to code it into my game's UI now. I didn't have time to do that.
There is a leaderboard, but I think you can't see it.
Can you see these?
https://sbox.game/gvar/health_inspector/stats/leaderboards/v/total-customers/
https://sbox.game/gvar/health_inspector/stats/leaderboards/v/highest-day/
https://sbox.game/gvar/health_inspector/stats/leaderboards/v/total-violations/
Leaderboards used to be shown when viewing the game's info on the s&box main menu. I think I need to code it into my game's UI now. I didn't have time to do that.
Multiplayer
I originally wanted to add multiplayer, but decided not to very early on. Coding a multiplayer game takes a lot more time than coding a singleplayer game. Maybe in the future I'll add multiplayer and VR support.
I originally wanted to add multiplayer, but decided not to very early on. Coding a multiplayer game takes a lot more time than coding a singleplayer game. Maybe in the future I'll add multiplayer and VR support.
Customer Eating Animation
I didn't have time to make an animation for customers eating, so they just do some random default animation instead.
This is a lot of cut content, but it's non-essential content that we cut early
The camera follows the charactermodel's real head position, which causes some viewbob.
I knew some people would hate it. There is a vocal minority of players who really HATE it. I like it. I have to admit though, it is a bit extreme. If I had more time, I would have improved it.
The physical camera lets us do fun things, like having the player fall asleep at midnight
I knew some people would hate it. There is a vocal minority of players who really HATE it. I like it. I have to admit though, it is a bit extreme. If I had more time, I would have improved it.
The physical camera lets us do fun things, like having the player fall asleep at midnight
An untested game is a bad game. We spent the last 5 days playtesting and updating based on user feedback.
The biggest user complaint (other than viewbob) is that the game is too hard.
When you start the game, lots of customers come in, and you can't serve them all in time.
New players are overwhelmed by the amount of things you need to do to make the different types of food.
Players also felt that they didn't have enough time to clean at the end of the day. This is intentional, but it feels unfair.
This all perceived difficulty. You don't have to serve all the customers, and it's pretty easy to make enough money to pay the first rent. It's just very overwhelming and not explained well.
When you start the game, lots of customers come in, and you can't serve them all in time.
New players are overwhelmed by the amount of things you need to do to make the different types of food.
Players also felt that they didn't have enough time to clean at the end of the day. This is intentional, but it feels unfair.
This all perceived difficulty. You don't have to serve all the customers, and it's pretty easy to make enough money to pay the first rent. It's just very overwhelming and not explained well.
The current game progression is the same as Lethal Company. You have to make enough money to pay Rent every 3 days.
Customers come continuously and you serve as many as you can until the time runs out (6 minutes?) This is not fun.
If I was to update this game more, I would completely change the game progression.
I would change the days to not be timed, instead based on how many customers you serve.
For example, the first day, you serve burgers to 3 customers. Then the player presses a button to end the day.
Day 2, you unlock vegetables, and have to serve 5 customers.
Day 3, the health inspector visits, and you serve 6 customers
Day 4, you unlock toast and serve 6 customers
Etc.
I think this new design would be a lot more fun and add a better sense of progression.
Customers come continuously and you serve as many as you can until the time runs out (6 minutes?) This is not fun.
If I was to update this game more, I would completely change the game progression.
I would change the days to not be timed, instead based on how many customers you serve.
For example, the first day, you serve burgers to 3 customers. Then the player presses a button to end the day.
Day 2, you unlock vegetables, and have to serve 5 customers.
Day 3, the health inspector visits, and you serve 6 customers
Day 4, you unlock toast and serve 6 customers
Etc.
I think this new design would be a lot more fun and add a better sense of progression.
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