We could use some tools to test the game faster, e.g. a developer's panel with some switches and buttons. Here are the problems I've had:
It takes time to navigate around the map just to encounter pirates or find asteroids to dock on
We have to mine and/or unload to the station to test upgrades
We need to stop and restart the game to regenerate the map
We need to restart the game to tweak the player's stats and balance the game
Suggestions for tools
Have a debug mode setting to unlock the debug tools.
1. Navigation and stats
Have a list of sliders or fields to increase and tweak the player's stats
Have a button and/or shortcut to enter a debug state for the player, move the ship by clicking around or with the arrow keys. Like we have in Hook!. The state should probably only work from flying/base movement and not when docked or other.
2. Testing upgrades
Have a button to unlock upgrades instantly
3. Testing the map generation
Have a button to regenerate the map?
4. Balancing player base stats
For this one I don't know. Changing values in the Stats resource on the player doesn't seem to reload ingame. It should ideally work with the inspector, but I'm not sure how to make it work. It might be due to the way I implemented the stats.
If there's no way to make hot reload work, at least we can have sliders to play with values in a dev panel.
We could use some tools to test the game faster, e.g. a developer's panel with some switches and buttons. Here are the problems I've had:
Suggestions for tools
Have a debug mode setting to unlock the debug tools.
1. Navigation and stats
2. Testing upgrades
Have a button to unlock upgrades instantly
3. Testing the map generation
Have a button to regenerate the map?
4. Balancing player base stats
For this one I don't know. Changing values in the Stats resource on the player doesn't seem to reload ingame. It should ideally work with the inspector, but I'm not sure how to make it work. It might be due to the way I implemented the stats.
If there's no way to make hot reload work, at least we can have sliders to play with values in a dev panel.