This is the eighth Procedural Note.

The seventh promised a " gameplay demo " on 4/2 - this, two weeks later, includes that.

" Gameplay " here refers to the actions the player can take. The game actions out of their control are not in this demo, but will be in a subsequent one.

The demo is my site, still at First Godot demo under Rampant on the Tracks.

The first thing you'll see when you load it is that the game's display dimensions have shrunk.

Previously, the game's dimensions were 1 1/2 times taller, with a large info panel:

That panel was described as an initial version, to be " refined further " - that's what's happened here.

The upper-left Walkers panel has been replaced with a much smaller meter:

There's a single Walker in this demo - notice the grey-blu-ish circle in the upper-right corner?

The meter's font is in the same color. What it's counting down is " fuel ", a mechanic that will be described when describing the H(elp) button.

That

can be clicked on to bring up the Help screen, which provides the same information about gameplay mechanics and game controls that the info panel did:

(Help can also be brought up by pressing H - the game can be played with two buttons and a mouse.)

" Plan mode " and " fuel " constitute challenge in the latest demo.

Previous demos have allowed the player to apply Block and Redirect to Junctions and Edges as many times as they want.

This demo allows application only when the player is in Plan mode, and only so long as that mode is active.

This and other aspects of gameplay are illustrated below:

Before Plan mode is enabled, the player is unable to set a Block on a Junction or set a Redirect on an Edge by clicking:

Afterwards, when Plan is enabled and the progress bar at the bottom is ticking down, the player is able to set Blocks and Redirects:

The progress bar crawling towards the left counts down the time left for Plan mode - it takes approximately 15 seconds:

Once the bar's down to zero, Plan mode is exited and the Walker starts moving again.

The bar replenishes at the same 15-second rate it depleted while the Walker's in motion. Fuel continues to deplete as it did before Plan mode was entered.

If a Walker runs out of fuel before reaching its destination, that's game over. Fuel can be replenished at Stops:

The Walker's contents decrease as it spends fuel, providing a second indicator of its current state.

As a Stop is drained fuel, it too decreases - and, after the Walker's left it, replenishes at a calculated rate. A Stop can potentially be partially or completely empty when a Walker is passing by it - part of the game's challenge is accounting for that.

The information cell at the bottom, between H(elp) and the fuel meter, can tell the player a Stop's current fuel capacity when they hover over it - even as a Walker's fueling from it:

The cell similarly provides info on Edges

and Junctions:

It also indicates when the player has won

and when they have lost:

That's the game as it is - what's next?

What's next is more frequent updates - with general gameplay mechanics in place, there remain two more steps to be taken before a version that isn't " in-progress " can be released:

• SFX/UX enhancement: The game currently has no audio at all and graphics that could stand to look sharper. This step consists of adding that audio and revising the graphics while still keeping the minimalist aesthetic.
• Gameplay mechanic enhancement/bug fixes: The game's mechanics are incomplete - enemy Walkers attempting to control the player's progress need to be added. This step consists of adding that, as well as handling any needed fixes to the game or its backend.

I'm currently projecting a week for each step - SFX/UX to be complete by 4/24, and Gameplay/bug fixes to be complete by 5/1. Newsletters will be released on those days describing the current state of those steps, whatever they are.

Subscribe to this newsletter if you'd like to know about those when they come. Or if you're just curious.