WhileIterating's game – Devlog

A daily devlog documenting my journey building a turn-based RPG, with many other elements mixed in for fun, in Godot

Project maintained by Brhando Hosted on GitHub Pages — Theme by mattgraham

Day 5: Inventory System, Resource Gathering, and UI Integration – May 22, 2025

Progress Made

Implemented a fully functional player inventory system using a global GameManager singleton, enabling item tracking across scenes.
Created a slot-based inventory UI using a GridContainer, instanced via a PackedScene, and updated dynamically based on inventory contents.
Developed and linked resource gathering mechanics through custom Tree.cs and Boulder.cs scripts, allowing players to collect wood and stone via interaction.
Built the Resource Area scene, a dedicated zone where players can interact with resource nodes to gather materials.
Added quantity display and grid scaling logic to improve inventory clarity and alignment.
Wired up a reliable inventory toggle system using Input.IsActionJustPressed() and UI visibility logic.
Resolved a critical issue with CanvasLayer visibility—restructured the InventoryUI scene hierarchy so toggling works correctly.
Debugged and resolved several input misfires and null reference exceptions, ensuring consistent performance across all scenes.

Challenges

Encountered an issue where Input.IsActionJustPressed() was firing continuously due to logic conflicts and input edge cases.
CanvasLayer children were unaffected by .Visible = false on their parent, requiring a scene hierarchy restructure to allow toggling.
Inventory slots appeared “smooshed” together initially due to a lack of minimum size and spacing—fixed via layout and theme overrides.
Faced confusion when input appeared to trigger automatically—traced back to unexpected input states and scene reloading suspicion.
Dealt with a misleading movement issue caused by an [Export] value (Speed) being unintentionally set to zero via the Inspector.

Next Steps

Finish building the Town area, including NPC placeholders, interaction zones, and layout.
Create a functional Overworld Map scene that connects all major areas: Home Base, Resource Area, Town, and Dungeon.
Design and implement a Workbench object, serving as a central hub for crafting and interaction logic.
Begin laying the groundwork for a Crafting System, potentially tied to collected materials and inventory tracking.
Expand on core gameplay by furthering the Combat System, including basic attacks, class mechanics, or enemy interactions.
Develop a daytime resource availability system (e.g., certain resources only available during specific times).
Prototype a Day/Night Cycle using CanvasLayer + ColorRect to simulate lighting changes over time.

Reflection

This was a huge systems-focused day. Between building interactive resource nodes and wiring up a dynamic inventory with real-time UI, the world began to feel functional and responsive. Debugging UI visibility and input edge cases was frustrating at times, but each issue solved led to tighter control over my project structure. Gathering wood and stone, watching the inventory update, and seeing those systems finally “click” was incredibly satisfying. The game now has the foundational loop of explore → gather → grow—and that feels amazing.