**Navigating the Fourth Dimension: A Developer's Perspective**

As I sit here talking about my game, I'm reminded of the concept of navigation through multiple dimensions. The idea that we can turn our plane of existence into a direction that wasn't initially visible is both fascinating and mind-bending. In my game, this concept is taken to new heights – literally. By pressing a button, players can rotate their plane by 90 degrees, effectively moving between parallel universes.

This perspective shift allows players to move forward in one dimension while navigating the complexities of another. It's like being on a plane that can turn its direction at will, defying our conventional understanding of space and time. While this concept might seem daunting, it's actually quite exhilarating when experienced firsthand. As I navigated through my game, I found myself questioning the boundaries of what was possible in this fourth-dimensional world.

**The Challenge of Survival**

As a developer working on a project like mine, one question always seems to arise: how do you survive for an extended period? In my case, it was simply a matter of having saved up enough money and being willing to sacrifice some comforts. The reality is that game development can be a solitary endeavor, with little room for error or compromise. When you're pouring your heart and soul into a project, it's easy to lose track of time.

For me, the experience of playing through my own game was both fascinating and humbling. I found myself questioning every decision, from the placement of objects to the flow of the narrative. It's not uncommon for developers to become so invested in their work that they lose sight of what's truly important – the player's experience.

**Level Design and Game World**

As I navigated through my game, I couldn't help but think about the level design and how it relates to the fourth-dimensional world. In my case, the initial levels were designed to introduce players to the basics of movement and exploration in this new dimension. The Temple was a key part of this process, providing a confined space for players to experiment with their newfound abilities.

However, as I progressed through the game, I found myself faced with more complex challenges – like navigating around obstacles that could only be overcome by moving along the fourth dimension. These sections required careful planning and precision, pushing the limits of what was thought possible in this world. The art and lighting in these areas were crucial to creating an immersive experience, drawing players into the world without revealing too much about its secrets.

**The Concerns of Inspiration**

One question that inevitably arises when working on a game like mine is: how do you avoid copying someone else's idea? In my case, I was worried about being "pinched" – having another developer create something similar to my game. However, as the development process progressed, it became clear that my own unique approach would set me apart from others.

I think this is true for many developers who work on projects with a strong intellectual property or innovative concept. When you're pushing the boundaries of what's possible, it can be difficult to anticipate how others will react. However, as I navigated through my game, I found that my concerns about inspiration were largely unfounded. The response from players and fellow developers has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing their admiration for the game's complexity and depth.

**The Reality of Game Development**

As I reflect on the development process, I'm reminded that creating a game like mine is not just about coding and design – it's also about perseverance and adaptability. The journey from concept to completion is long and winding, with many twists and turns along the way. While the final product may be impressive, the process of getting there is often marked by setbacks and disappointments.

In my case, I've learned to appreciate the small victories and to take a step back when needed. By focusing on the core mechanics and gameplay, I was able to create an experience that's both challenging and rewarding. The game's engine, built from scratch in C++, has proven to be a powerful tool, allowing me to bring this world to life in ways previously unimaginable.

**The Future of Game Development**

As I look to the future, I'm excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for game development. While my own project may not have been a huge commercial success (yet!), I know that it's helped pave the way for others who are pushing the boundaries of what's possible. The concept of navigation through multiple dimensions is just one example of how developers can challenge and inspire each other.

Ultimately, the future of game development will be shaped by those who are willing to take risks, experiment with new ideas, and push the limits of what's thought possible. As I continue to work on my project, I'm eager to see where it will take me – and the impact it will have on the wider gaming community.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe position of a pixel on a screen would be defined by two numbers it's a 2d thing but like if you're making a 3D game then you know the position of this object is going to have three numbers uh in the world in the simulated world right so three dimensions like how far long is it this way how far along is it that way and how far along is it that way right and when you program a game you're just always working with those three numbers I was just curious what would it be like if there were four numbers were you one of those kids who like cuz teenager would you make your own crappy little games or um I didn't really have access to something that would let me program or something but I would definitely like draw them on paper like I would have like notebooks that were basically the you know the manual for the game I would make fake manuals but there was no game there was no game but there definitely was like the description it was basically like a design document but I didn't know that that existed at the time I was just like well well I want to create a video game and that's what I know how to make is a you know a manual this is MGA CR the actual game I just had this image of what the game was going to be and so I I just sat down and made it you don't just sit at a computer and start typing do you like do you draw a map or do you like do you write things on paper or storyboard a game or like how what's it look like at this point start typing I mean it's not a game that's designed from the you know top down right it's just I'm making this thing and I'm going to explore where it's going to lead me and so at first I just type the things that I know and then it will give me more stuff and then I'll react to those and like make different things based on that like you're just sitting at a computer typing into the void yeah that's that's all it is and what happens what does that look like is it like a little man that walks around or is it yeah it was a cube it was a Red Cube in a field of bigger Cube cubes the first big game design problem is what do you do you're in this four dimensional World great but like what does that even add to your game well if you could move in four dimensions what could you do and one of the things is you have a wall you can just go around it in the fourth dimension and so to a threedimensional being uh it looks like you're disappearing and appearing on the other side of the wall but you've just went you just went around it this is not the game yet well it's almost the game but it just it's missing a dimension um so it's just sort of an example of what the game would be like if it was just a 3D game so you got your character and he's trying to get on the other side of that wall but he can't but it turns out that he is on a two-dimensional plane within the threedimensional world right there's thickness to the world that he didn't know about you can see that there there would be a way to go around the wall this way right but the guy is just 2D so how do you let him move in 3D while still remaining on a two-dimensional plane so he's like a thin pancake and he can't yes and also he doesn't know about this direction so the mechanic of the game is is you press a button and it rotates the plane by 90° so that now when you're moving this way it doesn't mean the same thing it means moving along the third dimension so so now he can't walk towards his G right but he can walk along the mysterious Third Dimension that he didn't know about before and when you press the button again it always rotates around the character so now he's back to his original um facing Direction but he's further along that way right so he can't see the wall he can't see the wall like if I go back to his perspective from within the plane then you see like oh he's in this sort of the desert place and then there's Rubble on the ground but he can't see the wall because it's along the third dimension somewhere so now he can just walk forward and you can see like he's going past the wall and then turn back again so now he's back to the sort of sideways orientation where he can move along the third dimension I move forward and I turn again and now I'm on the other side of the wall so I'm going to go back to the inside view and I see like okay I went around the wall the thing is he's only two diens so like that didn't sort of shock him too much right it's not like he suddenly could see the third dimension he was just always moving in ways that were two- dimensional right and it's just the the fact that you can turn which two-dimensional plane he's on that let him U Move in three dimensions is that what you've done except upper gear yes so M has the same idea you can turn this plane that you're on into a direction that you couldn't see at first and that's how you navigate the fourth dimension so same thing is you're pressing a button and it rotates your plane by 90° so now you're in sort of this uh perspective where you can move between these parallel universes you can move forward just like we did in the 2D case and press the button again and now your th along the fourth dimension whatever that means and there's still Rubble on the ground where the wall was and I can walk past the rubble but the thing is in the 2d/3d case I could move the camera out so that you could see the perspective of threedimensional being even though the two-dimensional character was stuck in his two-dimensional plane in in this case we can't really do that right like the universe the real universe is threedimensional so there's no way of like seeing all of it uh seeing all of four dimensions at once right so we're stuck in sort of this Plain View so now I'm I moved past the wall I press the button again to get back to the perspective of moving along the fourth dimension I go back to the world that I started from and rotate back but now I'm I'm on the other side of the wall so how much time has gone into it so far and 5 years total I guess um no 5 years yes well it's a hard game to make there were a lot of challenges to be figured out as I was making it can I ask a silly question you don't want to talk about this if you don't want to but how do you eat for 5 years when you're making a game like this is like a you you've gone all in here haven't you yeah I mean I just had some money saved up I guess and um it was just me mostly just you know so I I figured out how to survive you you're over here and you're trying to get to that gate on top of the red block but it's too high so you need something to stand on maybe over here or over here in order to be able to get to it you need a big step yeah there's this building but it's closed from all directions so you're not going to be able to go in easily but it turns out it's not actually closed from the fourth dimension so you can just just like in the previous level you can just walk around the wall and get inside the building now I'm inside the building and I see that there's this block nothing is blocking this block to be moved in the fourth dimension so what are you doing now so I'm back to the sort of sideways view um I can push the block along the fourth dimension and just to sort of see what happened now it's gone from this world it's gone from the inside of the Temple where is it well I moved to this world where I can just push it forward this is the same block but looking at it along fourth dimension I'm moving it Forward I can move it back to the world that it started in so now let's see what that looks like from this perspective and now I see that I mooved the block out of the temple I can push it forward and that's it I mean that looks pretty cool to me like how far down the path are you we're pretty far along I mean there needs to be more art more like you know content make the game look better uh maybe fix some of the lighting and things like that um there's some still some level designed to do uh in sort of the advanced sections um but the the beginning of the game is pretty solid um people can play through for a few hours at what point do you start worrying that someone's going to pinch the idea well oddly I was really worried about it like two or three years ago but nothing really happened and I think it's because it's a really hard game to make and you don't even know if it's going to be that successful and if you're a good I mean that's my friends theory is like if you're really good enough to make that game then you probably have your own ideas and those are the ones that you want to do you're always being asked about release date what do you say well I say when it's done um but we're definitely I feel like we're downhill now like we're we're we're figured out the hard problems we're just making it now we're just finishing it up um but that can still take a long time I don't know how big's the code now how big is the monster I do not count I'm sorry what is the code oh it's C++ uh it's my own engine uh you know nobody's done 40 in that way beforethe position of a pixel on a screen would be defined by two numbers it's a 2d thing but like if you're making a 3D game then you know the position of this object is going to have three numbers uh in the world in the simulated world right so three dimensions like how far long is it this way how far along is it that way and how far along is it that way right and when you program a game you're just always working with those three numbers I was just curious what would it be like if there were four numbers were you one of those kids who like cuz teenager would you make your own crappy little games or um I didn't really have access to something that would let me program or something but I would definitely like draw them on paper like I would have like notebooks that were basically the you know the manual for the game I would make fake manuals but there was no game there was no game but there definitely was like the description it was basically like a design document but I didn't know that that existed at the time I was just like well well I want to create a video game and that's what I know how to make is a you know a manual this is MGA CR the actual game I just had this image of what the game was going to be and so I I just sat down and made it you don't just sit at a computer and start typing do you like do you draw a map or do you like do you write things on paper or storyboard a game or like how what's it look like at this point start typing I mean it's not a game that's designed from the you know top down right it's just I'm making this thing and I'm going to explore where it's going to lead me and so at first I just type the things that I know and then it will give me more stuff and then I'll react to those and like make different things based on that like you're just sitting at a computer typing into the void yeah that's that's all it is and what happens what does that look like is it like a little man that walks around or is it yeah it was a cube it was a Red Cube in a field of bigger Cube cubes the first big game design problem is what do you do you're in this four dimensional World great but like what does that even add to your game well if you could move in four dimensions what could you do and one of the things is you have a wall you can just go around it in the fourth dimension and so to a threedimensional being uh it looks like you're disappearing and appearing on the other side of the wall but you've just went you just went around it this is not the game yet well it's almost the game but it just it's missing a dimension um so it's just sort of an example of what the game would be like if it was just a 3D game so you got your character and he's trying to get on the other side of that wall but he can't but it turns out that he is on a two-dimensional plane within the threedimensional world right there's thickness to the world that he didn't know about you can see that there there would be a way to go around the wall this way right but the guy is just 2D so how do you let him move in 3D while still remaining on a two-dimensional plane so he's like a thin pancake and he can't yes and also he doesn't know about this direction so the mechanic of the game is is you press a button and it rotates the plane by 90° so that now when you're moving this way it doesn't mean the same thing it means moving along the third dimension so so now he can't walk towards his G right but he can walk along the mysterious Third Dimension that he didn't know about before and when you press the button again it always rotates around the character so now he's back to his original um facing Direction but he's further along that way right so he can't see the wall he can't see the wall like if I go back to his perspective from within the plane then you see like oh he's in this sort of the desert place and then there's Rubble on the ground but he can't see the wall because it's along the third dimension somewhere so now he can just walk forward and you can see like he's going past the wall and then turn back again so now he's back to the sort of sideways orientation where he can move along the third dimension I move forward and I turn again and now I'm on the other side of the wall so I'm going to go back to the inside view and I see like okay I went around the wall the thing is he's only two diens so like that didn't sort of shock him too much right it's not like he suddenly could see the third dimension he was just always moving in ways that were two- dimensional right and it's just the the fact that you can turn which two-dimensional plane he's on that let him U Move in three dimensions is that what you've done except upper gear yes so M has the same idea you can turn this plane that you're on into a direction that you couldn't see at first and that's how you navigate the fourth dimension so same thing is you're pressing a button and it rotates your plane by 90° so now you're in sort of this uh perspective where you can move between these parallel universes you can move forward just like we did in the 2D case and press the button again and now your th along the fourth dimension whatever that means and there's still Rubble on the ground where the wall was and I can walk past the rubble but the thing is in the 2d/3d case I could move the camera out so that you could see the perspective of threedimensional being even though the two-dimensional character was stuck in his two-dimensional plane in in this case we can't really do that right like the universe the real universe is threedimensional so there's no way of like seeing all of it uh seeing all of four dimensions at once right so we're stuck in sort of this Plain View so now I'm I moved past the wall I press the button again to get back to the perspective of moving along the fourth dimension I go back to the world that I started from and rotate back but now I'm I'm on the other side of the wall so how much time has gone into it so far and 5 years total I guess um no 5 years yes well it's a hard game to make there were a lot of challenges to be figured out as I was making it can I ask a silly question you don't want to talk about this if you don't want to but how do you eat for 5 years when you're making a game like this is like a you you've gone all in here haven't you yeah I mean I just had some money saved up I guess and um it was just me mostly just you know so I I figured out how to survive you you're over here and you're trying to get to that gate on top of the red block but it's too high so you need something to stand on maybe over here or over here in order to be able to get to it you need a big step yeah there's this building but it's closed from all directions so you're not going to be able to go in easily but it turns out it's not actually closed from the fourth dimension so you can just just like in the previous level you can just walk around the wall and get inside the building now I'm inside the building and I see that there's this block nothing is blocking this block to be moved in the fourth dimension so what are you doing now so I'm back to the sort of sideways view um I can push the block along the fourth dimension and just to sort of see what happened now it's gone from this world it's gone from the inside of the Temple where is it well I moved to this world where I can just push it forward this is the same block but looking at it along fourth dimension I'm moving it Forward I can move it back to the world that it started in so now let's see what that looks like from this perspective and now I see that I mooved the block out of the temple I can push it forward and that's it I mean that looks pretty cool to me like how far down the path are you we're pretty far along I mean there needs to be more art more like you know content make the game look better uh maybe fix some of the lighting and things like that um there's some still some level designed to do uh in sort of the advanced sections um but the the beginning of the game is pretty solid um people can play through for a few hours at what point do you start worrying that someone's going to pinch the idea well oddly I was really worried about it like two or three years ago but nothing really happened and I think it's because it's a really hard game to make and you don't even know if it's going to be that successful and if you're a good I mean that's my friends theory is like if you're really good enough to make that game then you probably have your own ideas and those are the ones that you want to do you're always being asked about release date what do you say well I say when it's done um but we're definitely I feel like we're downhill now like we're we're we're figured out the hard problems we're just making it now we're just finishing it up um but that can still take a long time I don't know how big's the code now how big is the monster I do not count I'm sorry what is the code oh it's C++ uh it's my own engine uh you know nobody's done 40 in that way before\n"