DevLog 4 - Cooking In-Game

Overview of Project Updates

I have spent this past while developing Flour & Fortune, creating and refining the cooking mechanic in-game. This has involved developing three main different parts. They are the Cook/Crisping System, the Mixture Colour Changer, and the Oven Information Visualisation.

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Cooking and Crisping System

In real-world baking, the temperature at which something is being baked affects how quickly the item will be fully cooked (higher temperatures result in faster cooking times). However, as the oven temperature increases, the baked good's external surface will become burnt/crispy far quicker than something cooked at a lower temperature. Thus, the game must retain separate information to visually represent the difference between the cooked and crisp amounts in-game. Below is the graph and equation to show the relationship between the cooked and crisp levels (higher temperatures result in higher crisping).

Figure 1: Flour & Fortune’s Crisping to Cooking Ratio

Figure 2: Flour & Fortune’s Conversion from Gas Mark to Degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit 

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Mixture Colour Changer

Adding on from the work of DevLog 2, I expanded the dough visualisation. Each mixture/baked good has a set of parameters to record and represent visual changes throughout the baking process. These include its size (mass and density), smoothness, consistency (how tall vs. flat it is), and colour (represented through HSV values). Importantly, this system affects each individual mixture rather than all available mixtures. Below are some samples of the prototype colour changes. The colour of the baked goods is affected by both the cooked/crisp amount and the added ingredients. Each ingredient has four values that affect the product:

1. Hue - what colour the ingredient is (e.g., red, orange, yellow, green… etc.) 
2. Saturation - how grey or colourful the ingredient is
3. Value - how dark or bright the ingredient is
4. Strength - how concentrated/impactful this colour will be on the baked good (i.e., food colouring is more concentrated than flour and will have a greater effect on the product HSV values)

Once the product is placed into the oven, these values are locked and cannot be changed - then the ‘saturation’ and ‘value’ values will be affected by how long the product is being cooked for and at what temperature.

Figures 3-5:Cooking Visual Change (Raw, Perfect, and Overcooked Roux)

Figures 6-8: Ingredient Visual Variations (Butter, Flour, and Hardtack)

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Oven Information Visual Display

The method of representing cooking information has undergone many iterations. This model enhances the gameplay experience - promoting a more ludic overall experience of colour matching. Additionally, since most baked goods (in-game) take between 3 and 5 minutes, the player can do another task (and is encouraged to do so) while waiting for the product to finish baking. However, forgetting what they made can lead to it catching on fire and needing to start again. No worries, though, since they can have another in the oven in no time.

Figure 9: Oven Display v4 Closeup - Higher Temperature than Recipe Target, 50% Cooked

Figure 10: Oven Display v4 Closeup - Perfectly Matched Recipe Target, 10% Cooked

Figure 11:  Oven Display v4 Closeup - Perfectly Matched Recipe Target, 150% Cooked

Figure 12: Oven Display v1

Figure 13: Oven Display v4

That’s all for now! The next devlog is coming on 7th February 2025.

- Stephen Rockett