Courses are fun, and when your done you have some goofy little game that you can laugh at, and feel proud of cause you made it, but you usually can’t do anything further with it. I decided to take this further and turn it into a WordPress plugin for posting serial books or posts on your website, tracking word count, and adding in a pomodoro style timer. The gamification of the tower defense might be fun. It could be used for posting blogs, or it could be used for helping authors write and post serial stories on their own websites, similar to writing on Kindle Vella (discontinued) or creating a webtoons weekly comic. Authors could use their own WooComerce setup to sell their published pages, or to sell memberships.
For giggles I asked the free chatgpt to write me a game plan for the idea. I’m gonna finish the course, and then were gonna try and see if we can build this goofy little app. Because I used a different version of Godot, and I did not stick to the original course except in the basic concept of what we were doing, I don’t have to rewrite the whole thing, but we will have to modify more than 1/2 to meet the needs of the new idea, and add quite a few features.
When were done I’ll reach out to Tim (Course creator) and GameDev.TV (Course Host) separately just to let them know I took the idea further, and show it to them. But legally it’s my own idea and my own code.
If I can find the github repo for the original class I post a diff of each of the files I made compared to the originals to show how different the code ends up being when you follow the “concept” of the course rather than a line by line copy. I get to bored with copy, so I watch the lesson, understand what their trying to do and then go do it on my own. Sometimes I do it my way first based on the title of the lesson, and then go back and watch the lesson after I’m finished to see how close I got to what they intended. (I’m not a beginner… Beginners it’s ok to copy the examples, I recommend typing them though, builds better memory retention in your brain, more of a doing learning response.)
—— chatgpt plan begins here —
Godot 4.4.1 Timer + Writing Tracker + WordPress Plugin Plan (Updated)
Step 1: Core Features
New Feature: Ability to publish scenes or chapters from Godot directly to WordPress as a custom post type for a serial book.
Timer & Writing Tracker
- Countdown or Pomodoro-style timer.
- Tracks word count from WordPress posts/drafts.
- Towers gain bonuses automatically as word count increases.
NPC Towers
- AI-controlled towers.
- Towers auto-target enemies (or “obstacles”) without player input.
- Behavior scales with word count.
Gamified Feedback
- Particle effects, sounds, and visual bonuses when word count thresholds are met.
- HUD displays timer, word count, and tower bonuses.
WordPress Integration
- REST API endpoint to fetch word count.
Step 2: Godot Scene Structure (4.4.1 + C#)
And it recommends this list of scenes.
MainScene
├─ TimerDisplay (Label / RichTextLabel) ⏱️
├─ WordCountDisplay (Label) 📝
├─ TowerContainer (Node2D)
│ └─ Tower1 (NPC tower) 🏰
│ └─ Tower2 …
├─ EnemyContainer (Node2D)
│ └─ Enemy1 (Node2D)
├─ HUD / UI Layer
│ ├─ StartButton (Button)
│ ├─ PauseButton (Button)
│ ├─ ResetButton (Button)
│ └─ PublishSceneButton (Button) 📤
├─ ParticleEffects (Particles2D) ✨
└─ ProgressBar / CircularProgress ⬆️
Step 3: Godot C# Scripts
Timer Script
- Same as before, tracks countdown and triggers particle effects on completion.
Tower AI Script
- Bonus increases with word count:
- Auto-attack enemies.
WordCountFetcher
- Fetches word count from WordPress REST API periodically.
Publish Scene / Chapter Script
Button triggers scene export and POST to WordPress:
Step 4: WordPress Plugin Features
- Word Count Endpoint
- Serial Book Custom Post Type
- Publish Scenes Endpoint
Step 5: Gamification Mechanics
- Towers gain bonuses as word count grows:
- 100 words → +1 damage
- 500 words → unlock special ability
- 1000 words → tower celebration particle effect
- Towers remain AI-controlled, with increasing firing rate / accuracy based on word count.
Step 6: UI / HUD
- Timer display ⏱️
- Word count display 📝
- Tower bonuses 🏰💪
- Publish Scene button 📤 for WordPress chapters
- Progress bar / circular indicator
Step 7: Export / Deployment
- Godot:
- HTML5 (embed in WordPress)
- Desktop / mobile optional
- WordPress:
- Plugin handles word count and scene publishing
- REST endpoints for Godot communication
✅ Summary:
- Gamified writing timer with NPC towers.
- Towers upgrade as word count increases.
- WordPress plugin:
- Tracks word count
- Accepts scenes/chapters as custom post type (
serial_chapter)
- Godot + WordPress communicate via REST API.
- Fully visual, gamified, and automated experience for writers.
—— chatgpt plan ends here —
Awesome that’s not half bad as far as plans go. Bit vague but that’s just me and my need for detail.
Check tomorrows blog for more about the project.
