Hi all!
Today the game finally reached pre-alpha 0.1. This means all game pillars are implemented. Some already quite final, some just in a basic form. Non the less they are there. Of course countless smaller features and game mechanics still need to be created.
The last missing pillar was the AI. It’s a big system including pathfinding, remote controlling actors and behaviour networks. Implementing such big systems tends to end up with lots of strange bugs. While the system itself was already in quite a good shape it was still running in a sealed of environment and not in the game world. Kind of a laboratory situation. The task was to really put it into position. To tackle this I did some extra work during the implementation. I checked every system I had to touch regarding performance and stability. This postponed the whole process but usually pays off later.
OK, now what has changed since March?
I moved through all my commits of the last two and a half months and compiled the following list of mayor changes. To avoid clutter I skipped all the less prominent things like adding features to the options menu.
AI
- Improved group-AI which is responsible of managing monster hordes and similar
- Implemented the AI system
AI path finding through limited space while respecting each other as obstacle
Items
- Added grenades (throw), explosives like TNT (plant) and torches (just hold)
- Implemented ammunition as a resource for items like guns
- Implemented consumables (e.g. health potion) which can be activated through a customizable hot-key-bar similar to what torchlight2 uses
New logic for throwing (e.g. grenades), planting (e.g. TNT) and passive items (e.g. torches).
Models still work in progress.
Configuration
- Overhaul of the configuration system. It’s now reading commands the Quake3 way. Currently this includes binding keys to actions and setting game variables
- Implemented a console asset (TouchConsole Pro) to gain access to our commands
World Generation
- Improved the world generation back-end functionality and streamlined the workflow
Misc
- Moved to unity 5.6.1
- Restructured most data elements to be easier to mod. This includes moving variables into text files and these to Unities ‘StreamingAssets’ folder
- Setup a batch build system to automate the build process with additional pre- and post-processing
- Last but not least I did refine the logo to read better in various condition.
What is next?
A quick glimpse on the road map reveals:
- Some visual improvements for the player model (clothes and custom colors)
- An update for the camera controller. I love the Jedi Knight games where you can choose to play in first or third person view. I always wanted to implement this feature myself. Of course this does mean both views have to work flawless to the point where it makes sense to use a certain view
- And the very most important part for the upcoming version: The implementation of the first bunch of structures
Together this will lead to pre-alpha 0.2 which should eventually allow to really play the game with enemies and settlements.
Let’s get it on!
