We have entered the final week. No more major changes are being added by the team to minimize risk. Everyone is focusing on polish and bug fixes, myself included.
To start off the week, I found a multitude of tracks for the team to pick from to replace our current game music. Our placeholder music has been replaced with something more official and rights free. Should we choose to do so in the future we can compose our own score, but this music will keep us from running into any legal trouble.
I made a few more fixes related to the marker system. The text on the markers is finally working, however a new bug has popped up related to the shader. It is incompatible with the text and only renders the text as a black box. Currently I have not been able to pinpoint a fix so the text is currently disabled. If a fix can be found before the final pitch then it shall be applied, but only if it does not break anything further.
I also worked on a quality of life change of being able to delete specific markers using the marker menu. I almost had a solution within the current system, but it would not find the markers it was supposed to. However, it is applicable under a new, marker specific system that can be done should our game go forward. The backend work required means this needs to be put on hold for now to minimize the risk at this point in development.
Should anything new pop up that is game breaking I shall work toward fixing it in these last few days, but for now all looks well from my end and I can lend more assistance to my team in their endeavors should they require it.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Week 9: End in Sight
The game is starting to wrap up in preparation for our final pitch in a few weeks. We have brought together all our necessary features and the bugs are being squashed.
One particularly stubborn bug on my end, lighting showing up on the map, has finally been fixed. Last week I got a shader to remove the lighting, but it distorted the colors of various props. Nothing seemed to work. Fixing the colors caused the lighting to return while removing the lighting would just re-break the colors. At one point I had even removed some colors and rendered them as just white with a black outline. My final solution ended up being a simple one, instead of trying to keep the map's normal colors I applied a color filter to the whole thing. I gave it a sepia tone to look more like an old, faded paper map. The color issues were masked and the lighting was completely removed.
I also fixed another bugs related to entering buildings, where the mask applied to the player camera also applied to the map. My last change directly to the map was adding and removing specific structures from the map. This is to give the player something to find and keep track of with their markers.
Onto the markers themselves, I have completed their final iteration for the time being. I would have liked to do more, but fixing the maps bugs was more important since the markers at least worked as intended, they just lacked extra functionality. Some of my original goals are in place, but the rest has been put on hold. If was are chosen to continue development after our final pitch, I will give the markers the full functionality they deserve.
One particularly stubborn bug on my end, lighting showing up on the map, has finally been fixed. Last week I got a shader to remove the lighting, but it distorted the colors of various props. Nothing seemed to work. Fixing the colors caused the lighting to return while removing the lighting would just re-break the colors. At one point I had even removed some colors and rendered them as just white with a black outline. My final solution ended up being a simple one, instead of trying to keep the map's normal colors I applied a color filter to the whole thing. I gave it a sepia tone to look more like an old, faded paper map. The color issues were masked and the lighting was completely removed.
I also fixed another bugs related to entering buildings, where the mask applied to the player camera also applied to the map. My last change directly to the map was adding and removing specific structures from the map. This is to give the player something to find and keep track of with their markers.
Onto the markers themselves, I have completed their final iteration for the time being. I would have liked to do more, but fixing the maps bugs was more important since the markers at least worked as intended, they just lacked extra functionality. Some of my original goals are in place, but the rest has been put on hold. If was are chosen to continue development after our final pitch, I will give the markers the full functionality they deserve.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Week 8: Unity Documentation Woes
This week, I was pretty much going in blind for all my tasks. Having done very little with Unity's UI, I needed to learn a lot from scratch. What I couldn't have predicted is how little Unity 5 seems to have out there. I've spent up to an hour just to find the replacement for a method found in every Unity answer and tutorial. Others are so vague it takes incredibly specific searches to finally find that single answer that actually explains what is happening. Unity 5 seems to have shaken up more than I expected, and I lost a decent amount of time to searching in circles.
The marker system is finally resembling what I envisioned it as. Markers are limited on the map. They are given a unique color to be easily differentiated on the map. They still require names and I'm considering a warning popup to let the player know a marker is going to be removed when they hit the cap. Choosing which marker to remove would be the ideal situation, but this simpler system works for now.
Lighting bug is still a problem, though now for different reasons. I was able to get replacement shaders working, but all the ones I have tried so far distort the colors of the objects that are visible on the map. I've tried a few different edits to fix the colors but they make no difference, so I'm probably missing something in relation to how these shaders are working. As soon as I figure out the color issue I will probably use it to apply a "map" look. Just having them working as mostly intended is a great start though, and it can be easily tinkered with going forward.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Week 7: Adventures in Unity UI
A new week, a new task. This week the team decided it would be a good idea to add the finial systems and refine those we have already completed to be in a more complete state. I was to look back at the map and refine the markers system. The way they work now is a rough implementation, and it makes it too easy to navigate. The bug with lighting also needs to be removed so the player can no longer cheat with the flashlight to find their position on the map.
First, the markers. Current implementation lets you spam markers while also placing an infinite amount of them on the map. If you spam placed them while moving you can create a trail that lets you know the exact path between different points. You still have to remember the general landmarks along the path, but it's a power that can be abused. Under the new system, you would have a limit on the markers you can place, but the markers would be nameable so you know exactly what each was for. This requires a lot of UI work, something I'm not very good or familiar with. The marker keybind needs to open a menu instead of just placing the button. The menu will have the name of each marker with a second way to identify it on the map, probably by color. It will also have a button to add a new color and a box to enter the name for that marker. This is all new ground for me, and still requires a lot of work to complete.
Next, the lighting bug. I've looked around a lot, but something I did not anticipate was that almost all my searches would turn up outdated info. In the switch to Unity 5, Unity also made drastic changes to its shader system. None of the previous solutions exist in Unity 5, so I need to create my own solution. I have the advantage of not know shaders in previous versions of Unity so it's all new for me, but I still have a bit to learn and tinker with. If I can't come up with a working solution through shaders, I can fall back on the pre-render/post-render functions for the map's camera.
Going into next week I will continue working on these problems and have them complete in time for our next stage challenge.
First, the markers. Current implementation lets you spam markers while also placing an infinite amount of them on the map. If you spam placed them while moving you can create a trail that lets you know the exact path between different points. You still have to remember the general landmarks along the path, but it's a power that can be abused. Under the new system, you would have a limit on the markers you can place, but the markers would be nameable so you know exactly what each was for. This requires a lot of UI work, something I'm not very good or familiar with. The marker keybind needs to open a menu instead of just placing the button. The menu will have the name of each marker with a second way to identify it on the map, probably by color. It will also have a button to add a new color and a box to enter the name for that marker. This is all new ground for me, and still requires a lot of work to complete.
Next, the lighting bug. I've looked around a lot, but something I did not anticipate was that almost all my searches would turn up outdated info. In the switch to Unity 5, Unity also made drastic changes to its shader system. None of the previous solutions exist in Unity 5, so I need to create my own solution. I have the advantage of not know shaders in previous versions of Unity so it's all new for me, but I still have a bit to learn and tinker with. If I can't come up with a working solution through shaders, I can fall back on the pre-render/post-render functions for the map's camera.
Going into next week I will continue working on these problems and have them complete in time for our next stage challenge.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Week 6: Onto the Next Step
We have successfully completed our first stage and begun to work toward stage two. We have gone forward with out Magical, more RPG oriented survival game; Wizards and Warheads. The team is all incredibly excited to turn our full attention on this game. We have great plans and we can't wait to see them all implemented and functioning.
Last week I made a map. This week I made a better one. The previous map worked as a proof of concept, but was ultimately useless for what we wanted it to achieve. This new map is much more robust and adaptable to our level. It's easily editable by the designer as he makes changes to the overall map. It was done using the layer system in Unity, a system I have never used before and honestly did not know existed. By creating and setting layers, the camera used to display the map can ignore specific objects in the playspace that should not be shown on the map. The same applies to the player camera, map specific objects are ignored while the rest are displayed.
I added a marker system to the map to take advantage of the layer system. Players can place these on their map to mark important landmarks they might find along their travels. This can be used to help a player navigate the level and keep track of their target, the large boss monster terrorizing the towns. I had planned on using a different marking system that allowed the player to draw directly on the map, which would have made tracking the monster easier but much more fun as well. Unfortunately it was buggy, imprecise, and ultimately did not work with the way I was creating the map.
I also did some more rune art. Two runes made it in based on the style of the current fire rune, but I have decided to remake all the runes in a new style to work better with our magic system. The current rune style is not easily expandable beyond those we have now, but my new concepts will allow for a much greater number of spell runes.
Last week I made a map. This week I made a better one. The previous map worked as a proof of concept, but was ultimately useless for what we wanted it to achieve. This new map is much more robust and adaptable to our level. It's easily editable by the designer as he makes changes to the overall map. It was done using the layer system in Unity, a system I have never used before and honestly did not know existed. By creating and setting layers, the camera used to display the map can ignore specific objects in the playspace that should not be shown on the map. The same applies to the player camera, map specific objects are ignored while the rest are displayed.
I added a marker system to the map to take advantage of the layer system. Players can place these on their map to mark important landmarks they might find along their travels. This can be used to help a player navigate the level and keep track of their target, the large boss monster terrorizing the towns. I had planned on using a different marking system that allowed the player to draw directly on the map, which would have made tracking the monster easier but much more fun as well. Unfortunately it was buggy, imprecise, and ultimately did not work with the way I was creating the map.
I also did some more rune art. Two runes made it in based on the style of the current fire rune, but I have decided to remake all the runes in a new style to work better with our magic system. The current rune style is not easily expandable beyond those we have now, but my new concepts will allow for a much greater number of spell runes.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Week 5: Plans in Motion
The prototypes are finally coming together. We have completed our discipline reviews and are on track to enter the next stage of development with one of our games. The team is in full agreement on which we will take forward starting tomorrow as we bring in the finishing touches for both games.
This week I had a goal that seemed simple on the outside but in reality was much more complicated, especially in a 2D space. I was tasked with making a map for the player to reference during gameplay. The map itself was simple. However, the hard part comes with our secondary goal, making the map slowly reveal itself as you explore. For 3D games this is easy since you can use multiple layers and remove a mask using ray casting. In 2D this is not possible in the same way, though perhaps it can be done off screen using relative coordinates. This will be a goal for next week.
I've also volunteered my non-existent art skills to help with some assets for the game. Having no artist we have to work with what we have, and I'm confident enough in the little ability I have to make a few assets for the game.
I think we are finally not only on the right path but a unified one, and I can't wait to see where we will take our game in the coming weeks.
This week I had a goal that seemed simple on the outside but in reality was much more complicated, especially in a 2D space. I was tasked with making a map for the player to reference during gameplay. The map itself was simple. However, the hard part comes with our secondary goal, making the map slowly reveal itself as you explore. For 3D games this is easy since you can use multiple layers and remove a mask using ray casting. In 2D this is not possible in the same way, though perhaps it can be done off screen using relative coordinates. This will be a goal for next week.
I've also volunteered my non-existent art skills to help with some assets for the game. Having no artist we have to work with what we have, and I'm confident enough in the little ability I have to make a few assets for the game.
I think we are finally not only on the right path but a unified one, and I can't wait to see where we will take our game in the coming weeks.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Week 4: Switching Gears
The team has spoken, and the guild manager has been shelved. Progress was not moving along fast enough for any of us and we have decided to focus on a branch of the Survival Game for our second prototype.
This branch will contain magic. Various spells can be used at the cost of health and resources. It will be a more fantastical take on the survival game we already had. The other branch will continue along a more standard survival game path.
For me, I've spent most of my time becoming familiar with the prototype and learning how to change and add to it's systems. I'll be tweaking the systems and added some extra complexity to them as I learn where all the turning points are. We will soon be making our final decision on which branch to move forward with, so both must be in the best condition we can get them in.
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