Bug squashing...

Well I have been looking at the code and have managed to squash a number of annoying bugs these are as follows:
1) Player searching of beds sometimes brought up the terminal, this has now been fixed so only active terminals will bring up the terminal system.

2) Broken terminals - you can now turn off the backing effect of the broken terminals as this was seen by my tester to be too annoying and headache inducing. This effect will be changed later on.

3) Searching - now you get health or some ammo at the moment. Later on you will get some other items, I have also added a system that will allow for key in game items to be placed on areas in the game this basically means we can place things like logs and keycards in the game for players to find :). Dont worry special items will be displayed on the game screen for the player to pickup.

I still have loads to do on the game however, things like:
1) Fog of war on minimap - this will be next
Edit:Emm requested this one, and its now been implemented. Now the entire map is blank unless you uncover it as you go.

2) Aliens injuring player - this is also on todays list. Yes gone will be immortality ;)
Edit:Well this is in, it needed some tweaking of the main system because one alien could kill the player in two seconds. We know it would be realistic like that but it was rather difficult when the player gets attacked by up to fifty aliens.

3) Gibs (pronounced - jibs) - this is on todays list. Aliens will explode in a gush of body parts, those who played the old Amiga game Gloom will know what I mean :).

4) Credits - players will find money by searching as well. Credit chips or something like that :D
Edit: This is in now, the player can get credits from searching :)

5) Tick - this little critter will also be in the game by the end of the day
Edit: The tick is now in there as an image file, I just have to add the code in the background to load the little critter in and then that will be comeplete as well. Once the whole thing is in there and the new monster data is loaded the game will be one more step to completion :)

Once all these things are in then I can move onto other areas like artificial intelligence or adding more to the hud. I still need to work on the searching dialog so you see what you actually get for your trouble if anything :).

Edit: I have also fixed some issues that arose from certain aspects of the game for example only player 1 would clear the fog out the way this has now been changed so both players can. There are still two things to sort before I can relax for the day and these will be done soon. I will probably fix other things as I go to make the game much more complete.


Also the entire system has had a major overhaul gone is any code in the game that is game dependent its now all in the pak file. Now when the game starts it locates these files loads them in and it sets up the game this makes it more independent of everything and allows us to expand the system later. Adding other pak files will when complete just be a case of loading them as required moving through the game.

More soon...

So much to do, so little time...

We have been hard at work here at Graveyard Dogs, Emm has been churning out graphics, images and stuff like a person possessed whilst I have been tapping away every second I can muster adding more and more to the game engine making the game more and more complete.

We have finally got around to adding the following:
1) The final map generation - this now makes alien breed like maps and can make an infinite number of them :)
2) Gun stuff - we can now hear the gun, its a nice sight to behold and once its all complete we can do much more :D
3) Fog of war - this adds so much to the game engine and makes it much more desperate and sinister :D
4) New player character - this is one of Emm's specials the character looks amazing and suits the game perfectly.
5) Massed aliens - they are everywhere and they attack from every angle :) There is still little changes that need to be sorted here BUT they are coming together.
6) Spawning - the aliens now no longer just stay dead when you kill them the system can spawn them elsewhere so you are never alone.

All in all we have been adding loads of other things under the hood BUT the game is now coming together and once its complete and polished to a fine shine we can get the game out there to the masses :D. Its always good at times like this not to lose focus as to what we are doing and where we are going with a particular game otherwise it will never get complete. Once this game is out there we intend on starting the next one, yes there is no peace for the wicked :).

More soon...

Opening their eyes...

In the immortal words of the Linda in Evil Dead our aliens now can say 'I can seeeee you', our little aliens now have their line of sight algorithm in place meaning if you are in their sight they can see you. This adds to the realism of the game for example some monsters will have a limited field of view this helps as you could sneak around them but others have a full 360 degree field of view making them impossible to sneak up on.

I have also added a system in place where aliens can now exhibit rudimentary intelligence, I want them to be believable in the game when they attack the player this will make the whole game a much more immersive experience.

Myself and Emm have also worked out the different types of creatures you will meet in the game from ship crew to the monsters in there, this adds to the realism and immersion of the game itself after all its much more of a game when you come across someone you actually care for rather than 'its just another pixel'. Its always a good idea to flesh out a back story for these games as well as that will also add to the tension :)

More soon...

Moving times...

Ok today after a busy but very enjoyable day :)

I have got around to adding in player ones controls they can now move around the level, this is rather rudimentary but they do collide with things :). Once the entire system is complete I will add in shooting next so the player can actually do something to the aliens :).

More soon...