Getting more complete...

Well as time passes the game is coming together rather nicely, I still have to add some of the stuff Emm has sent me but we have been working on some of the effects that will be in the game over the past day or so which is good. Still I have found time to get the main menu system almost complete there is still some stuff to add to it but the system now works as required.

Today I have been finalising the player 2 controls so both players can be in the game, there was a rather annoying bug in the system that took ages to trace but that has been fixed now. Also I have been looking at a Chaos Engine style camera so none of the players can go off of the screen, although they still can go off the screen at the moment which will be fixed before the next build goes to Emm it does look quite nice :D. I still also have to sort the offset system so it smooths out more rather than moving around jerkily.

Things I still have to do is add the Tick to the game I still have to work out how this performs in the game, also add in Player 2's AI if you play a one player game. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of my favorite subjects there is nothing better than creating an AI that behaves and acts like a human being, my last published creation Space Combat/WarZone (the game was released as Space Combat although I called it WarZone dont ask I dont have a idea on this either) still has people trying to beat the AI who routinely runs around the levels in groups, using grenades, explosive barrels and other things although I havent programmed them too.

For me coding AI is not boxing them in with ludicrous rules or scripting the hell out of everything its just making them behave using the same rules as the player. For example a player wants to go up a floor to the next level, they would locate a stairway and then make their way to it, all I do for my AI is use pathfinding to locate the nearest stairway and then allow them to follow the path to it. If they see enemy characters on the way they have a choice either attack or continue along the path. Its these little lines of code that make the computer players come alive, because they have the same restrictions you have it gives them a more 'human' feel.

More soon...

They are back...

Just when you thought it was safe, they are back... I have finally added the monsters back into the game engine now. I took em out earlier to add the random map design system, and now they are back in there.

Also I have added the entrance and exit areas for the player, also the player is in too and now faces the camera correctly. I have also finally got around to adding the doors so next up will be player movement, shooting, combat and lighting.

Once all these are in there the whole game will look absolutely amazing :D

More soon...

Progress for the future...

Ok today I have coded the sections of the game that make it look more appealing to the eyes, and I sent Emm a demo ;).

Also I have got the XBox 360 controller working on me mac, this has already been encoded into BlitzMax so that I can use that for other things and controlling the player in the game. Once the player is in there its my intent to allow for keyboard plus mouse control and XBox 360 controllers for those people with them. I will add a redefine system for other joypads so that other players can define joysticks that they have :D

More soon...