So I figured it’s about time I start posting something vaguely devblog-ish, to keep track of what I’ve been doing on my thesis project, “Explore.” I’m not sure how much I really have to say about what I’m doing, but if nothing else, I figure this can be a good way of keeping track of my progress for when I’m looking back on things. To that end, I’m going to try and post what I’ve done each day and what my current upcoming tasks are, just as a way of keeping record. These will probably seem REALLY esoteric to anyone not familiar with my project, but that’s okay. It’s more for myself than anyone else. (Although I promise I will do a proper “overview/introduction” post eventually.) After I list those each entry, if I have anything else to share or mention in a more general way, I will do so.
10/20/2011
Accomplished:
- * Finally FINALLY fixed/debugged the error that was happening whenever a character went into the cave, where the visual style never updated. Turns out I was checking for the “in cave” status before checking the default underwater status, so every time I was changing the visual style to “in darkness” I was then immediately changing it back to “standard underwater.” So that’s fixed now, and character 2 is unable to go into the cave without being shrouded in darkness.
- * Set up nests for the defensive creatures near each of the major ribbonfish territories. This ensures that the ribbonfish territories are always near prey.
- * Chose two music composers from the game-scoring class. (Technically picked one favorite, but I really really want my top two.)
Next Steps:
- * Create node paths for the defensive creatures from their nests to the food locations under the ribbonfish territories
- * Create blue textures for “foreign” defensive creatures
- * Talk to Asher about figuring out the details of territory battles
- * Create the “loser’s arena” area for defeated ribbonfish
- * Write a pathing AI that can switch between the wanderer type and the pather type
- * Talk to someone (probably also Asher) about how to get ground movement without jittering for the defensives
- * Figure out a third goal for the ribbonfish
Finally, here’s a picspam. I was just putting in placeholders for the trunks of the largest trees, and thinking about how I want them to look when they’re finished. My main reference points are the Baobab tree for braches and trunk, and the Mangrove tree for trunk and root systems. So now I’m going to post some pretty pictures here for posterity. First, the Baobabs.
Now, some photos by nature photographer Clyde Butcher, of the Florida everglades. He has some of the most amazing pictures I’ve ever seen of mangrove swamps, and in many ways they basically cover what I want my project to look like.
So yeah. These are totally awesome, and if my project looks half as amazing as some of these pictures, I’ll count myself lucky. If you’re interested in the work of Clyde Butcher, his website can be found here: http://www.clydebutcher.com/home.cfm. He’s an amazingly talented photographer; I love his work.