I am going to try something a little different in this dev log. This is mainly because I have been swamped with work these last few weeks and have not had time to do much beyond general code improvements in the realm of building the game. The one thing I have had is plenty of time to theorize how certain systems should work in the game. So instead of talking about the minor changes that no one care about and will never notice (unless they go into the source code), I am going to start theorize the next system to be program. That system will be the Enemy and Companion AI System.
In previous iterations of this project, I have struggle with AI systems. Most of the difficulties I have are because of general inexperience and not having clear goals for this project. So this time, I am going to follow the “7 Habits of Highly Successful People” by beginning with the end in mind. So in this post, I am going to lay out what I intend for the final AI system.
- Enemy and Companion AI System
- Modular design
- Designer Oriented
- Driven By Unity ECS
The first and possible most important goal is to have a modular AI system. The intent is to have one system to control all NPC in the game. From NPCs simple walking down the street to the Dungeon Boss, every NPC will use one set of global code. This allows for the use of higher-level code since subsystem are used to create a complete AI. Some of these subsystems are navigation, interactions, and combat. By combining, different subsystems together unique AIs are created.
The second focus is on being designed to be use by Game Designer instead of a programmer. By having a modular AI system, where sections of code are used for multiple AIs, having a system that can be modified in the editor is essential. Any change that happens in the code is passed throughout the game. Designers need to be able to modify and change the way subsystem function without altering the code.
The ending product will use the Unity ECS Structure. While I do believe that Unity ECS should be avoided in the prototyping phase of game development, it is a powerful tool that definitely be integrated in the final product.
Seeing as this will be the final post before New Year, I guess it would be fitting to go over the goals for 2019. My biggest goal is to increase the number of hours I spend working on the project. I am love gaming too a point that could be consider obsessive. Unfortunately, due to the financial risk take by AAA Dev, the games I love to play are slowly becoming fewer. With AAA Devs not able to take as many risk with potential IPs, I believe it is up to Indie to take chance. My second goal is, once again, to start blogging more regularly and marketing Project Rebirth. And my third goal is to start doing some RnR streaming.