GDC and a New Prototype

With GDC wrapping up, and getting ready to head back to LA, I finally have a moment to post an update. As expected, I met some awesome people, saw some very interesting tech, and of course the parties every night. I've started construction of a new game prototype in Unity. At the moment, it is up in the air, as to whether it will be acquired by a studio from PA, so I can't go into specifics. Either way, I should know by mid April, so I will make another update then.

Scaleform Complete

I've just finished my Scaleform demo. I tried to minimize the use of Kismet as much as possible. With the exception of a single trigger, everything is handled by a combination Actionscript 3 and Unrealscript. Unreal passes item data to the interface when it is opened. The flash then handles the information accordingly. Flash also provides handles to pass data back to Unreal, but since this is just an interface, the Unrealscript doesn't do anything with it yet.

In any case  I'm a big Borderlands fan, so I figured I would try and replicate some of their HUD elements. Here is the final result.

Actionscript3 and Unrealscript with Scaleform from Mike McCollum on Vimeo.

Scaleform - Ready to Skin

My project in Scaleform is well underway. It looks terrible, but the functionality is all there. It is also entirely Unrealscript, since I was trying to avoid using Kismet if possible.

When the menu is initialized, Unrealscript loads the player's inventory data, and passes it to the flash file. There is a system in place for easy communication and data passing between the two, in either direction. Additionally, the placeholder art is setup with simple transitions, which should make adding the final effects work down the line, considerably easier.

Here is the skeleton running in UDK. Pardon my programmer art, and terrible placeholder text.

Derek Hetrick just sent me over a pretty awesome interface. I need to revamp the code to handle the layout, but it shouldn't take too long, and time permitting, should be done by the end of the week.

Prototype: Generals

Just an update on a prototype I've just dived back into, out from not too long ago. I was working on a couple options for a top down tactical game. Originally, it was planned as a typical tower defense scenario  We really liked the idea of dynamically generated tracks, and were considering allowing the player to purchase length onto the track, as an upgrade. So, I wrote a small code sample, that could produce a track of any length, and make sure it never loops back in on itself.

Ultimately, we decided to try out using hexes, rather than squares. the project began to shift more into a top down tactical game, rather than a typical tower defense. This meant adding path finding as well. I set up a few options, including A-Star, and node based path finding, which takes elements from both Hammer and Unreal's bot pathing systems. As a final touch up, I added a simple level editor in flex, that would allow me to generate levels far easier.

At the moment, it's just a matter of figuring out what types of games could best make use of this. If all goes well, this will hopefully start up into a new project in a few weeks.

Engine Completion, Updated Demo Reel, and a New Project!

At long last, I can put away the engine for a bit. I've laid down the foundations for data management. This includes systems for saving and loading level data, simple spawn points, and triggered events, and ship load outs. Sadly, I have no way to showcase this, since it's hard to show data management via screenshot. Ah well.

From here, the next step would be actually programming the game. This unfortunately, would not be a wise maneuver. The engine itself, has given me a great deal of insight into many areas I previously had no experience in. (Tools programming, lighting calculation, 3D rendering, graphical APIs and advanced 3d math to name a few) That being said, it is time to move on. There is not much more to learn from this project, and so it is time to say farewell, and put it away for a while.

On to bigger and better things! I've realized firstly, that my demo reel is in dire need of an update. It really only demonstrates my Flash work. Firstly, it needs updated to include my work in UDK, as well as the engine. Additionally, I've started a new project within UDK and Scaleform. Its a complete menu and interface system. I'm going to get the skeleton setup, and pass it to an artist for effects and artwork. (My programmer art is frighteningly bad.)

More updates on the way!

Priority shift - Asset Management and Environment Physics

So, getting ready to dive back into things again, I realized there is still a large amount of framework to lay down before a full prototype is feasible. Particularly, with dynamic asset management. I've just completed a functional asset manager class, that is used to optimize loading and unloading of assets, to allow both preloading, and dynamic loading of texture and mesh files. Lastly, I've set up a series of easily editable data files, containing lists of ship parts and other useful data. This will become more useful in the next few weeks, when I will be saving out level data into these files.

On the subject of level data, I've decided to shift my focus a bit. I was going to work on the projectiles, but I realized before that, I need something for them to collide with. So, first things first, I'll be adding some simple physics to the planets including orbiting other celestial bodies. I would like the physics to play out some what realistically, so the planets gravity should affect certain projectiles, and deployed weapons as well.

This of course sent my imagination on a complete tangent, thinking about surrounding planets with an orbiting mine fields, or sling-shotting homing missiles. Then of course, the part of me with some semblance of scope kicked in and ruined my daydreaming. For now, I'm setting up a specific environment, (rather than the randomly populated one I've been using) with basic physics. Sh

Move to LA - Finally Settled In

It's been a while since my last status update. Packing up, driving across the country, and getting settled in, hasn't left me much time to work on things. Now that I'm all settled in, and have a steady source of income, I'll be picking up where I left off.

Although there are a ton of optimizations that need handled, I'd like to have a playable prototype sometime this millennium, so I'm going to work on adding a projectile based weapon to the player's ship.