The new movement model hs been mostly implemented! Just a few more things to do and I'll have another build on the website. (hopefully tonight)
Stay tuned.
EDIT: Looks like it won't be tonight. The new cargo ship isn't quite where I want it yet. Look forward to next weekend.
Today I decided to upgrade to the newest Unity 5 beta and a few things happened.
The standard (physically-based) shaders were changed so I had to re-engineer my custom decal version. Unfortunately, the sky-sphere also broke so now none of the stars shine through the clouds and I'm still working to fix that. Also, my old specularity maps for the ships no longer function so I need to re-create them for the new metallic workflow.
While disappointing, these are only cosmetic things. My brother and I worked on getting the new movement model implemented for another 4 hours today but still no dice there. He is going to play with the algorithm later today to analyze the output curves and try to make sense of them.
Sorry for the downer post but I didn't want to leave you without an update. I'm still here, making some progress.
I was on-call for work this weekend so I didn't get much done. I did, however work with my genius brother on implementing a new movement model.
That means no more sweeping turns but way more predicatable/rational movement. More details when the next version comes out!
I haven't posted in a while.
Yes it it is true but I am not without my excuses (read: totally legitimate reasons). Three factors contributed to this.
First, Destiny came out. If anybody is wondering, it is a great game, though, somewhat lacking in the single-player department. I played a ton of it with my brother the week it came out but now my interest is starting to wane. The endless grinding for better equipment is starting to get to me.
Second, work has been kicking my ass. My boss was out and, as one of the more senior folks in my department, I have been saddled with additional responsibility.
Lastly was my own motivation was waning. I don't like to complain but having a real job and doing this on the side is a bit draining. My coding inspiration comes in cycles so I'll always come back.
Now that I finally have a substantial update to show off, I have updated all the downloads and the web player. The main difference you will see is that there are multiple ships now! The full details will be in the version history shortly.
I'll try to post updates more often in the future, not just for Fragmented Galaxy updates.
I was on call this week for work so the update is pretty tiny (read: maintenance). I didn't even get in that code refactoring that I wanted so I'll make that this week's goal.
I just finished scripting my build process which made it easy to provide a Linux version! You can find it on the Fragmented Galaxy page now. (thanks to GNUgamer on Reddit for the request)
I just pushed a new update for Fragmented Galaxy to the site. Read more about it on the Version History.
Next week's update might not have much to see. My existing code-base is getting a bit ugly and needs some refactoring to keep me sane. Right now most of the scripts are hard-coded for the single ship interacting with passive objects. I am going to abstract the commands and various ship states so I can start to implement multiple ships. This goes hand-in hand with the modularization I want to do so I can swap in new algorithms more easily for faster iteration.
While that all might sound like a bunch of buzz-words put together, I promise it will help the game.
Thanks for the comments on the Greenlight Concept page and keep sharing!
I just uploaded a new version of Fragmented Galaxy! Visit the web demo to check it out and for a version history.
A new year, a new website, it seems.
I am currently hard at work at Kiva Systems but in my spare time I program for fun and sometimes (read: rarely) create something decent.
I am working on a few projects using Unity 3D. I call my project development process 'project-ception' because I will start something then make a smaller game to investigate a problem in my main objective, then deeper and deeper. It never ends.
However, the Unity 3D Asset Store has helped me out a ton. For a few dollars I can get a re-usable module that I don't need to re-invent. That helps me stay interested and make progress more quickly.
And, it helps me actually get something released. Speaking of which, check out the prototype for a space-based RTS control scheme I created.
I haven't blogged in a few years (since during college) and wanted to start again now that I am making prototypes that I feel comfortable showing the Internet. My old schedule was once per month, I think? I might want to do something at least weekly now but the schedule is likely going to depend on interest.
Welcome to my corner of the Internet,
-Tristan
P.S. Bear with me as I adjust to Squarespace. Pages may move and change color in the interim.