P0_B5
P0-B5: Part 1277: Debugging, Improvements
I needed to make extensive changes to my custom AI navigation code in order to get the NPCAI to work.
The system now supports multiple paths and multiple NPC’s, and the NPC can transition properly from the exterior graph to the interior one.
There are still a lot of intermittent bugs and issues to work on, but I am making progress.
P0-B5: Part 1276: Debugging, Improvements
After finishing some minor bug fixes and improvements to the apartments, I have moved on to adding support for NPC’s to enter, leave, and move around, within apartment interiors.
This is proving to be very difficult. The AI has to leave one nav graph (The exterior city graph) and enter another one. There are quite a number of issues and problems arising from this.
I have succeeded in getting the NPC’s placed on the navgraph, but the logic for navigation and pathfinding is causing issues.
P0-B5: Part 1275: Debugging, Improvements
The AI navigation and pathfinding is going well.
The AI can successfully travel on the elevator and generate and transition to the interior graph.
I had some issues with the AI being able to properly interact with interior objects, but this has been fixed now.
I have also added the ability for the AI to open doors, etc, as well as fixed some issues with the AI’s upvector and movement.
The interior transition for the player has also been added, and I have improved the placement algorithm for the apartment block in the city.
I have also added persistence to the system, so that if the player saves while in a building, the AI and interior transition settings will be stored when they load again.
It is also possible now to purchase individual apartments within the building, and have this stored on the server persistently, so that this apartment is always owned by the player.
P0-B5: Part 1274: Debugging, Improvements
I am having some issues with the AI navmesh generation, but these issues are solveable.
The graph generation is working fine, but I need to rewrite some of the pathfinding logic to work with the new type of interior building.
I have already made many improvements to the new pathfinding system that fix bugs and add new features, and smooth out the movements itself.
I will probably need to replace the older interior navigation system with the new one eventually.
P0-B5: Part 1273: Debugging, Improvements
Most of the logic for the apartment blocks are done.
The doors and elevators are animated, and the lighting can be turned on and off.
There are also interactible objects like chairs and beds, etc.
The player can also only access their apartment, and cannot enter NPC’s apartments.
The next goal is the AI logic and pathfinding, this will be difficult.
P0-B5: Part 1272: Debugging, Improvements
The next step is to add the apartment building to the world.
It should be possible for players to purchase an apartment in the building, and use this as their home while in that particular city.
It should also be possible for AI characters to rent other rooms within the apartment.
This will require dynamic nav meshes to be used.
I will also need working doors and elevators, as well as lighting, and several interactible objects within the apartment building itself.
This will take some time to add.
P0-B5: Part 1271: Debugging, Improvements
I have mostly finished the artwork for the new city apartment building, as well as some new inventory items.
I spent some time trying to figure out the correct way to texture large objects.
In the end, I decided to use a combination of techniques.
Firstly, split the large object up into smaller objects when it made sense to do so (So, have different objects for interiors and exteriors, for details and for the main texture, etc). Then use geometry to cover the seams, so add door and window frames, etc, to cover up the seams between sections of the building.
Secondly, use repeating textures when possible (Such as windows, simple wall sections, etc).
Thirdly, use high resolution textures (4k) when all else fails, such as for large exterior areas that can not be realistically broken down into smaller chunks.
P0-B5: Part 1270: Debugging, Improvements
The next step is to spend a few weeks improving the cities in the game.
In particular, I want to add new artwork, and add more procedural decorations to make the cities feel more “lived in”. I also want to add the ability for the player to earn credits by performing various tasks and jobs.
The first thing to do is to create some new items that will be useful in a city environment, such as new food and drink items, and credits chips, etc.
I will also create a new apartment block that the player can rent or buy rooms in while staying in a particular city.
P0-B5: Part 1269: Debugging, Improvements
The new AI guis now work well.
I have finished the testing and improvements for them, and tested them with both the Companion AI system and the random NPC’s.
I have also made other changes and improvements to the AI system itself, such as improving the AI’s dialog system and adding more abilities for the AI to interact with the player.
The AI will now react differently to the player based on the players relationship level, etc.