Software and Games
Project 131: Artillery! Update: Bug Fixes, Gui Additions, Ai, and Wind
I am now coming close to achieving feature completion with this project.
I have added a menu which shows an analysis of the previous shot taken by the player, making it easier to adjust the settings for the subsequent shots. This allows the game world to be bigger, and shots to be taken over longer distances. This opens up the game, and provides for a more fun challenge.
I have also added improvements to the AI, allowing it to handle more variables, such as modifying the power of it’s shots as well as the rotation and elevation of the turret.
I have been working on the art for the game, and designing some new turrets and vehicles that will be used, as well as adding visual improvements such as visible player names, and various bug fixes.
Finally, I have added a simulation of wind forces to Artillery. Wind speed and direction can be set to vary between rounds, be constant for the entire game, or be turned off entirely. Having to deal with wind forces add a significant challenge to the game, particularly if it changes per round.
I have some more work to do to get all of the features I want into the game, and then I have the debugging and optimisations to do, followed by the rest of the art.
Project 131: Artillery! Update AI: Random Level Creation, New Projectile Types
This is an update on my latest game project, Artillery! This is also, incidentally, the first real post in my new blog!
The project is coming along well, I have completed the AI code, tested and debugged the network play feature, and I am currently finishing up the random level creator.
I have also added support for three different types of projectiles: Standard projectiles, which follow a simple ballistic trajectory, curved projectiles which, as the name suggests, can be made to follow a curved path specifed by the user, and cluster projectiles, which split into a cluster of warheads at the apex of their trajectory.
The random level creator will be designed to not only randomly place players, but also randomly place objects in their path, which will have to be taken into account when firing. This is where more unusual weapons like curved shots come into play, sometimes, to hit an enemy, you may need to curve a projectile around an obstacle.
I have also dome some work on the camera system, which will automatically update the position of the camera depending on where the action is, and I have added a compass to the currently selected player, to aid in aiming.
