Unity uses state machines for controlling NPCs. I have two states on the enemy at the moment: if the player is a long way away then keep on your course, if the player is close the steer RIGHT AT IT!
That's not a very interesting bit of AI but it helps to test a whole range of things, including collision. Unity uses low poly collision meshes that are generated from your models automatically, which saved me a ton of work.
I didn't want players to hold own W all the time. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels the strain after a day of pressing W to go forward! You now tap WS to increase/decrease thrust and the EOT moves along in time. The compass turns along with the camera (clamped to North) and the green arrow shows the track over the ground... although it doesn't seem to take into account camera angle - so I'll fix that next.
Also, the controller doesn't cast a shadow (thanks EMW).
I want to be able to support different controls eventually (particularly Xbox type thing). Unity3D takes care of a lot of this out of the box, so as long as I don't use point-and-click solely, it just works.
One problem I have is that it is difficult to tell what control effect you're having on the Cloudship. This has been exacerbated by moving the camera around. The controller will need to tell the player what's going on with the Cloudship. My plan for the controller was to group together similar things: helm, EOT (speed), compass etc on a barrel:
Keeping organised has allowed me to make best use of the limited time I get at my computer. An hour here, an hour there. I can look at videos during lunch break to fill gaps in my understanding so that I can get started more quickly.
I find that if there is a problem with a personal project, then I find it harder to go back to because it's the path of considerable resistance compared to playing Minecraft etc. The Puffy Little Clouds problem I detail below was one of those; I just forced myself to get on with it.
I've been enjoying building up my Imperial Rank to buy an Imperial Clipper and last night I used the emergent properties of the game world to win a fight I could not have won myself.
The mission was to bring back 27 units of Uranium. Nothing too difficult there however the price was high and the rank was "Elite", way above where I am. My ship, the Fug...
This looks brilliant. From the Eurogamer roundup (below):
Christmas 2017 will be known forever as the Christmas that sucked. Nothing huge happened but a million tiny "fuck offs" that appear to be giving still.
My cold, geriatric hands lost grip on my 3.5-year-old HTC One m8 and by doing so demanded that I got a new one.
I've never smashed a smart phone before. I'd dropped my old pre-smart Nokia about a billion times, even dropping from a train window onto a platform but these modern things are delicate and with the blasé attitude of someone who had never dropped a smart phone before, I didn't have a rubber bumper on it.
In Cloudship, the environment has to be an actor. It cannot be passive or visual only, it must affect the choices that the player takes. There are two main parts to it: ground and wind. The ground will be an infinite desert (as per the game) that will hold resources to collect, either in the form of coal deposits or wrecks/flotsam of old Cloudships.
With Naomi being a bit less of a bellend and Felix settled into a pattern, it's time for a more solid plan.