Back to Unity

At this time we are shelving the MMORPG idea with HeroEngine and scaling down our vision to a more manageable project. We will be focusing on a smaller, online Traveller game with the main gameplay centered on resource gathering, crafting and trade. We will be using Unity as our development tools.

This game will be built with the intention of expanding later on if it becomes popular. This will also be used as a model for our MMORPG core crafting system.

Our intention is to create a game that is fun and will introduce players to the Traveller universe. It is also our hope that we can use this as a marketing tool in order to generate interest in our projects and obtain funding and additional talent.

Transition...

It has been a while since I posted anything here. I am still working on the Traveller 6 MMO. My involvement tends to swing back and forth between scripting and asset creation. The last few weeks I was involved in designing the intro level area to the game so I have not done much as far as coding. The last thing I was working on as far as scripting was implementing some control consoles that allowed you to interact with game objects.

Over the past week, our team has been discussing a side project on a smaller scale. I am looking forward to this as this is something I was hoping would take shape. I will post more information as it becomes available.

Until next time, be sure to visit our forum for further information.

Adapting the Clean Engine

I spent the better part of this week going over the E_objects and copying them to our own T6_ objects. This was a tedious process which involved having to recreate every class, field, script, prototype and GUI on both the server and client. Once I had them all created, I changed the system node to point to the T6_objects. That is when errors started.

The first problem was caused by the fact that existing accounts were using nodes created by previous E_prototypes. I created a new user account and created a new character. Everything seemed to work as planned with the exception of a couple of GUI errors. Minor issues I will fix later. Even with a new account, I am still having an issue with Input_Movement. For some reason, character control is not using the new T6_Input_Movement script. I believe this has something to do with the $CharacterSystem node that is not pointing to the new script. This seems to be the only issue I am having. If I can resolve this, then everything should work.

I will continue to track down this bug. This whole process has been quite educational. I now have a very good understanding of how HE works. I feel confident that I will be able to create the systems I need with ease.

New Year, New Developments

Its been a slow start to the new year. I have been exploring HSL and studying the HeroEngine Wiki site to obtain as much insight into developing with HeroEngine. I have made significant progress in understanding how the engine works and what is needed in order to implement features. The problem is limited time and resources. It is  my hope that others will join the development team and assist with some of the asset creation.

My free time is spread pretty thin between learning HSL, modelling, real life and other interests. This is a huge undertaking and I am trying not to burn out. I will continue to learn HSL as my main focus as this seems to be the biggest hurdle at this time and is the limiting factor in advancing this project.

My roadmap for the coming months consists of the following:

1) Design and implement some informational GUIs

2) Design and implement custom character records using Spec Oracle System

3) Design and implement custom inventory system

4) Design and implement custom character creation and selection systems

This road map is tentative and contingent on additional support and whether I burn out or not.

Delving into Spec Oracle System

Its a new year and over the past couple of weeks I have developed an understanding of how HeroEngine handles object data. Over the next few weeks, I will attempt to set up a Spec Oracle system for all the various Character Races, Attributes and Professions. I will also set up Spec Oracles for vehicles and other items used in the game.

Once I fully understand and have mastered the Spec Oracle System, I will create some tutorials for the HeroEngine community. These tutorials will be designed for people with limited programming skills like myself.

The tutorial will consist of setting up a Races Spec Oracle as well as a Weapons Spec Oracle. Once these systems are in place, it allows the designer to enter detail information about the various weapons and races used within the game. For instance, weapon objects can be instantiated from the Oracle with mutable specs for that particular node. In other words, a weapon with specific specs can be instantiated and saved to a players inventory with custom Specs.


For those that are still not familiar with Spec Oracles and all its concepts, things will become clearer once I complete the tutorials.

Year End Wrap Up

In the last couple of weeks of 2011, I have been exploring the HJ sample world. I am trying to deconstruct the whole character creation and selection screens. I also examined the additional tools that were created specifically for HJ. Many of those tools will come in handy and I need to examine the code so that I may port them over to the T6 game.

During these last couple of weeks, I won't be getting much done with the holidays and all. I hope to get further along once the new year gets into full swing.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

Learning HSL

I am currently trying to make heads or tails out of the HSL framework. It appears to be a simple language, but it uses its own proprietary terminology which makes it a little confusing at first.

I guess I will begin by trying to understand DOMs (Data Object Model) and GOMs (Game Object Model)  which are apparently where most of the game data can be manipulated using the DOM Editor.

My first task will be to see if I can get an object to react to a character input.
I will keep you posted on my progress.