Slowdive's Little Daily Blog

[slowdive]

Today I have been completing the preliminary list of tasks and arranging them into groups. I then have been adding tentative lengths to perform each task and laying out the order of completion. I have tried to include the in-progress build release times as they fit into the schedule. I’ll probably get a little coding done tonight creating an error log file for sending all error handling messages. This will be very useful during alpha testing and debugging phases. TIme to get back to work...

[youngneil1]

Excellent idea to do this Blog, very motivating read. Error Logs, will make this funtion useless in the end, hehe!

[youngneil1]

Also, one fine day after all the work is done, it should give you a cosy warm feeling to look back at all those blog entries and how the pieces came together.

[slowdive]

Today was a fairly productive day. I was able to finish the first version of the Gantt chart and post it (Kickstarter update #9). For coding, I was able to finish the errorLog function and implement it in all classes. I then moved the debug console to a separate window. Next, I need to add more error handling and add the errorLog feature to the IceBlinkCore.dll classes. I did a little work on rearranging the main screen UI since the debug console was removed (in prep for allowing any size maps). Bed time now...

[youngneil1]

Sweet taste of progress, yumm. It's cool that you keep the kickstarter updated also - it will still be the main information anchor for many backers as well as people searching for interesting (even already started) projects on kickstarter as well as just google stuff. Also many forum posts on third party sides link to the kickstarter by now.

I found the link to the forums here to be a little hidden on the kickstarter page (it was good that you repeated it in the comments and also stressed it again in the new update). On the right hand side of Bree Arts profile on kickstarter are some links for web pages, iirc they point to a nwnvault website right now. Perhaps change that link additionally to lead to IceBlink Site/these forums?

Yeah, for any map size coming! And yes, I see us all being very thankful for the error log fucntions.

[slowdive]

More solid progress today. I changed the layout of the main screen to use panels which can be assigned background images/textures. There is the left panel which has the inventory, settings, journal buttons, etc. The right panel has the PC buttons. The bottom panel will have the quick bar eventually. You can resize the window and only the map will resize. As you move around, the player token remains in the middle of the map (map scrolls) until you get to the edge of the map. At that point the map doesn't scroll, only the player token moves. So now we should be able to use any size map and the player can choose the window size they want to use. I tested the ability to change out the background images for each panel programmatically and it works like a charm. I started to create a "theme editor" so we can easily create new themes. The background images could even be designed to conform to the buttons with interesting designs. I need to post some picts to explain this better, but it will be fun to start designing interesting themes for different settings. Oh, and the themes can include different images for the buttons (inventory, journal, settings, grid, etc.).

[youngneil1]

"Solid Progress"? - Sounds more like an amazing breakthrough, yeah!

Big gratz on getting the scroll and "any map size" system implemented - especially with such swiftness! It will be most helpful in doing more complex maps. Speaking of this, a few questions concerning maps, please (as I will hopefully begin lo layout them for my small prologue adevnture rather soon):
- Is there any technical limit to max. map size (number of fields/pixels or kb size of map .png)?
- Or is there a max. map size you would recommend?
- Is there a limit to the nummber of events, ecounters, etc. on a single map?
- How long are load times between map transitions roughly gonna be, probably will depend on map size (blink of an eye, 2-3 seconds,10 seconds,...)?
- Must maps be square shaped, e.g. 1600*1600 pxl (by doing black areas this will be no problem though, so more a question out of curiosity)?

The UI stuff sounds great also - will go a long way to create the right kind of atmosphere and mood. The panel strucute sounds convincing and easy to handle.

And even a "theme editor" - I see slick interfaces/backgrounds with very individual styles incoming. I have the feeling that IceBlink games might ooze with quite some personality, style and character, with all those great customization options.

[slowdive]

On another family trip this weekend. I was able to get some programming in during the drive and at the hotel. I created the theme class and a config class. Both can be saved and loaded via xml serialization. I just need to finish up the theme editor a bit and add the ability to change the theme from the settings panel as well. So when you first launch the game, the default theme will be used based on what theme you have designated as the default in your config.xml file. Once you choose a module, the theme will change to the theme designated by the module. Once the game begins, players can change the theme from the settings panel if they want. So far, a little ahead of schedule...

[youngneil1]

Please dont steer the car and programm at the same time - it might endanger the healthiness of the sourcecode !

[Pongo]

Thanks for the updates - sounds like things are progressing well! The change to map sizes is particularly welcome and will open up loads of different options for designers.