Game Update
This week we worked on a way to increase our productivity on creating the various invisible zones that the player moves into that dictate combat and movement. The map system in the game is just a picture, and there are invisible zones that we need to layer on top of that. These zones know when a player or enemy squad has entered them. Entering a zone may slow down or speed up movement speed on the map. The zone also controls the combat screens.
In Unity we can only create regular shapes like cubes, spheres, etc… We are able to create irregular shapes in Blender and then import them into Unity. The one catch is that in order to use those shapes as colliders we have to turn on “Convex Mesh”. The further issue arises in a shape like a bean which has an indent on it. The indent is not represented when we turn on convex mesh for our collider. Instead the entire shape is wrapped. This means in order to create any indent we have to separate our objects accordingly. Still the creation of objects is still less objects overall, and much more precise in nature.
Personal Update
It’s funny how quickly things can develop in life. One minute there is a crisis with future hopes and dreams looking like they are all gone, and the next a completely new future course is being determined. The Thanksgiving holiday was a bit turbulent and costly for me as I drove back and forth, and searched for that special someone. I distinctly remember praying to God to ask Him for something I didn’t think I would get. As it turns out “ask and it will be given to you” seems to have been the order of the day this time. Still I’m doing my best to move cautiously, but I can’t help but be happy to think of what this new future and direction might bring for my family and myself.
My oldest son had a birthday party this last weekend. He asked for a bicycle and I wasn’t sure with everything going on if I would be able to fulfill his request. I couldn’t have found the right one without the help from a good friend. He was very happy to have a new sense of freedom. As a parent of course I worry about him being away from me and alone, but it’s also important for him to start getting some independence. When I was his age I mostly used my bike to go to my job, or to rent movies and video games.