Project Dusk #9 - Update

Here's the latest (and almost unchanged build):

The last weeks were riddled with interuptions (sickness, vacation, work) and I didn't get much done. I have to admit that I currently lack some motivation to continue working. I am not good with game design and while I have plenty of ideas, the implementation is a different story - I tend to procastrinate and prioritizing other things. So I made some cosmetic changes, like the terrain beneath has now different layers, but this is really more an exploration of style. I find the creation of environment assets very entertaining, so I've spent quite some time with that. It's not really useful, but it's fun - and after all, this is a hobby project.

Nonetheless, I think I should try to push myself a little before I drop the project. The principles are working, creating one or two levels shouldn't freak me out (though it does). I am annoyed that I have no prefab editor, so everything is hard coded. Not pleasant, but this shouldn't be a show stopper.

I believe it may help to make some plans so I have something to work towards. Easy stuff first.

• Graphics: Planes could be combinations of different shapes for wings and body. This could simplify creating new enemies.
• Parts: Body, Wings, Tail, Engine
• A plane could be a combination of different parts of their categories. The parts could show different symbols as well.
• Colors could be exchangable. A part could provide valid UV coordinates that can be modified. I wouldn't try to do this in a shader, this could be done when loading the mesh and modifying it in memory after loading.
• A simple viewer for the parts could be created to see how they look together (would be nice for the website)
• Behavior
• Path and shooting behavior could be configured via JSON
• The viewer could be used to visualize the path and shooting behavior
• The parts of the plane could define certain aspects, like direction of shooting - it would be nice if some enemies would aim at the player
• Shooting patterns: Frequency, cadence, etc.

I think this is already more than enough. I should start with the graphics, as this is the most fun part. Having a viewer that can be used to create predefined combinations of parts would be really nice to have.