This week kicked off with the completion of our initial spawn sequence experience. Now players won’t have to worry about popping into the middle of a firefight when they login. We wrapped up a smart respawn system as well, to avoid the same situation happening when you’re coming back from the dead. Nothing is worse than dying in the middle of a fight, and coming back a few seconds later to face a wall of bullets or angry teeth while you’re loading. We’re finishing up the last of our persistence work as well, so you won’t have to stay logged in to keep your stuff in your bag
Our programmatic building system is finishing up as well. There are a few minor bugs left to address, some documentation to complete, and a little 3D art to add yet, but the system is ready and capable. We can build many different kinds of homes and ruined buildings on the fly. We finished up our item spawning system as well, because nobody likes exploring unfinished homes without any loot to find. After all, we’re not making a post-apocalyptic home buying simulator.
Jared is completing the last of the work on player wallets, so you can make money when your friends join and make a purchase. We talked through some lingering state data issues as well as a few other bugs. Chris shared video of his last shooting excursion with Jesse, and we talked about how cool a gun sounds shooting through a tube. We watched numerous shooting videos, and discussed how best to incorporate the doppler effect for guns and other sounds. As far as I know, nobody’s neighbor called the police after 5 minutes of the sound of continuous gunfire.
Inventory and crafting work is almost complete as well. The basic systems and flow are complete, with only minor bug and clean up work remaining. Players will be able to easily pack their bags with numerous bits and parts, and turn them into useful items soon. We’re finishing up work on a player compass for all you hardcore orienteering fans, and players will be able to add crossbows to their missile weapon collections soon.
Jesse and Jared continue working on a timeline view on the blog, so the collection of stories can be read in chronological order. We talked through a number of search and filter options. Custom House banner work is almost done, so leaders will soon be able to add a personal touch to their Houses. Jesse made a default banner and a number of other design options. He also finished sticker designs with the new logo and showed off a number of shapes and options. Chris then confessed his love and admiration for the hexagon. He even showed everyone that he had hexagon tiles in his house. Personally, I’m a big fan of the simple, yet profound triangle. It’s a classic. Unfortunately, the meeting moved on before everyone else could share their favorite shape. Hopefully we’ll circle back to the subject soon.
Lastly, the art team continued working on cutting up the map and refining the Thorcon plant interior. As you can see from the picture below, locker space isn’t going to be an issue.
We’ll be back later this week with more updates.
