From Beginning To...

I won't be winning any Graphic Design awards for this one Source:  Quotes Cover   This task was to create a motivational acronym. One thing that motivates me is to be spurred on by challenge rather than apprehensive of it. The things that I have achieved by simply trying again are far more than the things I have achieved by getting it right first try.   Unfortunately, my image of mountains in the background was hidden behind a pay wall. I would have tried anything for those mountains... Except pay for them apparently. - Ultan

Now Google knows where I... Ah, come on. They already know everything   I find it interesting how simple things are now. Adding an online, real time map to my blog post was as simple as copy and pasting. I wonder about all of the nerdy computer engineers from the 20th Century who had to code onto physical dockets and what they think of all of this.    

  Two tutorials that were vital to me integrating the graphics into my game were by Sebastian Lague. I was able to use his Blender files to implement a customisable character, and some animated enemies too.   This episode brought in armour and clothing into my character. I was able to set up scripts for default clothing, and create armour pickups that I later combined with my inventory. Some troubles I had were to do with importing from Blender. My character only had half of a shirt and pants due to an error with mirroring. I was able to figure this out, but still have problems with clipping on the clothes. I followed Sebastian's steps to create a code that changes the weight of the body skin depending on the type of clothing the character wears. However, his fix did not work for me, and the clipping still occurs. This is a minor issue, and all of the other features work great.   I was able to bring in an animated enemy mesh and add some health bars to the UI...

  One article that I have read this week is " Into the Woods: A Practical Guide to the Hero's Journey " by Bob Bates. He explains that the hero's journey is important because myths are important. They are tales that teach us we should act in day to day life, and the morals that we should adhere to. Myths actively guide our actions, whether we are aware of it or not.   Myths influence our: Personal Identity Communities Moral Values Mysteries of Life and Death   Humans have survived by their communication of dangers to their kin and tribes. When they learned of danger, they would avoid the danger where possible, but also make others close to them aware of the danger, and they would live longer as a result. Myths and parables do the same. They spread awareness of dangers, and teach people how to avoid them. Even personal dangers such as greed, jealousy, wrath, gluttony, pride, lust and sloth are often warned against - more commonly known as the Seven Deadly S...

Inventory, Health and Combat Systems have been implemented   Progress has been made! A lot of the core gameplay has been implemented, including combat, inventory, equipable items, enemy AI and health systems. It was a difficult road, but I managed to make all of the code work.   My next step is is to add quest and dialogue systems. This will mean that my storyline can start to take shape.    The main thing that I am finding difficult is altering the codes I am using to fit my game idea. I have had to simply follow others methods and adapt my game rather than editing the code to suit me. I am hoping that the quest and dialogue elements will work with the features I already have.   Here is a video that shows my game in action.  - Ultan

  Looking back on my progress since September, I can honestly say that I am happy with where I am. I have worked hard to be in the position that I am in; I have learned plenty, my game is coming along nicely, and I have kept on top of the workload. That said, there was one week in particular that I fell behind. Other aspects of work and life took precedence, and I had not gotten far enough ahead of my schedule with this work to avoid missing out. This is my own error, and one that I was careful not to repeat. I have done some extra credit tasks to catch up, and will do more to bring my grade back up. My favourite tasks have been the Unity tutorials and the game development. I would love to have the time to get a lot of Inferno Lair done in one sitting, however with other commitments I can only spend one or two hours at a time.   For the next couple of weeks, I want to get ahead of my workload. I've been keeping up to date with everything, but I would like to get things done ...

This is where suggestions can go... Not really, I'm quite receptive Image Source:  iStockPhoto   Looking back on some of the feedback I have received on my game design, there are a lot of useful comments that I shall take on board. The quality of the feedback is quite high, and it varies from positive feedback to constructive. There have been no unnecessary negative comments, or unhelpful advice. The comments I find most useful are the ones that pose questions. They ask about aspects that they are unsure of, or would like more clarification on. These questions make me stop and think through the area that has been queried. Occasionally, it will be something I hadn't given any thought to, but should have. Other times it may be a suggestion on features that could be added, or ways to approach designing. The hardest feedback to give was when there was little or no content to discuss. It could be tough to find positives to laud, and tougher again to think of any suggestions w...