Here is the low down on what we have been up to:
I think we can all agree that time is pretty important. Many parts of a game require time to constantly and consistently move forward. Time should not move backwards or take a break to tie its shoe. Turns out it is stupidly difficult to get reliable time readings on Windows. I have been dealing with this issue for a long time and I (hopefully) found the solution last week. The common methods did not work as we run a client and a server (so setting affinity wasn’t an option, bye bye QPF/QPC). I did other things too but have run out of time to write them down.
This week one of my top priorities is to speed up the build time. I have already started to get precompiled headers working which should help out. I also want to spend time on network optimizations and then there are always more bugs that need fixing.
Last week I created some new GUI elements for use in some of our game modes, as well as some new particle effects to spice things up as well. I also spent a day tracking down a really bizarre physics bug in our game or bullet which we were able to work around. I spent some time tweaking old maps we haven’t visited in awhile as well as re-scripting a few maps that needed some of the new things we have been adding to the game.
This week I am going to do more level work as well as any other polishing I can take care of.
Last week I reworked the “Tag” mode in Zero Gear to flip between “keep away” and “hot potato”. This should keep the tag mode more interesting and less boring. I also worked with Brian to try and improve the camera system. This week I have to do some writing but will be helping out on Zero Gear whenever I get the time.
