General Development

[MilleniumCount]

Sure, if it fits better by all means. The animations are the same, anyway*.

This sounds so final...^^

I was just thinking the globe has the right shape already. And we still need some concept art. Perhaps the final form of the kettle will look totally different

Edited November 25, 2013 by MilleniumCount

[ArcticFox789]

This sounds so final...^^

I was just thinking the globe has the right shape already. And we still need some concept art. Perhaps the final form of the kettle will look totally different

 

My kettle might fit the Alchemy Engine a bit better, but I think I'm thinking about taking it a different route to that one.

 

Anyway, away from home (and scanner) until around 7PM, so you'll have to wait. In the mean time, do we have a heat source we can use to place the Kettle on (like a Campfire). or can it cook on it's own, like a Crock Pot?

 

[member = "simplex"] I'll have a think, see if any builds spring to mind (desized Drying Rack sounds good for my idea, so far, but if it's gonna be like a Crock Pot, I'll rethink my design, as I had it being held over a heat source with three sticks, similar to how the drying rack works). 

Edited November 26, 2013 by ArcticFox789

[simplex]

My kettle might fit the Alchemy Engine a bit better, but I think I'm thinking about taking it a different route to that one.

 

Anyway, away from home (and scanner) until around 7PM, so you'll have to wait. In the mean time, do we have a heat source we can use to place the Kettle on (like a Campfire). or can it cook on it's own, like a Crock Pot?

 

[member "simplex"] I'll have a think, see if any builds spring to mind (desized Drying Rack sounds good for my idea, so far, but if it's gonna be like a Crock Pot, I'll rethink my design, as I had it being held over a heat source with three sticks, similar to how the drying rack works).

Well, it shouldn't be over a heat source, since it's electric, powered by static.

[MilleniumCount]

Well, it shouldn't be over a heat source, since it's electric, powered by static.

So no tea in the normal world?

[simplex]

So no tea in the normal world?

Well, you could use the black staff. But that may be a little too expensive for tea... ;P

Maybe we could give a kettle solar-powered battery as an adventure reward. xD

Edited November 26, 2013 by simplex

[TheDanaAddams]

Well, you could use the black staff. But that may be a little too expensive for tea... ;P

Maybe we could give a kettle solar-powered battery as an adventure reward. xD

It needs fancy sciencey stuff, but... I'd love to see blueprints for something like this being a reward.

And that way, you could power it at night too!

 

Maybe I'm just delirious, but I'm terribly amused by the idea of Wilson running like a little mouse in a wheel to generate electricity for the kettle. And maybe other things, too, I guess... like electric lights?

[ArcticFox789]

Wilson Wheel Picture

 

It needs fancy sciencey stuff, but... I'd love to see blueprints for something like this being a reward.

And that way, you could power it at night too!

 

Maybe I'm just delirious, but I'm terribly amused by the idea of Wilson running like a little mouse in a wheel to generate electricity for the kettle. And maybe other things, too, I guess... like electric lights?

 

I'm not sure quite how we'd do it, but I love it!

Edited November 26, 2013 by ArcticFox789

[simplex]

I finished implementing the packaging system for the mod.

Currently, counting just the distribution files (so excluding raw assets, etc.), the mod is 30MB big, 7MB when compressed. Here it is:

UpAndAway-prealpha.zip

EDIT: Changed the zip after a recent bugfix (see Testing).

Edited November 27, 2013 by simplex

[Craig_Perry]

I finished implementing the packaging system for the mod.

Currently, counting just the distribution files (so excluding raw assets, etc.), the mod is 30MB big, 7MB when compressed. Here it is:

UpAndAway-prealpha.zip

just gonna download that! Ive got a lot of catching up to do.

[simplex]

just gonna download that! Ive got a lot of catching up to do.

Note that the mod directory name in the zip I posted is UpAndAway_test. I set it up like that to avoid it clashing with the regular U&A directory when uncompressing (for testing). When doing an actual packaging of the mod it'd be UpAndAway, of course.

[simplex]

@debugman18

Do you have some form of priority list on what needs attention? (especially on the art level, to maximise the use of our scarce artist resources, but code also applies)

[debugman18]

@debugman18

Do you have some form of priority list on what needs attention? (especially on the art level, to maximise the use of our scarce artist resources, but code also applies)

For art, in order of priority (my opinion of the priority, anyways) there is:

The various trees and plants;

Dragonblood and cloudfruit trees, gustflowers, golden sunflowers and golden roses.

 

Various creatures;

Strix, gnomes, rainbowcoons, cheshire cat, zealot beanlets.

 

Various items;

Cumulostone, dragonblood fruit, cloudfruit, gustflower seeds, golden seeds.

 

Everything else;

Kettle, refiner, research machine, weather machine.

 

Codewise, not nearly as much;

Gustflowers, whirlwinds (I believe you had a prototype whirlwind at some point?), water crystals sending out the flying fish (right now they spawn them, but I think it was intended they fly from them), the white staff (I believe this was the one that made structures movable, but I know there was some mention of Wabbajack-like ability, perhaps that could be one of the Wabbajack random effects), gnomes defending crystals, gnomes and Strix fighting, the cheshire cat/scarecrow functionality, turf effects, and the various crystal effects.

 

I may have missed some things. I'd be working on it, but I'm visiting family right now for Thanksgiving weekend. (This holiday is actually mildly offensive, the way I see it, but eh.)

[simplex]

For art, in order of priority (my opinion of the priority, anyways) there is:

The various trees and plants;

Dragonblood and cloudfruit trees, gustflowers, golden sunflowers and golden roses.

 

Various creatures;

Strix, gnomes, rainbowcoons, cheshire cat, zealot beanlets.

 

Various items;

Cumulostone, dragonblood fruit, cloudfruit, gustflower seeds, golden seeds.

 

Everything else;

Kettle, refiner, research machine, weather machine.

 

Codewise, not nearly as much;

Gustflowers, whirlwinds (I believe you had a prototype whirlwind at some point?), water crystals sending out the flying fish (right now they spawn them, but I think it was intended they fly from them), the white staff (I believe this was the one that made structures movable, but I know there was some mention of Wabbajack-like ability, perhaps that could be one of the Wabbajack random effects), gnomes defending crystals, gnomes and Strix fighting, the cheshire cat/scarecrow functionality, turf effects, and the various crystal effects.

Great! If @ArcticFox789, you or anyone else could contribute with wiki entries for the top priority candidates that would be quite helpful.

But based on the pace we're moving forward, I think we should cut back on the content which defines "alpha". We can't take too long to release it... If doing so, we should give higher priority to items which are essential to cloud realm survival (mainly heat sources and food).

I did have a whirlwind prototype (I should still have it, but if not it's straightforward to rewrite it), but I thought we had decided on a Taz-like 2 frame whirlwind. The code I had would work quite well for lifting entities, such as the player, though.

 

I may have missed some things. I'd be working on it, but I'm visiting family right now for Thanksgiving weekend. (This holiday is actually mildly offensive, the way I see it, but eh.)

Try focusing on the good things, like cranberry sauce.

Edited November 30, 2013 by simplex

[ArcticFox789]

Great! If @ArcticFox789, you or anyone else could contribute with wiki entries for the top priority candidates that would be quite helpful.

 

I'll get on it soon-ish. ASAP basically.

[simplex]

@debugman18 and @Craig_Perry

What are your opinions on how the whirlwind should behave? Would you prefer a simple implementation that just spins up and around whatever it passes on, or would you rather have a more realistic implementation, with a "sucking effect" and using more realistic movement to the bodies it moves, using conservation of angular momentum and all that? (by realistic, I mean "realistic enough for a game", let's not overdo it)

EDIT: Come to think of it... I think there's not much point in making it too realistic, since then we'd need massive whirlwinds to be able to throw the player that far...

Edited December 1, 2013 by simplex

[Craig_Perry]

@debugman18 and @Craig_Perry

What are your opinions on how the whirlwind should behave? Would you prefer a simple implementation that just spins up and around whatever it passes on, or would you rather have a more realistic implementation, with a "sucking effect" and using more realistic movement to the bodies it moves, using conservation of angular momentum and all that? (by realistic, I mean "realistic enough for a game", let's not overdo it)

EDIT: Come to think of it... I think there's not much point in making it too realistic, since then we'd need massive whirlwinds to be able to throw the player that far...

I'd say it should be limited to items on the floor and one or two structures (flowers and stuff like that)

 

EDIT: this just gave me a wonderful idea on how to solve the heat problem, after a whirlwind random sky related items fall in the area nearby, with a chance for golden eggs (perhaps also a small mob or two can appear to counteract positives)

Edited December 1, 2013 by Craig_Perry

[debugman18]

@debugman18 and @Craig_Perry

What are your opinions on how the whirlwind should behave? Would you prefer a simple implementation that just spins up and around whatever it passes on, or would you rather have a more realistic implementation, with a "sucking effect" and using more realistic movement to the bodies it moves, using conservation of angular momentum and all that? (by realistic, I mean "realistic enough for a game", let's not overdo it)

EDIT: Come to think of it... I think there's not much point in making it too realistic, since then we'd need massive whirlwinds to be able to throw the player that far...

I vote for the simple implementation. Also, sorry for the inactivity the last couple of days, I've been pretty preoccupied.

[simplex]

Also, sorry for the inactivity the last couple of days, I've been pretty preoccupied.

No problem, as the most active member of U&A you're entitled to some breaks. ;P

[simplex]

Question: should whirlwinds affect creatures in the cloud realm, throwing them around (possibly into other biomes)?

[Craig_Perry]

Question: should whirlwinds affect creatures in the cloud realm, throwing them around (possibly into other biomes)?

I think that would be a good addition, slowing causing the environment around you to change thus removing predictability

[simplex]

I've begun work on the whirlwind. I spent the last hours patching the vanilla Physics methods to expose some needed information (such as damping and restitution coefficients*) and coding a lot of geometry and linear algebra to compute a random destination point under constraints of minimum and maximum distance, while at the same time being "biome-based"**.

I'm done for the day. ;P

* The damping coefficient is needed because characters and many mobs have too high of a damping coefficient, which makes the Physics engine refuse to give them a "proper" velocity (where proper means affected by external forces such as gravity, constant velocities ignoring external forces are possible), so we need to tweak them temporarily to be able to throw them around, restoring the value afterwards. Tweaking the restitution coefficient is needed to prevent them from bouncing like a ping pong ball.

** What the code does is randomly select a biome which has points within the minimum and maximum distances, and then randomly select a point within the distance extremes within it.

[Craig_Perry]

I've begun work on the whirlwind. I spent the last hours patching the vanilla Physics methods to expose some needed information (such as damping and restitution coefficients*) and coding a lot of geometry and linear algebra to compute a random destination point under constraints of minimum and maximum distance, while at the same time being "biome-based"**.

I'm done for the day. ;P

* The damping coefficient is needed because characters and many mobs have too high of a damping coefficient, which makes the Physics engine refuse to give them a "proper" velocity (where proper means affected by external forces such as gravity, constant velocities ignoring external forces are possible), so we need to tweak them temporarily to be able to throw them around, restoring the value afterwards. Tweaking the restitution coefficient is needed to prevent them from bouncing like a ping pong ball.

** What the code does is randomly select a biome which has points within the minimum and maximum distances, and then randomly select a point within the distance extremes within it.

so this mod will even incorporate different laws of physics! =P

[simplex]

Whirlwinds. Done. Or at least their core implementation is. Visually, they are currently semi-transparent basalts.

It was much harder to implement them than I thought. Seriously, it was one of the most complex things I ever implemented for DS (right up there with some of the guts in wicker).

@Craig_Perry, if you could test them I'd appreciate it, since I'm guessing there should be quite a few bugs to find. The prefab is "whirlwind". It will slowly wander around and affect all entities around it which normally respond to obstacles.

Once an entity (including you) gets close enough, it'll be attracted to it. When reaching its center, it'll start to go up spinning, and show up elsewhere (which might be somewhat close or far). I've been having fun DebugSpawn'ing (gimme'ing, actually) entities next to a whirlwind to watch them spin away.

Edited December 8, 2013 by simplex

[Craig_Perry]

Whirlwinds. Done. Or at least their core implementation is. Visually, they are currently semi-transparent basalts.

It was much harder to implement them than I thought. Seriously, it was one of the most complex things I ever implemented for DS (right up there with some of the guts in wicker).

@Craig_Perry, if you could test them I'd appreciate it, since I'm guessing there should be quite a few bugs to find. The prefab is "whirlwind". It will slowly wander around and affect all entities around it which normally respond to obstacles.

Once an entity (including you) gets close enough, it'll be attracted to it. When reaching its center, it'll start to go up spinning, and show up elsewhere (which might be somewhat close or far). I've been having fun DebugSpawn'ing (gimme'ing, actually) entities next to a whirlwind to watch them spin away.

alright then I'll hop to it 

 

it may take a while my condition is acting up causing my hands to uncontrollably shake sorry for the delay

Edited December 8, 2013 by Craig_Perry

[MilleniumCount]

Soooo,

after some sort of hiatus and and a whirlwind scrambling up the team. How is it going at the moment?