Weekly Dev Update – September 2nd, 2016

Adam – @adam_blahuta

Hi everybody!

This week was a light one for me as I had other obligations. I still managed to knock out some admin tasks as well as participate in some design discussions revolving around desk usability. It’s really an important and fascinating topic because I’ve never played a game that strives for the experience we’re looking to create with that. It’s a difficult problem with a lot of trade-offs to consider.

Luckily, whenever something is too difficult to make a call on, we have the luxury to just jump in and prototype it. This allows us to spend less time theory-crafting and we can evaluate an idea on the merits of the prototype.

Daniel – @Polygonatron

Hi Everybody!

This week I’ve been working on the desk’s Rolodex and it’s cards as part of the re-working of the desk. The cards are a bit complex since they need to be able to display stats that update over time, even as the player is watching them, and show full graphics portraits of the crew. While that in itself isn’t too tricky it hits a bump in the road since it also needs to not only be a physical object on the desk and it needs to conform with the tech style and level of the game. Since we’re aiming for a more retro futuristic style this limits for example what a super thin display can do. I think we’re definitely getting there with the version we’re at right now, but the proof will be in the pudding when we have it fully, or fully enough implemented to actually interact with it and see how well it actually works.

Dave – @Dave_Astrobase

Hey everyone!

Now that personality traits for game characters are finally finished, I started assembling the next layer of the system which is missions. Missions interact with character traits and the trait structure, as characters make decisions while on missions using on their personality. If you remember, I’ve previously explored several ideas and methods across 3 mission prototypes developed over the last year or two. Last week, this week, and probably for a few more, my focus is on putting together an awesome mission design out of what I liked in the prototypes. Only a few challenges remain that my brain is tasked with untangling.

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Weekly Dev Update – August 26th, 2016
Weekly Dev Update - September 9th, 2016
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