Week 7. End of the final class.

This week is the end of class, and the end of the project. So far a lot has been done with the project to finish it up as well as make it easier to work with. Before it was a hassle to work with the project because it had nine different maps and flash UI's, but we changed it to one persistent map and nine flash UI's. It made working with the map much easier, but it took some time to get it fully working again with all the flash material. The only reason we didn't do the same to flash is it would have taken much longer to condense all the functionality down to one flash file plus mistakes would have been harder to track.

There was also some changes in flash code due to camera switching being an issue before we had a persistent level. I had to remove the code that disabled and enabled buttons and switch it over to the map kismet. With the code in the kismet, we were able to make wait times always work correctly. Before the player might end up at their destination and have to wait for the buttons to enable, or they would enable too quickly and break the simulation.

We also started finishing all the parts of the project this week to be ready for presentation Tuesday. There's been some crunch time for everyone. It is starting to be difficult to get any last minute bugs or inconsistencies fixed, but so far map and UI have basically been completed. But because the client wants kinect controls, there might be a last minute additions that need to be added to UI. I'm not looking forward to that as I'm not sure how it'll be dealt with, but we'll figure out something.

Week 4. Midway to complete.

This is the halfway mark for the senior project. So far it is coming along well. I just recently dealt with issues from our presentation last session. One issue was with the intro having a word that was wrong and another with a word that might be to difficult for our clientele. Both of which were dealt with fairly quickly.

After dealing with that, I moved on to making some progress in improving the game by making it random. It is fairly simple because it just uses flashes random(#) function to get a number from 0 - #. By using this function I can set a random shelf for when the player has to go to a shelf. This allows the game to be slightly more challenging by keeping the player from memorizing the game. It also is fairly realistic because you can't tell what shelf you will need. Sometimes its a new shelf, sometimes its old.

I also looked at some recent reviews we got from other students. Most of the issues they ran into we knew about and may have already fixed. But there was an idea that someone presented about telling the player what they are carrying. While testing I found that it would be a good idea as well. So with that, I will be adding a simple HUD display icon on the top right of the screen to tell the player what they are carrying.

Week 7. A good review.

This week was the final presentation for this half of the project. So far everything has been going well and we didn't have any big flaws pointed out. So now we just need to keep up this work and finish up the project. All that's left is finalizing some things, polishing, and possibly adding Kinect depending on client feedback.

So far what I see ahead for what I need to do is fix up the intro a bit more to deal with small inconsistencies I didn't see, and ensure that there is very little to no way to break the game through the UI. Right now I know of a possible way to at least kind of break it. It should be a fairly easy fix, which only needs some small code change and\or a kismet addition.

Week 6. A slow week.

This week most of my work for this session is done. All that's left for me at this time is making sure that the HUD is fully complete for the presentation. Which mostly involves small touch ups. I may also add in small details that would make the simulation better, but they will not likely be added this session.

Week 5. My main work begins.

This week is big on the HUD. I have to make sue that the code behind the pallet button works with the code the map has set up now. I also have to build new clipboard icons because the clipboard with objective we are using for some reason was done with pictures rather than movie clips and dynamic text. Quite an odd way to build the program seeing as how it is very inefficient. After new clipboard icons are done I also have to add in new buttons to deal with making a new icon for getting an empty box.

The final step after getting all the icons and the quick reference change fixed is adding the new code for the program. The code needs to be set up three different times for the three different difficulties. But because we have the difficulties planned, it shouldn't be that bad.

Week 4. Starting work on the UI.

This week I've started looking into new images for the UI. We need to have a pallet image for the new section we are adding. I'll also need to modify the image so that it has a transparent background and uses the same effects as the other UI buttons.

The flash UI has a different code method than I use normally. It mostly seems like its coded with movie clips instead of buttons and has all its code on the frames. The code on the frame makes the clips act like buttons. Its an interesting way to do it when buttons are one of the types you can pick over a movie clip. Perhaps they found something more effective in coding it this way.

It also seems that kismet shouldn't be much of a problem with integration because kismet has fscommands, which is something that is used a lot in the flash code and is very easy to combine.

Week 3. A new program and a simple solution.

This week we started using a new program called TortoiseSVN. I have never used this program, but it will be used to work together as a group on building the project. It seems like it might be similar to Dropbox with how it syncs files and folders. That would definitely make the group work better with each other. So long as files don't get replaced by one another during edit.

Another thing that was brought up this week was the projects manager and his dialog. While I wasn't at class this week, it would seem one of the things added to our list was to get the manager to not tell people how to play when they are in advanced modes. This turns out quite simple because it can be disabled in kismet.

Toggle Cinematic Mode just has to send out past opening the dialog swf and past the Close GFx Movie part. What that does is skips the basic intro. Because this code is the same on all map difficulties, this works just fine. The next swf it goes to is the talking to the manager to get your first task.

Week 2. starting up unreal again.

This week starts some of the work that has to be done. We each have our part and we will be working on it. I have to edit the UI with flash, which i have recently been working with. Then I have to import and work with it in Unreal. Being that it's been a while since I've used Unreal, I'll have to brush up on some small things. Luckily, Unreal and flash get along fairly well. So it shouldn't be to much trouble to get working together.

For now though, the UI isn't the biggest thing for the project. With that, I'll be mostly looking up assets and working on figuring out what I might have to do. From there I can get to work later on.

Week 1. The start of a final project.

This week I'm starting my senior class. We have to work on a project that was not finished for a client. So far, what seems to be left is adding another feature and some small patches to the old program to make it look and feel better.

The project has for the moment been split up into separate sections and the new feature has the most stuff to do. For now it seems I'll be taking up the UI and working with some kismet. This should go fairly well seeing as how my last project was all Flash, which the UI will need. The only part that could be hard to work with is getting the UI into Unreal. Mostly because it can be difficult from time to time to understand Unreal's kismet and other tools.

Week 1. Some Future Research.

During my research on recent Smartphones, I found that there is a handful of new OSs that are out there. The list of the OSs I've heard of are: Linux, Tizen, Firefox, IOS, Android, and Windows. I didn't even know that Firefox and Linux were making Smartphones. This means that in the field of working on apps for these phones, it is important to have a good knowledge of the different languages and interfaces. That way your app can be used on all of the phones that are connected to the app store. This would be very important if the app store allows different OSs to use it.
http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/01/do-we-really-need-another-smartphone-os/

During my research on 3D TV, I found that 3D TV might be something we all will have in the future. With 3D movies in theaters, it's no wonder why it is picking up more speed. The problem with 3D TV is that there aren't a lot of 3D videos out there, Samsung is thinking about that however. One of the new TV's they advertised was called 9000-series. This TV is a third of an inch thick, 3D with a feature to turn 2D to 3D, and has a touch screen remote that allows you to watch TV on it and has apps. This really fits in with the future because 3D is good until we come up with virtual reality, thin is a big future thing, and the remote is basically like a tablet.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/samsungs-impossibly-thin-3d-tv-tempts-hollywood-producer/

During my research on configurable games, I found that Sims 3 and Spore are games that are big on creativity. Sims has always been about having a character and leading them through life to be the best they can be. This included giving them items that would make them happy and help them to advance towards that ultimate goal. These items, as well as the people and their outfits, can be customized to be what you want it to be. If you are not all that creative there's an online storage of modified items. As for Spore it was designed with a lot of customization. You could make custom buildings, people, vehicles, and planets. The problem with these games to me was they had very simple game play. I find it unfortunate when a game with such creative power can be dulled by the interactions. With spore there aren't a lot of advanced interactions until you get to the space age. With Sims it doesn't really change and can be boring at times. One thing I've always questioned is why there are no mini games that would make you feel like you were actually doing something.
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/04/hands-on-sims-3/
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/09/spore-review/

Week 7. Setting up tutorial.

This week I'm starting work on the last thing I need to do for the project. I plan to take screenshots of gameplay and put them into the tutorial. I have to wait on some of the finishing things that my team has to do, but soon I can get the tutorial underway. It should be a simple menu with forward, back, and skip buttons. The rest of it will be pictures that are shaded and have text to tell the player what things do. After that, if it's the first time they are playing, the game will start up and let them play.

Week 5. Nearing the end.

A majority of the work that I had to do is finally getting completed. All that's left now is some final touches and a help menu. Once those are done, I'll pretty much be done with the tasks I have to do. With that in mind, I plan to look into areas that I can help to improve the game. One thing I noted is some of the backgrounds seem a little out of place. I plan to look into editing them in some way with Photoshop so that they seem more like they fit in better.

As well as that, there is still more modifying I can do to make the code cleaner. I may or may not do that depending on how fast this all gets together. Because we need a running version next week, I can't really do game changing modifications. It would make us recombine everything again. I may have to wait for a new completed version of the code before I can change any of those things.

Week 4. All shop assets.

Finally have all the shop assets, which is great. Now I need to just add them into the game. Because the items need to be programmed into the game by Dameon, I have to finish the shop this week. The prices don't need to be set up yet, nor all the restrictions necessarily. So I'll be working on that in a later copy.

Also on the side I have been working to reduce the lines of code that I have. It was something like 1000 lines of code because there are so many unique items and 5 different unique locations. But, because of arrays that can hold object names, I can shorten my code by at least 120 lines.

Week 3. Working on adding assets.

This week we are trying to add more content to the game. I'll be adding in more programming and items to the shop. Mostly just adding the units at the moment because the items are being finished. As well we are working on adding in some restrictions to the units to allow only specific units to use specific items. This will need a small HUD update, which I'll be working on soon enough.

Week 2. Working with comments.

This week I'm working on fixing some of the comments we got during the week 8 presentation. Other than that, there isn't much new stuff to repair due to QA comments. Many of the comments were about how we didn't have anything you could actually command at the moment. As well some were due to confusion. This was to be expected because there isn't a working help button. That will be added nearing the end due to screenshots and small new features that will need to be explained.

As well as the comments, I am trying to work some on adding in the new features and items we will have in the shop. This unfortunately requires item submissions from Wes, which means I'll have to get to that later on when I receive them.

Week 1. Begin part two.

This week is my first week back from vacation. It was nice to finally have some time off of work that needed to be done, but now its time to start up work on the project again. The first thing to do was to set up a new statements of work. We ended up mostly with the same list as before with only a few things done. The reason of course, was because we had planed for this to be a two parter and there was plenty of final things left to implement. The weeks off to a slow start, but that's fine because what needs to be done right now is getting everything set up to work on again.