Think random development thoughts!

I was talking to someone yesterday via IM about an addon for Garry's Mod (though it's a generic thing I'm going to address). He proposed something, and we talked about whether it's possible, the complications involved, the complications in making it accessible to players and not a risk for people using it, and finally whether the end product would be worth the effort involved.

Doing this allowed me to make a few observations about discussing development with someone who isn't a developer:

• They'll make a lot of valid points, especially some good ones relating to the accessibility/method of use of something, but they can easily misjudge how big a concern their points are, especially in early development. For example, the person I was speaking to thought that keeping players from ruining other's fun, or crashing the game for themselves or others, was a serious consideration for a tool right from the start of development. In reality, restrictions and limits are easy to implement compared to the main bulk of the features.
• For obvious reasons, they can't know whether something is possible. Therefore, you spend an inordinate amount of time exploring the realms of impossibility unless you want to prevent them contributing at all, which is of course wrong. I had the peron I was talking to attempt to persuade me I was wrong in saying somehing was impossible at one point, which was REALLY awkward.
• They severely undervalue random spontaneous combustion of any entity.

I may sound a bit of a prat, but I'm really just typing some of my thoughtstream. I've got some of my best ideas from talking with people who couldn't make their ideas into reality themselves, but these ideas always need so much refinement they become all but incomparable to the original proposal. If anyone actually reads this blog and everthinks a developer, big or small, should do this or that, just think: if I were discussing my issue with them, would my concet be bulletproof against physical or practical objections?

And now, for something completely different: Toolgun Minigames!

I think I've posted about this before, but I released it and it's getting lots of interest, support, and even development... actually, I can't be bothered to make a long post. Just get it! Forum thread

Now it's called 'Industrial Warzone'

As title declares, the gamemode does have a new name. It looks nice in the server browser, and gets across the whole killing thing aptly, so it'll do.

Gamemode content? There's a fair bit of snazzy stuff since last real content post. There's a weapon select menu you can see in one of the images (you can scroll through weapons or press the appropriate number, it'll appear when you are selecting then fade away; you can only hold two weapons and they are each assigned either slot 2 or 3). When looking at a weapon, it tells you what it is (later down the line it might tell you what upgrades it has too). A few more major upgrades have been added for late-game, namely 'SMG Back-recoil Boosters' (a secondary fire is unlocked on all SMGs that pushes you back from wherever you are facing: jump then look down, and you can boost yourself high in the air, ammunition allowing), a 'Rifle Grenade Launcher' (all rifles get grenade launchers that can hold two impact grenades; they do some damage, or can be used to blast yourself into the air without being damaged, and don't affect normal firing so you can do it mid-combat without stopping bullet fire), and 'Rifle Energycell Tech' (rifles fire pulse-rounds instead of bullets; no recoil, and rapid interruptable recharge rather than magazine-based reloads).

Woah, block of text. tl;dr?: upgrades that allow you to fly or jump around using weapons, and lasers.

You can also see the WIP directional indicator on all the screenshots. I think it looks pretty sweet, even i it is just an adaption of an arrow featured in a previous gamemode. Right now it points you to the nearest undestroyed enemy shield generator, or their power generator if both shields are down (you can C4 shields and the power gen, but there's no actual win connected to reaching and exploding the power gen. Next on my list.)

Gamemode stuff

I'm probably renaming the gamemode to 'Industrial Warfare'. There's nothing productive about the gameplay, so why all it Manufacture?

In other news, progress IS being made - slower than before - there's lots of neat stuff now there wasn't before, and the gamemode is half-playable. I think public testing might commence by the end of this week, even, though I've still got the whole of the utilities tree to do (which is more of an idea/plan block than anything). And the minimap. And the help. And pretty much everything.

No harm in optimism.

BACK to reality, whoops there goes gravity...

Got my GCSE results today. And, well, they were pretty awesome. So yeah, I win. Woot. Now I've just got to do every other examination under the sun.

Manufacture screenshots!

Screenshots! nothing else.







Kind of annoying because there's not so much to show, but there's been leaps and bounds coding-wise. Oh well. It'll be done when it's done, and fopefully it'll be interesting then too...

Gamemode objectives: a dilemma

So, I made the utility framework, and the cloaking device, and they work. But there's not much to do with this stuff, because there is no gameplay to speak of! One thing I hadn't carefully considered when I thought of the gamemode was exactly what objectives players would have.

My initial thought when proposing the gamemode to myself was a money-based victory condition, like that of Science and Industry. However, in the end this didn't make much sense because there weren't good, efficient ways of boosting your income and decreasing that of the opponent. What was needed was a clearer objective that involved explosions.

After much tinkering with crazy ideas whilst discussing with others I decided the ideal (or, most implementable ideal) objective for players was to destroy the enemy equipment producing enemy weapons (later refined to be a power generator). To make things interesting, though, players must take down shield generators to gain access to the power generator. All the generators are going to be destroyable using C4 charges all players will have. I'm sure there will be various tactics to planting charges - cloaking in and stealthily placing, taking everyone out then placing, having other players distract the enemy then placing - which is great. Also, players will have a big waypointed thing to run towards, even if they don't understand anything else, which is fantastic on a playability point.

Still no pictures! I promise some soon, honest.