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Building Roads and Aging Buildings

Sprint 26 kicked off this week, and we’ll be focusing on getting things ready for players with items such as: Improving creature AI, filling in the map, implementing a way for players to bank or secure loot, creating a social hub in the game, and focusing on player growth.

We’re updating campfires to make them a more useful place to regroup your party, dry wet clothing, and make a meal. We took a brief tangent discussing the viability of pineapple s’mores, and other Hawaiian versions of traditional campfire treats. We discussed what we would like in a basic banking system and talked through questions like: Does money have weight? If so how much does it weigh? If not is there a cash limit? Is banking free? We haven’t made any decisions yet, but it was good to work through some of these questions.

We have the beginnings of a talent system in place, allowing players to specialize their characters to fill certain roles in a group, or just tailor to their liking (though there is no tailoring skill currently planned). These special abilities focus on things like combat, stealth, crafting, and medical expertise (Not tailoring). We need to play test the talents we already have, fine tune them, and fill in any holes we find (But not darning holes, no tailoring, remember?). We’re working on a talent ui currently, and trying to avoid the tangled-string-art (String? Seriously, no tailoring!) looking web of skills you see in so many other (non-tailoring oriented) games.

The web team discussed the alerts and notifications we already have in place, and what areas we could improve in. We want players to know when their friends, or people they enjoyed playing with, are online or near them. We also discussed the importance of having an easy way to disable those things so your game isn’t pinging you every few minutes. We also talked over a few ideas for game trailers and sizzle reels.

We had to face an uncomfortable truth this week when it came to clothing. It’s obvious that the fracture caused a severe food, water, and supply shortage for survivors in Lahaina, but we had unwittingly created a unique outfit shortage as well. A post-apocalyptic makeover show would be a huge failure on the island right now because there just aren’t any options for the all important “new threads” (Dammit! Again with the clothes!) segment. We talked about adding a variety of outfit choices with some waterproof options, as well as a good selection of hats and headgear to help keep players warm at night. Maybe we need a tailoring skill…

The group went over a few more ideas for new places to explore on the map, as well as locations from the game stories. The art team is working on concept drawings of a few of our favorites. We’re adding some final touches to our road and village generating system, and working out a few lingering weather bugs with TrueSky. We’re currently filling in the areas surrounding the communications tower and damaging/roughing up the building materials with moss/vines, discoloration, and cracks to properly represent decades of neglect.

We plan on using the municipal veil station as the main social hub for the game, but have run into some performance issues. The already poor frame rates would only get worse with every new player running around, so we decided to shift the main hub to the Thorcon plant until we get the issues worked out. The team is busy roughing up the outside of the power plant and armory, and filling up the interiors with decorations, furniture, and containers to root through. We’re also making sure there is a distinct path leading to these important buildings. Below you can see what’s left of a portion of the Honoapi’ilani Highway. Although the jungle has reclaimed much of it, highway 30 remains an important road even after the cataclysm.
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We’ll be back next week with more updates.