3/16/18- Armor, AI, and Logos
Hey there, Lava Bear fans! Parker here again. Time for another development log!
Quick update on what happened last week-- since many of our interns were out of town for UAT's Spring Break, our workforce was somewhat reduced. However, we were far from stagnant. Our core team was still hard at work on a few housekeeping matters, primarily concerning company management. Without further ado...
Design
It was a big week for our design staff!
Ian had a busy week, having made frameworks for the upcoming inventory system, as well as restructuring the game actor hierarchy-- setting up how the different actors relate to one another. He also refined the enemy artificial intelligence-- It can now move around the level and aim at the character when it reaches a certain distance.
I was also at work earlier this week, adding additional content to the level and redesigning the level flow.
Art
Bryce at work on our logo, while Trent is finishing up the female character model
Our art department is finishing up the last of the character models, which should be ready for us to apply animations soon! Bryce is also at work on refining our company logo-- it should be updated fairly soon!
Programming
Garret and Dave working together on equipment
Last but not least, our programming team has been working on building equipment for the character-- specifically armor, and how it affects the player's stats. Soon this will be integrated with the inventory system, and the player will be able to equip different pieces of armor through that interface.
Lore Corner: Naxos
On the border worlds, spaceports are the arteries that connect a planet to the rest of the galaxy. Especially prosperous planets will have more than one, allowing planetside manufacturers and sellers a more local outlet to sell their wares to buyers across colonized space. The city of Naxos is one such trading hub.
The second of four such facilities built on Hoelia, the Naxos spaceport was built in response to the mining boom shortly after the planet was settled. The settlement was strategically situated at a midpoint between several mountain ranges laden with titanium and other precious minerals. The nearby mining settlements would benefit greatly from the location, as the mining companies had to pay less to ship the raw materials to the location.
The spaceport quickly grew into a small city as new businesses moved in. Within the next decade, Naxos became a manufacturing hub for everything from consumer goods to starship-grade titanium plating. By that time, it had become the largest city on Hoelia.