Monomyth - Dev Update 17

Redglyph

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@JDR13 spotted a new update from Rat Tower Software (thanks!), probably the last one of 2021 too. This time, we get some insight into the benefits of refactoring code, tricks of the trade like FSMs, and how they help implement immersive simulation features.

State of the Game: Current Progress | Refactoring & Game Design

Hi, dungeon-crawling Fans!

The year is coming to an end, but the work on Monomyth continues - a good opportunity for another update! This month we will focus more on the technical side of things, so, let's get started...

Current Progress

You may remember, in the last update, I mentioned that I'd do some coding for the first two weeks of December. I wanted to improve some of the game's systems and make it easier to include additional immersive features (work I would have otherwise done during January).

After the first two weeks, I saw that with a little bit more time I could turn the refactoring into a major code rework, which would immensely simplify future development and potentially save me a lot of time in debugging. So, I decided to take the chance and I dedicated another two weeks to coding.

Alongside the removal of several conceptual problems with the AI, two major results came out of this process:

  • Improved Character State Machines
  • Improved Inventory System
These improvements allowed me to introduce a series of features, most of which were either requested during the Kickstarter demo or part of the "Expanded Immersive Simulation" stretch goal. In this update, we will deal with the inner workings of the improvements as well as their effects on the game design. It will be a bit more technical this time but don't worry, we will talk more about level design (and - as promised - dungeon rooms) in next month's update!

[...]
More information.
 
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... and now with the link so you can read the rest of the article ;) What a sloppy way to end 2021.

It's quite technical indeed, so were his last few tweets. But I understand all too well that sort of decision, sometimes one has to redo a chunk of work in order to get a huge benefit later (or avoid a long struggle).

It's a common strategy in S/W development now, but it goes against everything programmers were told two decades ago about careful planning. And I suppose it does not translate well to other areas... just imagine the architect destroying a part of a house in construction to improve the plumbing. :D

It's best applied to projects where changes are expected.

Anyway. The only doubt I have is about the tetris-like inventory, am I the only one who dislikes them?
 
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I'm no expert, but that article makes sense in terms of my understanding. Quite interesting to see a KS update getting into the nuts and bolts.

I'm quite hopeful this guy will deliver.
 
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