So this week I've made the decision to move on from my previous project and have instead started work on a new game. It is a project I attempted to work on a while ago, and found myself out of my depth. Having more experience and a broader skillset by now, I feel ready to work on the idea I once failed to complete.
I've been thinking about it for a while, constantly coming up with new ideas and ways to do this or that. Right now I'm working primarily on planning out all the main features. I'll take what I've learnt from my previous projects - primarily about not being too ambitious - and bring it to this new project.
My goal going forward is to do a lot of work with AI. Having asked around and done a bit of research, I will be going through Programming Game AI By Example. As of yet, I can't comment on the book, but as soon as it arrives I will be going through it sequentially with the hopes of learning enough that I can create sufficiently realistic enemy AI.
One thing I've been thinking I may add to this blog for a while is tutorials, and I think this may be a good chance to do so. If I can come up with sufficiently simple examples, I am looking to write out small tutorials based on the concepts I learn in the book. They will be made in unity, and their purpose will be to teach whoever goes through them what I learnt from, say, a given chapter. These won't be mini games or anything, more likely just simple programs used to elucidate a point. Hopefully this will be a win-win for myself and my audience.
I will most likely be going through this book for a significant length of time (though I couldn't yet say how long) before the prototype for my new game is created. I will use this time to work on a high quality design document. I will share details when it is complete. The AI 'tutorials' will take the place of the game update posts for now.
Another thing I have been looking at recently is shaders. I have been consistently put off from learning how to work with these in any great detail, instead focusing on other areas of game development, but I think it may be time to start working on that. They may even find their way into a tutorial! At this point I am not sure, but the future looks bright.
