Explanation of absence. So as I'm sure you have noticed all socials and videos went dark for a few weeks. This is due to me getting ill just before everyone went into coronavirus lockdown in the UK (it wasn't coronavirus, fortunately). Due to this and being stuck indoors for so long we went into a work slump and weren't really able to do anything, but now I'm back and ready to kick back into the regular routine. It couldn't really be avoided, but I should have provided an update on socials, so apologies for that. I myself have been affected within the family by COVID-19, so my thoughts are with everyone in this difficult time. I extend my support in particular to those who are struggling with mental health issues that may be amplified in isolation. If you want some company, feel free to come to talk to me on stream, or message us through our socials and I'll do my best to help. That being said, let's get onto what we've been up to since I last posted! Props. Work has continued getting this system feature complete on the editor side, with an important feature being developed just before going dark. This is the rotation system and allows you to spin props round in increments of 90 degrees (to help collisions conform with the voxel terrain). This really helps extend visual fidelity in otherwise repetitive scenes. I've also worked on a safety feature within the code that prevents a crash I identified when giving the project to a tester. All in all, this has wrapped up the most base functionality of the prop system and lays the foundation for prefabs, which will be my next focus. I have decided to put on the backburner other more complicated editing features that relate to object states due to the three weeks we lost due to my absence. This will allow me to still make important updates on the project while filling in the extra features when I have spare time. In addition, Matthews has been working on getting me some extra models, which I'll use to test the AI systems. If all goes to plan I'll begin work on AI next month as detailed by our roadmap. Heres a sneak-peek at the types of animals and art styles he's experimenting with:
Videos. Due to our absence, our video content backlog ran out on the livestream front very quickly, and I am taking steps to make sure this is more avoidable in the future. Instead of the regular four livestreams a week, I'll be instead attempting five. I'll still only be posting four, however, so not only will I be doing more development work (great), but a small buffer of content should also slowly build-up for the days or weeks we are unable to do anything. Fin. So this was only a tiny update on our work, due to us only just coming back, but we plan to be in full swing once again as soon as possible. I will, of course, resume writing regular content again, and next week I'll publish another update, which all being well will be full with the usual types of content. To give you an idea of what we are working on for next week, we are currently discussing UI work for the editor, and I'll be implementing prefab features to get closer to wrapping the editor up. That's all for now folks, and I hope you're all well amidst the chaos. See you next week (I mean it this time), and stay safe!