Devlog (So very complex) (Patreon)

Okay so another Demo update,

I'm full speed ahead on the demo. I just want to make sure everyone's expectation's aren't too high. I know your all really super eager and I am too! I'm working hard getting done what I can and I don't want to disappoint anyone!

This demo like the previous will still be reasonably short (Although bigger than the previous two). It also feature many more features for you to test!

I managed to get a build working in the last couple days. I want to fix a bunch of stuff but even if I don't get anything else fixed I'll release what I have on Thursday to at least give you what I have so far.

The complexity of these system's is going to sand me insane(er)

These graphs are for behaviours I assure you aren't that complex. Also many many of these nodes below are actually nested nodes with sub graphs controlling sub behaviours. 

And still there are a tonne of minor issues when you have dialogue, animations, interactions, player choices and navigation all bumping against each other. I know some things are still a little bit bumpy but I'll continue to polish as I go.

I found time to add a few little feature's I know people were looking for,
Like a rotating camera you can control.

As shown above I know the levels are getting more complex so I'm adding some optimisations to unload content you can't see.

Also had some fun bugs like,

This is what happens if a character tries to avoid itself.

Also the return of an old favourite

That's what happens if you forget that some character's are sitting still and not wondering around. So if your code says "Continue to walk around" and they weren't doing that in the first place....

But the good news,

Despite the graphs being stupidly complex and they did reveal one big design flaw.  As a proof of concept the graphs work well I just need to build a bunch more "meta" nodes to collapse common behaviours into simpler to use "Nodes". At the moment the shortness of the demo is caused by how long it takes to build the graphs. But... as I use the graphs I'll keep creating new better nodes so I can build faster and faster.

The flaw is that I need to transfer more behaviour into the graphs, at the moment my graphs and code are fighting for control. Thankfully this fix is pretty straightforward.

But the node system is working. At this point I can actually do much more complex behaviour than something like RPG maker. This is why these demo's are so good. They force allot of the bugs to the surface and myself to really understand how to use the systems I'm creating!

So I'm going to keep working. I'll hopefully have the demo's and itch.io links ready on the Thursday.

Again a huge thank you for your support. Without you this project wouldn't be possible. I know committing to a Patreon is a big ask but I'm still keen and kicking it so only more exciting things for the future it looks like!