To Do for Demo 1

[Adam]

This is just a To Do list so that I can visualize and track what I
have to do to complete Demo 1. Assuming that nothing goes wrong (as is
a mathematician's way), I should be able to get this done by Tuesday,
and perhaps Tuesday Alastair's time as well.

Here's what needs to happen: (Alastair: items with an asterisk (*)
after them are things that if you could do them before I start
tomorrow, would speed up things greatly, without costing you much time)

Merge adam-demo with master *
Figure out how to make deceleration work *
Create starmap algorithm (using perhaps GL_POINT?) *
Work on warping (and how to tell Lua that we're pressing the TAB key)
* (if you can't do this, Alastair, if you could at least help me with
the Lua part)
Add weapon firing (figure out which pixel to start at and how often to
fire) (again, I could use a little bit of help conceptualizing this
Alastair)
Add seeking algorithm / collision detection
Add damage, death, explosion, victory

(as a side note, Alastair - when I pushed the files to the repository
at the end of my day, I noticed that the upload size was 33 MB,
although I did not add any of the sounds. I also remembered that I
accidentally uploaded some of the .ogg files, so if there's some way
you can do that, then I would recommend it 100%)

That's it! I'm hoping with a solid day tomorrow that I can complete
this by Tuesday.

Adam

[adam_0]

An update (with more specifics):

- Create starmap algorithm (using perhaps GL_POINT?) *
[Alastair's got it]
- Work on "holddown" code *
Alastair - if you could please make code in Lua / SDL that deals with
holding down keys, that'd be great, because TAB needs to be held down
while warping, and I can't find my code on it.
- Work on warping
Shouldn't be hard, but we'll need that "holddown" code
- Add weapon firing (figure out which pixel to start at and how often
to fire) (I could use a little bit of help conceptualizing this
Alastair)
I've got most or all of the variables declared, but I'm having trouble
referencing functions from other Lua files. Simple fix.
- Add seeking algorithm / collision detection *
Missile seeking should be very easy, and collision detection should
follow, but I'll need help with collision detection for sure,
Alastair.
- Add damage, death, explosion, victory
Health is a simple property, when health gets to zero, death and
explosion occur. Victory should be part of whatever while loop holds
the Lua part together. I'll need to work a tad with you on this
Alastair, but it should be a simple fix.

That's all, folks!

Adam

[adam_0]

Update number 2:

I'd like to get the demo finished Wednesday (tomorrow as I type this),
and I think I can do it, with help from Alastair. Here's a new, shiny,
revised version:

Short list: (Alastair: if you can tackle these before I get on
tomorrow morning at 5 AM my time / 1 PM your time, it'll put me SO
much closer to the finish line)
- Star field (parallax or not, at this point I don't care)
- Timer (to space out explosion / warp FX)
- "Quit on victory" condition

Longer list: (In order of priority, if you can do it)
- Collision detection (I honestly would not know how to figure it
out)
- Missile seeking algorithm
- Damage counter
- Weapon firing - this is the end that I'm starting on, we both work
towards the middle? :)

Alastair - if there's any chance you could get any of this done, it
would be a boost. This is the entire list for the demo. Once we get
this, demo complete!

Over and out!

Adam

[adam_0]

Ok, post-Turkey-Day update:

I've gotten the laser firing to work, and I'm currently working on
getting the C-missile integrated into the physics system, although in
doing so, I apparently broke the entire physics system. I'll need a
little help on that, I'm uploading it to branch "adam-demo" again.

[Adam]

New update:

I've gotten seeking to work (mostly) with the C-missiles. Here's all
that's left for the demo:

- Star field (parallax or not, at this point I don't care)
- Timer (to space out explosion / warp FX)
- "Quit on victory" condition

- Collision detection (I honestly would not know how to figure it
out)

I'm hoping that I can work with Alastair on this tomorrow morning, at
around 1:30 PM his time.

Adam

[adam_0]

Too bad I can't edit my posts... anyways, I won't be able to get
online tomorrow morning, as I have a massive amount of homework yet to
be done.

Also, I don't need a timer... that was a copy-paste error, I
apologize.

Also, I'll be back Wednesday, hopefully.

Adam

[adam_0]

This thing is dragging on much longer than I had wanted. Anyways,
here's the latest:

It appears that the starfield is done, but I don't know how to use it.
I bet there's a Lua binding somewhere that can help me out...

I've figured out how to use the infamous "dt" as a timer. Woot.

I still don't know how to quit, so Alastair: I'm going to stick a
binding in Lua allowing the user to quit, but also have "victory" take
the user back to the main menu.

Collision detection: I'm a virtual noob on this, so I'll need lots of
help getting that to work.

But that's it! Which is really exciting, we could have a demo shortly!
But of course, don't get your hopes up as to anything before
Christmas.

Adam

[adam_0]

Forgot to mention that I need to work on warping. But I'll get to that
once the starfield is in place.

Adam

[adam_0]

Ok, a lot has been done since last update:
- Starfield works
- Didn't need to add quit function
- Collision detection is almost in place, but not utilized

Here's what needs to be done:
- Get new physics to work
- Re-center the ship (when the ship is drawn, it is off-center)
- Implement collision detection
- Get missile seeking up-and-running

That's all! I'm very hopeful to get it done soon.

Adam

[adam_0]

Stuff fixed since last update:
- Ship is now drawn front-and-center

All that needs to be done for the demo (in order of importance):

- Get pesky physics function apply_force() to work (Alastair)
- Fix Lua variable binding problem (also Alastair)
- Fix starfield (Alastair as well)
- Complete ship movement - warping, acceleration, stopping (me)
- Complete concussion-missile physics (me)
- Finish collision detection (Alastair)

If I can help with any of your stuff, Alastair, let me know.

I'm excited to see this demo nearing the finish line!

Adam

[adam_0]

Stuff I've fixed (for good or temporarily) since last update:

- Get pesky physics function apply_force() to work

- Get basic collision detection
- Work begun on Windows compatibility (no guarantees on having it
working by the time the demo cometh)
- Weapon integration into ships

To be done:
- (Maybe) Fix Lua variable binding problem (Alastair) (NOTE: This
hasn't been a problem for me recently, for some odd reason. It works
alright)
- Fix starfield (Alastair)
- Figure out what to do with non-existent headers (Windows, combined
effort of Alastair and meself)

Alastair says that he can work with me on this stuff sometime next
week. I'm really pushing to get this done, and hopefully it will be
done soon.

Regarding when the demo finishes:
1. If we take longer to get it out, it doesn't necessarily mean that
we've hit a wall. It means that we're adding more awesome features.
2. The time that the demo takes to finish will not be proportional to
the development of the rest of the game. Because all of the content of
the game is pre-determined and undebatable, all we have to figure out
is how to implement said content.
3. Windows compatibility is not guaranteed or implied for the first
demo. We will work to make it compatible for sure in later demos, but
for now the work is more to get things established in that realm.

Things are hap'nin'!

Adam

[adam_0]

Since last update, I've been working on figuring out the Windows side
of things, which has proved extremely frustrating.

All that needs to be done for the demo is to fix the starfield. If
myself and Alastair work on it, we should have this demo all wrapped
up!

Note to Alastair: Please contact me when you get this message.

"So Darn'd Close,"

Adam

[adam_0]

Darnit. I thought we were gonna get the demo done today. Now it's not
looking like that's going to be possible.

Alistair: Get. On. Soon.

:/

Adam

[adam_0]

I'm down to the big three (problems, that is):

- Colors not working (Lua binding problem)
- Starfield problems
- Using new graphics

I'm going to work from the bottom up. Alistair, if you start working,
please start from the top down.

*crosses fingers*

Adam