It's 9 weeks into Google Summer of Code and things are progressing! This week I worked on some different additions to the Capture the Flag gameplay. First off, I fixed the problem I was having last week with held items not having the right components for checks--specifically, not being able to search for if a flag has a BlackFlagComponent, for instance, if I am trying to see if it is a black flag. I found out that adding@AddToBlockBasedItemto a given component would allow that component to b...

Another week has passed for Google Summer of Code, and more work has progressed! This week I've largely been working on changes to last week's code based on suggestions for refactoring, and adding in components to help with various checks and code clarity. I've gone through much of the code for the AttackSystem and ScoreSystem to make it more understandable, and to add some needed null hardening. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for this week, though, has been an issue of detecting comp...

So far I've been working on getting the bare bones working for the main Capture the Flag gameplay. This week I worked on more improvements to this, to get the game into a more playable state. Firstly, I focused to improvements for having players drop and pick up the flag. Before, when a player tagged another, the other player would only drop the flag they had if it was being held. I instead search through the player's inventory to see if there is a flag in there, and if so, it is dropped. ...

This week I've been focusing on some of the fundamental code for the Capture the Flag game mode--getting combat mechanics working between players. It's important for players to be able to interact with one another, and this code (and the mechanics they entail) will be important to how people play and enjoy the game. The main idea behind the PvP is that players can use a weapon to tag other players, causing them to drop their flag if it is being held. To begin, I created a new weapon for t...

After trials and tribulations this week, I've gotten the score system working! I had started some of the base code for the score system last week, but didn't realize how much more time it would take to puzzle the whole thing out. I changes up the base rasterizer and prefabs so that each of the base blocks have a team faction attached to them. I also added a component to them that allows them to be activated, and so that when they are activated they trigger a check to see if the activator (pla...

Week 3 of Google Summer of Code is done! This week I focused on continuing the faction code, making it so that players could choose their team (red or black) at the start of the game and, upon selection, get teleported to their team's base. I'd already started some of the faction code last week, though due to the fact that I had some odd issues with my workspace I wasn't able to get this fully completed and tested. Once I started trying to work out my new code, I realized things weren't goi...

Week 3 of Google Summer of Code is done! This week I focused on continuing the faction code, making it so that players could choose their team (red or black) at the start of the game and, upon selection, get teleported to their team's base. I'd already started some of the faction code last week, though due to the fact that I had some odd issues with my workspace I wasn't able to get this fully completed and tested. Once I started trying to work out my new code, I realized things weren't goi...

It's week 2 of Google Summer of Code! This meant taking the next step in the project--working on implementing factions. The idea of factions is simple--the player will choose a team to be on, red or black, and depending on their current faction they will be able to interact with the world in different ways. For instance, a player cannot pick up their team's flag when the flag is at the base. To begin, I worked on tracking the player's own faction. Thankfully, some of the existing code in ...

Summer break has begun, and with it, Google Summer of Code! I'm fortunate to be working on Terasology creating a new capture the flag gamemode in the module Light and Shadow. For those learning to learn more about the project in general and check out the estimated timeline for the project, you can check out the proposal here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jCgZtg78jGBTu3KNzxFbrDIJ0beEWK-dzr-53P_JN5o/edit?usp=sharing This week has been dedicated to learning the feel of the code and maki...

Worked on two game jams recently and wanted to share what I worked on here! Global Game Jam (theme: Transmission): Worked on UI design / implementation for Patient Zero, where you get to be an infection spreading through the body! Made in Unity in 48 hours, with a team from Iowa State. Play here: https://globalgamejam.org/2018/games/patient-zero-10 Twine Games Jam (theme: retelling fairytale or legend): Completed Daedalus, a game made with Unity and Twine. It is a retelling of the st...

Before you start, download Unity here: https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download Let's start with the basics -- Take a look at the Hierarchy, Scene Window, Inspector, and Assets pane. What do each of them do? Look at how to manipulate the Scene Window -- zoom in, out, pan. Look at how to make new objects by right-clicking in the Assets or Hierarchy pane (and what the difference is) Look at how to select objects and change their properties either using W, E, R or changing values in the Inspe...