Today I read a bit about behavior trees, didn't realize quite how much more complex they are vs fsms... anyway still in exam week so trying to not get too distracted, so thats all I did. yeah.
@jellyislovely cool, thanks I'll read up:D
My favourite read on behaviour trees is this - http://obviam.net/index.php/game-ai-an-introductio...
I haven't actually implemented them in a working game yet though so I can't comment on what @saluk said :p
Yeah they are something else. FSM is like, a generalized, formalized way to build AI the way you kind of already have in your head. BT is more like, a completely new special purpose language. You have to implement the language first and then build AI with that language. When I was learning them I was like "wow, behaviors trees are the best, use them for everything!" After having made them... I want to go back in time and make a game that doesn't need them :P Sometimes it's best to embark on a journey not knowing how strenuous it will be.
apple, would you mind not just changing up web standards when you feel like it, without any way out? thanks man I appreciate it.
Status: apple sucks I hate apple (okok they have really good designers but apple sucks.)
Hey, just popping in to say almost every empty day on my streak has actually been really productive work toward my site. We are currently in soft-launch, but you guys are welcome to come check it out and hang out. The amazingly professional looking website was done by a friend that I met through the site itself, and turns out to be a professional web developer, most of the text is his, all I did were a couple edits, and pictures (yes, that is my thumb.)
come check out: http://slickrock.io
Just checking in, sorry still no game work, but checked my github streak and I'm actually at the longest dev streak I've ever had, working on this website. I'm nearing release, mainly just need to buy a prepaid credit card so I can purchase a domain name, then I'll do another post here, for now, if anyone is interested in checking out: https://aqueous-basin.herokuapp.com/ , I would be greatly appreciative as I just mocked up the homepage this evening and haven't had feedback on it yet. As for the actual chatrooms, you'll notice the stated main room is pretty empty, this is as currently all the users chat in a founders room which will be made private on release.
Note: I have yet to get permission from Leaf if I may use that screenshot of streakclub, I will not release the site with that image unless I hear that it is ok. (also currently using gfycat's wordlists and need to email them)
Ok, so, I'm really sorry I'm posting this without any game work done, but I really want to show off. Try out the chat again at: https://aqueous-basin.herokuapp.com/streakclub
Here's a picture if you're too lazy:
Tiny bit of game planning:/ but more chat features...
Did a tiny bit of work on the game so I can post here, mostly been working on https://aqueous-basin.herokuapp.com/
Started work on an enemy that'll hopefully be kind of a jumpy thing, where it'll jump up to ledges and clamber over to follow you, so I first had to sort out how to actually get it to jump to a specific point, kind of confused why this actually works right now but it seems to mostly work...so yeah, bleh.
Started blocking together the base of hopefully the next enemy, and made it so plants respond to movement by any object with physics applied to it.
So I did work yesterday, and I'll request a late submission link, I did a bunch of debugging to sort out why I had broke my game, and found a small issue in the engine I use (fixed now) that had caused big, hard to find damage in my game.
Today I refactored the players collision component into something that all complex moving entities can use, with no reliance on other player code:D
Made game run again, found bug in engine.
So, haven't been posting here as I haven't done any work on the game, but I have done quite a lot on my little chat thing, its no longer really URL based, which is kinda sad, as it was kinda cool and unique, but now it has some nice things, like while still being anonymous, you can see when the person talking changes, give it a try: https://aqueous-basin-8995.herokuapp.com/chat
(btw, big bug right now, please don't add an ending slash when you type in the URL for that page.)
Fixed some bugs in HTA, also fixed the fact you could put any html right into that chat, but I kinda liked the formatting so I wrote a quick BBCode parser (just [img] [b] and [i] for now): https://aqueous-basin-8995.herokuapp.com/chat
I also made it fully persistent, acidentally deleted history a couple times but it should stay now.
Fixed a couple bugs, been bad, playing with dynamic websites using Nodejs (with a cool haxe library) instead of gamedev, I always get sucked into stuff like this, especially if I've never tried it before:/
Super super hacky html-only(literally refreshes the page every 3 seconds, and has to have logic so the scrolling doesn't reset when it does that ahahaha) anonymous chat client: https://aqueous-basin-8995.herokuapp.com/chat
Some more anemone work, looks like I may need to add to the physics sim, as currently I'm really needing to bend my use of programmable forces just to shape the anemone, and if I use too much it'll break down so I have to be subtle, think instead I need programmable gravity direction, to achieve similar results without breaking down.
Started working on an anemone creature, that will be made out of the Plant physics pieces, its interesting as it got me to use both the skinning functions in a way I hadn't thought of: apply a small force depending on position to give a rounded shape, while still acting like a normal plant pole, and a haxe feature I've never used: binding a value to a function, so I can pass extra info to the skinning function without Plant class needing to know about that info beforehand. Basically what it means is instead of passing a function that takes 4 arguments, all of which it is fed by the skinning code, I create a function with 5 parameters, and bind a value to it beforehand, and the skinning code still sees only 4 arguments, and doesn't complain.
Toyed around for under 10 minutes with plants:/
Added more options to skinning, see: the tigsource devlog for some hopefully interesting info, but if not heres a gif from it:
Played with networking a bit for fun, and messed with plant physics to try a less underwatery feeling one.
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That's a great intro to them @jellyislovely. I have a book (Game AI Pro) with a section on them that goes pretty in depth that has helped me, as well as studying how they are implemented in various engines (unreal, crytek).
As far as necessity @nico, the game I'm working on has a story, but it is meant to be very reactive to the player's actions. The characters are all doing things in real time, that can be interfered with to change the story, such as stopping a messenger from delivering an important message, or putting poison on a cup and ensuring that the cup is placed in front of the right person.
Essentially, it's a scripted set of events, but things can go wrong at any time. BTs are designed to handle when things go wrong very well. Oh, I can't get through this door because it's locked? Well I'll go find the key first. They aren't as easily controlled as FSM, nor as smart as planning systems. I see them as kind of a compromise - they still give most of the authorship to the designer rather than a sophisticated algorithm; while being able to adapt to various situations.
A perfect fit for my game then :)