Programming is hard - Aqeel's devlog

Overview

So basically, programming is hard. But that's ok. This week I tried to add a couple new features. They all kinda work but not really. It's still a work in progress. Above all there is one issue that has caused me more sleep deprivation than I'd like to admit. But we will get to that. Then we will cover what the next steps are.

Haunting Bar

The main issue is getting the bar to actually increase or deplete when I want it to. The logic seems sound but apparently it's gunna take a little more time. Aside from the logic, determining a good look and place for the bar is important. I think placing the asset at the top of the screen would be the best place, whether that be top left or middle I'm not sure. For now since there is no other UI the top middle is fine. This asset will certainly have to be replace later on since it quite literally, looks terrible since it's so stretched, but for now it will get the job done.

Interactions

The script for this one is pretty simple. You throw out a raycast and check if it collides with an object in a close enough range, you can press e to interact with that object. It uses an interface that you can extend in other programs. This interface requires the interact() function. So basically every object that extends this interface has it's own behavior that is stores for an interaction. Sounds good right? It doesn't work. Ok that's not completely true it kinda works. As of right now I'm not sure what the problem is but I have some dedicated time soon to fix this code.

Menu

I added some sliders to the settings menu that will be tied to the main volume and music in the game. As of right now we don't have volume but we plan to have music and different sound effects throughout the game.

And now it's time for the biggest headache throughout this whole project!!! (This will just be me complaining)

gitignore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the very start of project I created the github repo and I generated a .gitignore for our project. I used a site called toptal which I had used in the past and I has seen others recommend. All is fine until we actually start to push and pull from the repo. We encountered linking errors on assets, scripts, materials, etc. At first I had no idea what was going on, but I checked the gitignore anyways. After finding nothing and combing through the github commits, I realized some meta files were not being detected. I then went on a multiweek quarrel with the gitignore. Trying to update it so that it would work until last night, when I finally decided to scrap it all and reuse one from a game I had built before. Long story short, it works! And I'm never using toptal again.

What's next?

As a group, we hope to have a playable demo where you guys can walk around and interact with objects, see some dialogues and reactions, and enjoy the environment. Individually, these are what I want to achieve:

- Iron out current bugs

- Make interactions for each required objects. Some of these include the dialogue box's, light flickering, music switching, etc. This will be my main focus for the next week as there is quite a bit to do.

- Assemble assets in unity and some misc stuff.

I'm excited to show off our hard work. See everyone next week!