Nov 16, 2012

It's all about architecture

Yesterday i could throw away some hours in developing Alone in Space. The game core engine is created, even if it's still empty. I designed it to be used in multiplayer / solo. The multiplayer management is not handled yet, i'll take care of that later but the actual structure makes it possible to handle it.

I also worked on the universe generation. Yeah, generative content is sweet. It gives some depth to a game by getting some randomness. The global generator structure is here, ready to be used. For now, it can generate all kind of visions in the game :
  • Zones
  • Regions
  • Sectors
  • And the galaxy itself as well
Natural resource repartition is still fixed but some random will show up later. This will make the exploration more interesting for the player : will i find an awesome gold mine of just another junk world?


If you're discovering this project, let me introduce the concept of "vision" in Alone in Space. First, the game takes place in space. That's huge. And barely impossible to represent in one simple scene. So i decided to cut the gameplay in visions. Each vision is a representation of space at a different zoom level :
Zone < Region < Sector < Galaxy
The galaxy is separated in sectors. Each sector contains regions. Each region contains zones. That's like russian dolls. Each vision gives different possibilities, according to the zoom level :
  • In Zone vision, you will build structures, harvest natural resources, create advanced components
  • In Region vision, you will explore and colonize new Zones
  • In Sector vision, you will explore planets, asteroïds (represented by Regions)...
  • In the Galaxy vision, you will explore deep space, find new sectors, worm holes, black holes...
Now that "containers" can be generated, i'll be able to go forward and  create the Zone management with :
  • Building structures
  • Harvesting natural resources
  • Creating advanced components
  • Handling catastrophies

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