Mid Quarter Update

It’s hard to get out of the planning phase. I’ve thought, rethought, and re-re-thought the idea of taking a basic game level and adding verbs to a skeleton model. The scope of the project has stayed the same since it offers a basic goal to complete and a large amount to expand upon. To a certain level I have a better description of what I need to do and have performed the most of the necessary functions in previous projects. However, I still don’t have experience with setting up my dynamic environment, handling an articulated figure, using more a advanced collision detection method than box collision, or using Benzie curves to make my quaternion rotations look smoother. Most of this material is being covered and turned in within a week, so I still give myself four weeks to get past those hurdles.
The big problem I came across was working with Cocoa and trying to setup a windowing system and a reliable timer. I decided it’s best to stick with C++ and I solved my timer problems rather shortly. After the rigid body dynamics assignment is complete the software-design of the project will be set and coding will start. A prototype will be made that performs all verbs, but won’t use the proper model. Then, after another assignment, the model will be implemented. From there the sky’s the limit, but only after everything works perfectly.
Everything is to schedule otherwise.

Project Proposal

One of the great elements of a game is how it feels with the controls. These days it involves lots of blending between animations, but also a lot of procedural actions like wall jumps, hanging, etc. So inspired by this wonderful Gamasutra article on game feel (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2322/game_feel_the_secret_ingredient.php) I have decided to do a “garden level” similar to Miyamoto’s incarnations with previous Mario games with my protagonist that I’ve been developing. The level will use a base stick model to perform the necessary verbs a full model could use in the future. My verbs would include: running, jumping, wall jumping, a rocket burst (important to the game design), a wall cling, and maybe even some slope running if I get that far. The idea is to develop the garden as far as I can in a frustum perspective so that I can maintain a depth of field in what will play as a 2D title.

Now to the technical details:
The level is likely to be hard-coded. This is since I am unsure of how exactly the messaging for each action will work.

The model is likely to be hard-coded. This is because I have no model experience.

The camera will initially be fixed, but if time allows, will zoom more onto the avatar to see the animations more clearly.

Finally I wish to program the system using Objective-C and Cocoa. This is so I can create an executable in OSX without using the command line to run it.