On the one hand, things are coming along smoothly. I really like some of the recent changes to the program and what they've done to shape up the game. With that said, though, I've run into some problems.
Some systems and bug-fixes that had previously been in the program are now gone. I know at one point I had, on accident, erased a current copy of what I had been working on. I had a backup that was only a few days old, and I didn't think I had missed that much. I am now discovering that a few important things are missing.
I've fixed some of these things today while doing a playtest. Somehow, the resting system was incomplete (even though I had finished it previously). It still needs a few tweaks, but it's almost back to where it was.
A few glitches in the first dungeon area are rearing their ugly head again. Things I had fixed already (missing walls, problems with items, etc).
What's really weird, though, is that the spellcasting system seems to have some issues it didn't previously have. I think that has to do with the system-wide implementations I did recently. I will need to look into it, but there are definitely some things that need to be addressed (characters using the wrong mana pool to cast spells, not spending mana when casting spells, etc).
So...yeah...not the best day in the development of the project. I'll get it all sorted out. I had it working at one time, after all, so it's really just a matter of tracking down what's going on and hammering the code back into place.
This update is just to serve as a placeholder to let you know that the game is still progressing...if you call taking a few steps forward and a few steps back progress. Still, I have every confidence it will all work out in the end.
I'm enjoying reading your progress. I got the link here from the CRPGAddict's blog. He's doing Quest for Glory now, but I don't want to read any of it in fear of getting spoilers!
ReplyDeleteI too am a fellow coder that started a CRPG project (although yours is much further along than mine). If you get to the point of needing a beta tester (especially one that can run in debug mode), then please let me know.
Also, I highly recommend setting up a subversion system. I did for several reasons:
ReplyDeleteMy SVN server is on a separate computer, so of my development computer crashes I have an automatic backup.
I can track my changes as I go - logs new features and all changes that had to be made for that feature.
Also I can do major changes to the code in my working copy (such as when you went to a OOP design), and at any point I can easily revert my changes if they aren't working out or commit them if they do. Even after committing though I have a log of all code changes to undo bad things.
Your first job will use SVN (or similar) so it will be good to learn anyways. If they have multiple coders on a single project and they aren't using it -- run!
Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely look into that at some point in the future when I have time to research it. I've seen it used for some other projects, but I don't know much about it.
ReplyDelete