I apologize to anyone that may have been keeping tabs on this page for updates, but I have run into some major problems with my game's design. I have been working on designing a different game that will be able to function with much less external efforts (translate: artwork). It is all still up in the air at the moment so I can't really give much information about it, except that it will almost definitely be a space game as I feel that many of the assets can be generated in such an environment.

The engine itself has gotten along nicely though has come to a bit of a standstill waiting on what game mechanics need to be present in it. I have added full instancing and player/camera controls to the engine, but it amounts to little more than a fancy model viewer right now.

Unfortunately I had to move since my last post and thus I lost almost two weeks of time to work on this project. This makes this post feel quite underwhelming, as I have accomplished very little, but here's an update anyway.

I have completed the basic components of the Model, Texture, and Shader loading system. For the Shaders I am trying to use a system similar to the old effect system, this may be a horrible mistake, but we will see. The Scripts are pretty trivial to handle as resources and that will wait till I have something to script. As for the Sounds, they will be my next target after I get a minimal amount of work done on the Underworld development process.

• Game Manager
  • Window
  • Game State
    • Player
      • Inventory
      • Current Equipment Settings
      • Rendering Information
    • Actors
      • Rendering Information
      • Associated Scripts
    • Overworld
    • Underworld
    • Current Progress
  • Resource Manager
    • Models
    • Textures
    • Shaders
    • Scripts
    • Sounds

In the last week I've managed to hash together the main framework for the engine. I've decided to limit my development to DirectX 11. This may seem to be an odd choice, but seeing as I am using this project to push the boundaries of what I know already I figure I might as well do it at the limit of available technology. The engines structure will be (for now) fairly straight forward with their being very little need for complex additions that would serve only as performance enhancements.

So far I've implemented the Window with a rending thread that is just clearing the screen for now. I have integrated the scripting engine and started working on all the various pieces necessary for the Resource Manager to function. The game engine is using Lua as it's scripting engine.

I've settled on a grid based design (3 meter grid) for the underworld and the overworld is still up in the air as it may be quite difficult to create all the various "doodads" that I will need to make it feel complete.

Tomorrow I will start the design process to create a 3D adventure game. I endeavor to create a game with relatively minimal graphics (entirely due to my own inabilities to create the necessary artwork) while still creating an interesting and above all fun game experience. I do not expect this project to ever become a full-fledged released title, but one has to hold onto their dreams, right? I will give myself full time to this project for approximately six months. If at that time it seems the project is not working out, for whatever reasons, I will simply acknowledge that this task was beyond my current level of skill and move on with my life; however, if at the end of that time it appears to be a project that is within reach of a releasable product I will see it through. I will be documenting my process as I go, and ask anyone that wishes to help me with this task to contact me at thelogical1@gmail.com. I would appreciate any help especially with art, rigging, or animation. Wish me luck!