Grid, Story

I've made a little progress on the player classes. They most definitely aren't complete, however. I'm still trying to process all the networking stuff in my head, thinking of ways to put it all together in the most efficient and effective manner.

I've completed the grid helper code. If you haven't read my posts from the past and you're unfamiliar with such a thing, it's useful for collision testing. Say I was looking to place a node, and I'm dragging it around the map. The game dynamically tests it against other nodes and segments to see if the placement is valid. Without a grid, it would test every node and segment on the map. A grid allows me to test only the nodes and segments near the one I'm testing. When I place a segment and node, they are added to the grid squares they land on, so I can retrieve them later. Likewise, they are removed from the grid square when they disappear.

Grids are normally a simple concept, but they become problematic with segments, which pass through multiple squares. First off, I have to create an efficient and accurate way to test a line of squares. The method I'm using this time is simpler, and hopefully faster than the last one (which took days to debug). Second, When testing against nodes, I have to test not only the squares the segment passes through, but those around them as well in case a node overlaps the border.

The method I chose is two-step. Beforehand, I have a grid of bools (true/false) ready. The first step uses the line method to run through a line of grid squares and set each one and those surrounding it as true. The second step runs through the grid and tests the squares that are true. I wish there was a more efficient method, but I sure can't think of one. The efficiency of the method drops with longer lines. Fortunately, the lines will always be only a few pixels long with growing and shrinking segments. Only when dragging to create a new node will the lines ever be long, and that only tests once per update.

I've been thinking about the story and graphics. Before, I had two options in mind: A casual game without any meaning or story, and a foreign planet setting, the segments being domed tunnels with breathable air for the people building them. Unfortunately, I wasn't excited about either of those.

Neither one fit the atmosphere I'd imagined. I'd imagined a mystical piano melody that would play in the background, maintaining a slightly eerie ambience. The coloring would be dim and bluish. There'd be some ambient sound as well, both to soothe and to make it more immersive. Also, something I just thought up, there'd be faint clouds when the player zooms out.

I also wanted the player to care about the little "people" in his routes. That was possible with the space-oriented version, but it was unoriginal, and therefore easily taken for granted. Recently, I've thought up a new idea. The player is a creature, the segments arms, and the nodes joints. When a segment is severed, it is literally cut from the creature's body. I'm still thinking about the people, however. Maybe symbiotic creatures that help the creature to grow and receive protection in return? I like that idea.

Maybe you'd hear an ambient heartbeat when you're near the parent nodes. And maybe the segments' widths would fluctuate with the beat. And maybe they would shake in pain when one is severed?

Lastly, there's the story. I have nothing concrete in mind, but I do like the idea that the creature is unsure of his identity. Either he thinks he's the only one of his kind (until he meets another), or he's the only one that can think for himself while his opponents grow in a mindless pattern. If I make an expansion or a sequel with actual AI, maybe the story could be expounded upon.

Questions? Suggestions?

clevceo