Double whammy update!
Lead indicators
From the very first prototype, it's been difficult to hit small moving targets (like heads). For a while I tried setting the player speed super high, which mostly worked, but you still had to lead your targets. Finally I buckled down and implemented lead indicators, which show you exactly where to shoot. You can see it proceeding ahead of the minion in this gif:
It's pretty satisfying to aim out into empty space and see everything line up as you fly toward the target.
That progress bar and "DETECTED" warning are part of the new sensor system. If you linger too long in an area claimed by the enemy, they'll get alerted of your exact location.
Glitches
I keep encountering glitches which make the game look way cooler. I would like to find a way to incorporate a glitchy aesthetic into the game somehow.
AI player
This still needs a ton of work, but I'm making progress. The navigation graph is pretty much done, and I'm now able to display what the bot is seeing:
I'm currently using two behavior trees running in parallel, one high-level and one low-level, plus a super-low-level system responsible for aiming and shooting.
Level design envy
I imported a cool map somebody made for Quake 3, just to see what it would look like. Now I kind of want to hire the guy:
New test map
For now though, I have a new, non-copyright-infringing test map in the works.
Blender SSAO
Speaking of level design, someone on the stream the other day told me that Blender now supports SSAO in the editor view. Hit "N" in the 3D view to open the property pane, then turn on ambient occlusion:
Control points
I wanted to imbue the sensor mechanic with more utility and depth, so I added "control points". Every 60 seconds, you receive a credit bonus based on the number of control points within range of your sensors. They look like this:
They're very unassuming, and there are no attendant UI elements, so right now they're pretty confusing. I'll eventually think of a good way to make them more obvious.
This shot also shows the new compass, which is less cool but more functional. The red and blue triangles point toward the respective spawn points of each team. I kind of miss the old compass rose though. We'll see if this one sticks around.