Now that my program has distance-based polygon reduction, I need the terrain to change whenever the user moves around. If they are on the east side of a mountain, the area nearby should be detailed, and everything else should be more simplified. If they move to the west side of the mountain, the detail should appear there instead of on the east side. To set this up, my program comes up with a set of polygons optimized for viewing near a given location.
The atmosphere here is quite frolicsome. We have been galavanting about, giggling and cheering. I’m quite giddy right now, so I hope I haven’t written anything that might sound silly later…
Battle begins soon. The entire D&D group is meeting here today, where we will watch the game while more or less holding our breath for four hours.
They have to win. They just have to.
A photoshop I did some time ago. I was sorting through some old files and found it. It actually made me laugh when I saw it. I’d expunged the original sign text ages ago, so I don’t know what her message was. I’d give it even money on it being something along the lines of Bush being not entirely dissimilar to the facist german leadership of the early 1940’s. Just a guess.
Work continues on the Terrain Engine.
As I mentioned in previous updates, the terrain uses fewer polygons in flat areas and more in uneven areas. This is nice, but we can still do more. For example, Polygon density is the same all over the terrain. A better idea is to have it be more agressive in removing polygons in the distance. Stuff that is far away could be much simpler. Let’s see:
We’re having a Superbowl party this weekend. For the most part it will be the members of our regular D&D group. In preperation for this I went ahead and ordered cable TV. I don’t mind watching games in fuzzyvision, but I imagine most people – such as our guests – have more discriminating standards.
Today the cable guys hooked me up and I got my first taste of cable TV in five years. I wondered if the long break from television would make the thing seem more new and alluring. My reaction? Meh. I obviously haven’t missed much. I looped through the channels once and not a single thing caught my eye. I can’t believe I spent my teenage years watching this stuff.
I’m going to cancel it. But not until the Superbowl is over. :)
The word “emergent” was a big gaming industry buzzword a few years ago. Like all buzzwords, it was eventually abused until it had lost most of its meaning, and then discarded. The original intention was to denote systems where AI had actual emergent properties. That is, a game that displayed AI with behaviors and abilities not specifically written by the game’s creators. This was a hot item to have, and pretty soon everyone claimed to have it. The word seems to be used to mean “good AI” now, which is entirely incorrect.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Emergent Gameplay”
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T w e n t y S i d e d
