|
IronManBeta -> (5/7/2003 12:58:44 AM)
|
It seems like no time at all has gone by since Christmas and yet the grass is suddenly green and the birds are singing. I interpret that to mean that I must have been having fun doing this game because the time sure flew by! I have been in death march mode since about then to get this thing finished.
I can report that there has been huge progress on several fronts but I feel a bit like a mountain climber right now. I work and work and finally reach the peak only to find once I am there that there are further peaks that were hidden from view to scale next. The amount of work is simply staggering to do a really thorough job and then have it all run perfectly. The more we do, the more we want to do.
I finally turned on the middle layer of the AI a few days ago and was promptly taken apart by a very aggressive Soviet tank regiment. Sheesh! There were countless little things to quibble about (and I'll fix them) but it was a rush to experience. Ross and David seem happy with the progress so far and are chafing to finish it up, but Matrix does not do half-baked games and this will not be the first!
Did you ever see the movey called the "Money Pit"? Shelly Long and a couple of other name actors were characters that bought a decrepit old mansion and were fixing it up. The movie was about their trials and tribulations. There was a goofball workman who replied to every estimate of time to completion with "two weeks" no matter how big or small the task. I feel a bit like that except that it has been "two months" all along. Last September I thought I might be two months away from release. Today I feel like it might be just another two months. Who knows? FWIW my list of uncompleted functionality is pretty short right now. The big thing will be to integrate the efforts of the art and scenario guys, to rewrite the parts of the program that the testers say have to be rewritten, and then get the documentation, etc done. Lots of fun.
As stated from the beginning, there will be life after version 1. At some point we will be happy with what we have and release it, but there will be additional maps and forces and scenarios, as well as constant refinement to the engine for a long time to come.
Back to coding. I need to make the AI vs AI resolution look a little better (enforce more of a 'look but don't touch' idea) while the game is running. Right now virtually everything is hidden and the onlooker can't really get an idea of what is going on! It takes a lot of careful work to open it back up just the right way though so that alone should be good for several hours of tinkering.
Cheers all, Rob.
|
|
|
|
