Change Log

• Crafting re-implemented
• Implemented 'Quit Game' option
• Changed app data folder to Project_Explore
• Slowed down the day/night cycle
• Quitting a world without saving will delete the worlds folder
• The stone axe can now harvest wood from trees when the user holds the Interaction Key
• Minor performance improvements
• Added item: Stick
• Added crafting recipe: Stick
• Added crafting recipe: Wood Foundation
• Added crafting recipe: Wood Wall
• Added crafting recipe: Wood Ceiling
• Added crafting recipe: Large Crate

What's up with the update?

It has taken a while to figure out exactly what the next step was in the development of the preview build. I have been wanting to add more functionality/stability for a while now but it always seems like there are more important steps to be taken else where. I have finally cleaned up enough of the project that I am starting to see a bit of the end intent. Quitting wasn't available before and that seemed like an obvious problem to address, especially considering the whole point of this build is to check out new features really quickly. It is probably quite annoying to have to exit out the window each time you start a new world. The problem with implementing quitting was that there were so many new features and backend code that I have wrote since the last time quitting was an option. A lot goes into clearing memory. There are surfaces to clear, data structures, and buffers all that need to be deleted as to avoid a memory leak.

Crafting re-implemented?

Yes, re-implemented. You see... I disabled it a while ago whilst the project was undergoing some intense reworking. That happened over 6 months ago so when I returned to fix what I had disabled, some of the code was no longer relevant and actually had to be re-written all together. It works now for the most part although it definitely is lacking polish at the moment. I also am not sure whether or not the page system is functional but I will make sure to test it when I have more crafting recipes implemented.

Performance improvements

Since the beginning of this games development optimization has been very important to me. I want this game to run on most potatos. I have cleaned up so much of the code at this point that I rarely can find ways to improve the games performance aside from doing a full compile which tends to lead to incompatibilities which is why I'm avoiding it for now. Often I see a way to speed up a section of code but at the cost of it running slower under certain circumstances. It is a constant struggle of, "will this slow it down more or less for the average user?" I can't really predict how players will play or handle the game beyond what I know of my own behaviour.

I missed these long patch notes

Many moons have passed since I wrote a long post like this. It's not because I'm lazy or don't care enough. It is because I am exhausted from my other project. I want to show you how much I passion I have for this project and it's hard to do that when I don't have enough energy to write out a few paragraphs. Hopefully this update alongside this post conveys my interest in this games development.

[ 2016-08-04 15:49:52 CET ] [ Original post ]