Status Update 17/7/12 news - Apocalyptic

Update time! Finally! I should probably update a bit more often, however now I have a fair bit more done and I can say more than "I've added a few weapons... uh... that's it...".

I've made tons of little changes that don't really deserve to be talked about here, but overall they have added to the game's overall feel and polish. Obviously it's still rough around the edges though.

There are a few major things that I've worked on, some more finished than others. The first and I think the most important thing is the AI- if you can call something scripted in Construct an AI. Now, instead of a global AI controlling each NPC, they will have their own AI. While this is more primitive, it makes it slightly easier for me to incorporate different behaviours. For example, the Civilian/Survivor AI will only walk in a random fashion about designated town zones, hiding in buildings at night. However, the Soldier AI will be more complex, consisting of different "modes", such as patrolling to a certain point or simply defending an outpost. I'm also experimenting with line of sight- so walls can hide your and other NPC's presence. It might also restrict NPCs to only seeing what is in front of them, therefore allowing one to sneak up on them. As well as this, I have plans for a system that simulates sound, so zombies will be attracted to gunfire and such.

While only the basic Civilian, Soldier and Stalker (zombie) NPCs are implemented it all provides bases for other NPCs to be created. There will be many different types of NPCs, some common while others rarer but that's another story.

So here's a small summary of the major things I've done since the last update:

- Lot's a bug fixing on the AI- they are now a lot smoother and don't jutter when they find a hostile.
- Lot's of additions and improvements to the AI. I've added the basic survivor NPC, and each will eventually have a generated name, age, gender and possibly other stats. AI will soon also have a working line of sight.
- Improved zombie AI. Now it is capable of detecting my special method for "sound" and will attempt to tear the target to bits rather than just charge them :) No animations yet though.
- The first map is starting to come together, with roads, buildings and objects such as lightposts.
- The start of a new inventory system, which will be used for small items and weapons. The other minecraft-like menu will still be used, except as a Construction Menu- that is where building materials and constructions are stored and can be placed from.
- A few new items, such as foods and more constructables (such as a "Barricade Block").
- Lot's a graphical tweaks, such as a higher resolution, an ambient fog and a cartoonish outline that surrounds 3D objects.
- Probably some other stuff I forgot.

The last thing I want to say (sorry for the wall of text- but thanks for reading it if you did :D) is that I'm still unsure of what to do with releases and such. While I'm comfortable with posting screenshots, they only show some parts of the game and you can't get a feel from where the game is going from them. Now, I have a feeling I've dug my own grave- what if I release a demo and it's nothing like people expected? I think I should have had early versions all along... but it's too late now.

I'm still not going to release a simple early version... yet (must get some playable aspects there first), but what would people think about a short video of what the game looks like so far, or a literal World Demo version with the player disabled and just a camera allowing you to see how the game world works now? If people wanted that, I'd do it- I'm desperate for some extra thoughts on the game.