I was beginning to get frustrated with the AI I programmed. If you were quick enough to dodge them, they tried to figure out where you were but it almost always failed. Since the bots couldn't find their way out of a paper bag, I decided to put together AI path nodes.
The idea is simple really, create a node in each place a path would travel. Finding the fastest path between point A and point B proved to be difficult, but I figured it out. Now I can summon a bot from anywhere in the map and he will make his way over to me. This has big implications. I can have bots show up when you trip a motion sensor or something in single player, or make a level where you have to hold down a building while bots swarm you. Or have teams of bots that attack each other from far away... etc.
The other thing that has been consuming my time is my map editor. I realized that I had to struggle to get things done switching between notepad and the editor to make the entire map. Lots of things were half assed and put together simply so I could continue working on the actual game. But now I've revamped various parts of the editor to make creating much less of a problem.
I can enter and exit the editor at any time with a hotkey. Then I can add any sprite, object, spawnpoint, pickup, or anything else I want in real time. I can also edit all the properties of the placed entities, which was a hassle before. The tiles can be manipulated in real time as well. The way I have the editor set up means I can play through the level and change any problem that comes up right away.
I'll keep you posted.
Well, seems nice, it would improve single player.
Putting time into spending less time for better results later - good move.
I must say i do enjoy these updates, its a good mix between technical and progress on the actual game. Keep up the good work!