Game Center Support in DragCore

     I wanted DragCore to be the first game where I implement things like achievements and leaderboards. These social features could greatly increase it's popularity and longevity. Achievements provide some incentive and reward for playing and the leaderboards can drive players to play more or introduce the game to friends. My future games will have achievements too. I even have plans for some way of implementing leaderboards in my upcoming RPG.

     I found plugins that totaled in cost at about $25, a steal when you consider Prime31 offers the plugins I require for $75 each. It's a good thing I did my research before purchasing that. The Unity asset store is really amazing during moments like this. Now I can easily implement Google Game Services for Android and Game Center for iOS courtesy of Plato Evolved and blaQkSheep.com.

Finding Sounds for DragCore

     I need to start putting sounds into DragCore soon. In normal circumstances this would be done earlier, but I'm working alone on this project and I can't make music at all. I also don't have a good microphone for foley art or software for making sound effects/music that I can use to make audio files. It's faster to work this way. I just find public domain stuff and edit them for my needs in Audacity. For future games, I'll be teaming up with others (don't know who yet) for audio creation.

    I'm thinking about using a lot of things from TriGrid as a starting place. I know new sounds I'll need are beeps, a power down sound, and some celebratory tunes. For background music, I want to find some new public domain stuff. Just a track or two that fits the theme and I'll find a way to make it loop nicely.

3D Modeling: A Discipline of it's Own

     Having a friend of mine show me what he puts into his 3D modeling projects has shown me what I'll be in for once I start making 3D games. In my 3D modeling class we've used 3DS Max to create simple things like rooms, dressers, and furniture. Another friend warned me that just one modelling class would be nowhere near enough to teach me the basics of everything that goes into making interactive 3D objects for game worlds. I feel like I'd be in over my head with this stuff when I haven't even started on textures, animation, and collision detection yet!

     It seems to me that in order to master this art form I'd need lots of dedicated practice. I don't think I can do that. My plate is full already with all the things I'm balancing. If I ever get into using 3D assets I plan to hire dedicated people to do it. I finally completely understand why it takes a hundred people years to make a game. Right now I intend to learn the concepts and terminology in order to best direct such people. It's a good thing I have a grasp on 2D art and conveying ideas, because I think that will be how I best communicate and illustrate my intentions to a team.

DragCore Loading Screens

     DragCore tends to freeze for a second or two when switching scenes. I think it has to do with the objects being created on the spot. I want to try new ways to cover up the lag. I'm debating how they should be, a loading image obstructing the scene before the freeze happens, loading a nearly empty scene with  load image then use a global variable to decide the next scene to load, or having some "please wait" text or symbol pop up in a corner.

     I think this is something to play around with near the end once I get a feel for how long loading takes when all the game's assets are ready and working together. I also kind of want to figure out how loading bars work. I have no clue how the measure loading completeness. It might even be based on expected load time, which I think depends on RAM. It's a complex thing and I think I should hold off on that for now though. DragCore is behind schedule and I want to finish what I started first.