Since the last update, I’ve been working on several tools that will help speed up the game’s production. My most recent tool is something that will help me with art and level design. It’s a Minecraft-like block based construction tool. Basically, I can create procedural structures out of a set of textured blocks. This first point wasn’t hard. I have experience with procedural generation, as you may know, so it took me all of a day to implement a basic block system. The hard part was adding details to the blocks so that they wouldn’t appear flat and boring.
- This will supplement actual modeled props, and will be used mostly for generic shapes, platforms, and planning.
- It isn’t a feature of gameplay as in Minecraft. This is for internal use.
Here is the result. Keep in mind that the game is still an alpha and the art is not finalized.
In the above screenshot, we have a cluster of wooden blocks with a thick trim around each block, with small cubes at the inner joints that cover up some gaps. The trim expands to surround the structure as blocks are added to it.
Here, I quickly expanded the cluster from the first image into something that vaguely resembles a shack. Right now the only texture is “wood”, and there is only a basic set of trim objects. The next phase is to add some variety so that I have the materials to create complex structures. Continue reading “Building Blocks”