PAX East 2011, Day 1, sort of…
I wanted to post all the pictures and metrics and stuff from today’s PAX booth #1133 insanity, but I figured it was better to spend I-should-be-sleeping-time to fix all the bugs and usability issues I noted during the playtests, so instead of fun pictures (although the Fire Hose guys posted some) and stats, you get a bzr changelog since GDC:
------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1326 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Fri 2011-03-11 21:50:32 -0800 message: prevent escape from auto connect modified: spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1325 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Fri 2011-03-11 21:43:52 -0800 message: - chooser mucking - reduce priority on briefcase - fix ambassador in different group but close bug - "You are the Sniper." - fix straight arm bug - wasn't clearing that cycle group - yes/no text modified: spyparty/project/spyparty/code/chooser.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/briefcase/briefcase.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/bug_ambassador/bug_ambassador.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/inspect_statues/inspect_statues.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/sniper_client.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1324 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Fri 2011-03-11 20:33:14 -0800 message: exit -> quit practice modified: spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1323 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Fri 2011-03-11 20:28:43 -0800 message: - help text under all titles, ugly - fix laser in practice after playing - don't display game type if only one - finished -> continue... modified: spyparty/project/spyparty/code/chooser.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spy_server.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.h spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty_lobby.cpp ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1322 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Fri 2011-03-11 19:57:03 -0800 message: clear pathing info for dynamic objects (like briefcase) when deactivating level modified: spyparty/project/spyparty/code/level.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/object_system/subsystems/pathing/pathing.h ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1321 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Thu 2011-03-10 21:33:51 -0800 message: - fix chooser stuff - check into lookat bug - fix server to not freak quite as much added: spyparty/project/spyparty/content/levels/ballroom-newb.png modified: spyparty/notes/marketing.txt spyparty/notes/sound.txt spyparty/project/spyparty/code/chooser.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/object_system/subsystems/animation/animation.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/object_system/subsystems/animation/animation_cal3dutils.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/serving/serving.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/content/levels/ballroom-newb.prop spyparty/worklog.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1320 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Wed 2011-03-09 17:10:40 -0800 message: display help text in chooser modified: spyparty/project/spyparty/code/chooser.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.h spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty_lobby.cpp spyparty/worklog.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1319 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Wed 2011-03-09 16:51:23 -0800 message: - asserts in output format for msvc - unify HandleAttach and HandleDetach, hopefully floating be gone - s/casted/cast/g; - don't crash in various places if not enough chars - last sip event - if ai spy picks up briefcase, set correct state modified: spyparty/lib/checkerlib/misc/checkerassert.cpp spyparty/notes/design.txt spyparty/project/spyparty/code/character.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/character.h spyparty/project/spyparty/code/chooser.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/object_system/subsystems/animation/animation.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/object_system/subsystems/animation/animation.h spyparty/project/spyparty/code/round_events.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/bookcase/bookcase.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/briefcase/briefcase.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/bug_ambassador/bug_ambassador.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/double_agent/double_agent.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/drinks/drinks.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/pedestal/pedestal.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/situations/seduction/seduction.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spy_server.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp spyparty/worklog.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1318 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Wed 2011-03-09 14:53:58 -0800 message: directly attach objects to hardpoints to avoid floating stuff modified: spyparty/notes/design.txt spyparty/project/spyparty/code/character.cpp spyparty/project/spyparty/source_content/maya/objects/pedestal.mb spyparty/worklog.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ revno: 1317 committer: Chris Hecker branch nick: spyparty timestamp: Mon 2011-03-07 16:41:47 -0800 message: replace Disconnect with Quit on game menu if autoplaying modified: spyparty/project/spyparty/code/spyparty.cpp spyparty/worklog.txt
You need sleep, I didn’t understand a thing… or that’s just me xD.
Today was a hell of a lot of fun, Spy Party was one of the highlights. I’ll definitely see you again tomorrow!
Awesome, thanks! I love it when people come back to play again, since the game is really different as you play more. The first game is kind of overwhelming and confusing, but you’ll be surprised how quickly you adjust to processing all the info as the Sniper, and walking smoothly as the Spy. Then the real skills start to matter. :)
Sorry for the lines, I will set up multiple stations at pax west this year!
Hello Chris,
Spy Party is looking to be one of the best indie games out there!
I am a fellow game developer starting to work on a new project, which will also involve animated characters. I am curious – what do you use for character animation? (besides your own IK code)? Do you just load animated characters from something like an FBX file? If so, where do you get the animations from? A contractor? Or do you animate them yourself in Maya? Or something else? Would you please mind sharing your own opinion on what would be the easiest way to get some animated characters in a game? I need just a bunch of people walking on a sidewalk in my game (I’m just prototyping at this stage). I will render using either OpenGL or DirectX.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and keep up the awesome work!
Jakub
I use Maya with a hacked up and modified version of an open source animation library called cal3d. I’m going to replace cal3d at some point in the next couple months, but I’ll probably still use their exporters and file formats since I’ve modified them to my tastes. I do it all myself right now, but will hire an artist later this year, probably.
Getting animated characters into your game is more complicated than it should be. I’m hoping we can put the Sims assets we used for Indie Game Jam 3 online at some point for non-commercial use, since I think that would help people explore game designs that involve people doing normal stuff.
I’m going to probably open source some of my assets and code to encourage people to make games with normal people in them, but it’s all in flux right now, so it’s too early.
Weird to see someone else using bazaar. We’ve been using it a little over 2 years now, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone outside of us and the Canonical world using it up until now.
I love bazaar. I’ve got an article I’m writing on what all these DVCSes need to change to work better for games, but bazaar seems like the best of the big three (git, hg, bzr), and I’m pretty happy with it.