Letters from Circe’s Island: Dev Log #6

Letters From Circe's Island #6: Programming

Being a heavy task at any stage of game development, programming takes up a large portion of my time and Aiaia is using a large amount of created code. For me being the main developer on the team officially, the kerfuffle that occurred with the CS shenanigans caused quite a stir in my department. But luckily, we have access to some great resources that have been a big help in pushing Aiaia’s code and gameplay to its fullest.  Above are some videos demonstrating some of the work done in Aiaia on the programming end. 

Map transitions
 - Allows the player to enter into a door trigger, which then switches the camera to the next area allowing seamless flow between each space in the level.

Interact into Dialogue
-Aiaia being a visual novel platformer requires that dialogue element to be successful.  With the code the team has created we can allow the player to see a more detailed model of themself and whoever they are speaking with as well as activating this dialogue when the player interacts with the character. With the event management system that is being developed, dialogue will only get better. 

Inventory
-While still working on the UI, we've been able to get in the code to allow tracking for the items and herbs players pick up during their gameplay.  This will combine into our crafting system, which will allow players to create different types of potions to help them during their adventures as Circe.

Enemy movement/AI
- Enemies are set up to be in four different states at any time, allowing them to patrol an area and upon seeing the player switch into chasing after them. With a prefab set up recently, enemies will be quite easy to just place into a scene or change depending on the type of enemy. 

Map
 -Allowing the player to know where they are going is quite a hassle in some games, though I can say for certain Aiaia won't have that issue. With a pop-up map that displays the players location, we ensure someone won't get lost. 


More to come…



These are just a few things that we’ve worked on so far. With so many things still being created we are moving forward towards the end of the 75% sprint. For me, my focus is on creating an event management system that will streamline some of the processes in allowing them to be more efficient and less prone to breaking, while also allowing management of dialogue and checks before the story moves forward. With so many things left to do before showcase, Aiaia is chugging along, and I cannot be more grateful to be working with such talented individuals.