DevNotes #2 | Almost ready for first internal test

New UI for dialogues 💬

As with every rework, it has led to other redesigns, such as a complete overhaul of the input system. In most of video games, the same input often has different contextual uses. For example, pressing the 'W' key in the menu moves up the selected UI component, while pressing the same key outside the menus moves the character forward. As the number of game contexts increases with the addition of more sub-activities (driving, fishing, discussing, etc.), a cleaner solution was needed to manage the consequences of pressing a button. a way to organize the source code so input interpretation can be easily switched. For example, when the player is loaded into the game, the gameplay input logic is active, so pressing the left click throws a jab. However, when the player starts a dialogue, the dialogue input logic is loaded, making the left click skip the current dialogue line. This implementation took me a while to set up, but I'm sure it will save me headaches in the future. This new system also lays the groundwork for supporting Joy-Cons in the near future.

New identity card 🛂

The UX of controlling ped's identity has been reworked. I've decided to integrate ID Cards as an interactive 3D object. You'll be able to hover fields on the card such as the first name, last name, birthday, ethnicity, ... Clicking on them will ask directly a question to the ped controlled to verify the information and ensure it's not fake. There's more to say about this feature, but to avoid spoilers, I'll stop here 😢.

Woman finally added 🙋‍♀️

I finally managed to motivate myself to finalize the female model. I've used the male model as a base for it, which saved me a lot of time in designing it. Honorable mention to my friend Alexis, who advised me to use the same rig as the male model to reuse the same animations for both male and female models. The time saved by such advice is tremendous, thank you again Alexis ❤️

New props 3d models 📱

To complete the mechanic of "Checking Ped Pockets" feature, I've finally added new props models for drugs (weed, hash and MDMA). A walkie-talkie has been also added in the game. But I'll explain its purpose in the next DevNote.

Peds height 📏

Peds' height now directly impacts their scale in-game. In the first draft, I decided to randomize peds heights. But the result gave me a strange visual effect. The reason is that, in real life, the distribution of people's height respects the gaussian law, which wasn't the case with my approach of height fully randomized. So I've implemented a fake normal height distribution by using the Box-Muller transform formula. The result is much more immersive, even if it it seems like a minor detail.

New animations 🤸‍♂️

I've also added discussion animations for when peds talk to each other in the waiting queue, making the world feel more alive. The addition of these animations, along with bystanders hanging around in the street, has helped create a real atmosphere. Sometimes, I just want to leave the game running, listen to lofi, and watch them walk around and chat. A wider range of animations would be nice, but that'll have to wait until the polish stage of development.

Ambient sound 🔊

The first pass on in-game audio has been made. I've created two initial drafts of the peds' voices, and the second proposal was more promising. The first approach was similar to "Animal Crossing" voices, but the main problem was that the sounds became unbearable when a crowd of 20 peds started talking at the same time in the queue. So, my second approach is more similar to Simlish in "The Sims". The fact that they speak real words helps create a hubbub effect when you're near a crowd of peds talking. I like the current solution, but due to time constraints, they only pronounce 15 words in a loop. I need more time to refine the language, but it already sounds pretty good. I hope to bring you more updates on this subject in the next DevNote.

That’s all for this DevNote, progress has been exciting, but my main focus now is preparing for the first internal tests. There’s still plenty to do, but those steps brings the game closer to a solid first playable version. Until next time, take care ☀️