SCREENSHOTS

I Spy - March 4, 2004

This shows the second phase of the visibility engine implementation. The map is actively visualized by all pods on the map at all times. This also takes line-of-sight into acount. In this shot, we see two scout pods circling the map as they explore the unknown. They do this automatically if you let them roam (you can also tell them to hold still). You can also see the line-of-sight very clearly in this shot.

I Can See! - February 22, 2004

This shows the new visibility engine with some basic interaction. The map has a fog of war when the game starts and can be lifted only by sending out scouts into the darkness. As you can see, the tile system is really starting to show it's primitive design. We'll have to make some fancier graphics in the future so that tiles blend better.

Go, Build Ye A Fort - February 16, 2004

Build Base and Barricade missions have now been programmed in redimentary form (actually the base building works great, the barricade AI needs a little fine tuning). This also implies that the necessary game features to support them (Homogenization Bonus specials and bonuses) are done or close to being done.

To demonstrate these new abilities, here are some screenshots from a staged campaign. First, shapes were bought from the starting Energy Bank. Then shapes were assembled into pods for different tasks. Only Cubes can build bases, so a large pod of cubes was assembled (the more you have in the pod, the faster you can build the base) shown here as "JiffyPop" (10 shapes). There are two single-shape pods of Spheres, which are fast, to be designated as Harvesting pods. And also 5 other pods made of Pyramids were constructed, since only homogenized Pyramid-based pods can build barricades (again, the more homogenized shapes in the pod, the faster it can be built).

This rabble of pods were all assigned missions of either Base Building, Harvesting, or Barricading in the local area. The objectives: 1) Secure the home territory. 2) Isolate the double-well to the lower right of the home base by barricades to protect it from foreign invaders. 3) Harvest energy coming from the two wells. 4) Build a new remote base closer to the wells for faster harvesting (less distance to walk back to base).

All these orders were issued at the very start of Turn 1 as seen in the first screenshot. In the second, We see all pods rushing off towards their goals: The "10 pod" to it's remote base construction site, the harvesters off towards juicy energy tabs, and the barricaders to their individual wall segment starting points. In the third shot, the harvesters have already begun ferrying energy tabs back and forth between the well area and home base. The base building pod has begun construction as well as the barricaders. In the final shot, the wall is nearly complete thanks to the cooperation of the 5 barricading pods and the base is also complete. The harvesters can now use it as a drop-off point instead of marching all the way back to the original home base.