Month: March 2018

Boss Golf updated to Alpha 0.53!

Boss Golf updated to Alpha 0.53!

by Gus Martin ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello folks!

After much wrestling with the physics system in Unity, Boss Golf alpha has been updated to version 0.53!

fivepointthreefeature

Features included in this version:

  • Improvement on the grass shader
  • Scaled the entire world for better physics/effects/everything. Now each ingame square is about 10 yards long. As a result, your holes will take over much more space in the game world. (Previously, they were about 25 yards long)
  • Day/Night color variation on the lighting
  • Physics adjustments
  • Improvements on the AI
  • New terrain shader (temporary!)

And as for bugs:

  • Landscaper will now update the terrain after placing it. It had stopped doing so thanks to the division of the meshes
  • Fixed the angles for the Wedge clubs
  • Several fixes related to the physics of the game
  • Improved handling of the chunks and terrain bits

And that’s about it. Adjusting the scale of the entire world took a lot longer than I expected, and brought about several unforeseen complications that were promptly fixed.

As a result of the changes, we’ve had to update the version of the save file, which means you’ll start off with a new golf course.

That’s all for now folks! Now I can focus on getting the paths improved, then the hole creator, then the water tool, and we’ll reach 0.6!

Boss Golf updated to 0.52!

Boss Golf updated to 0.52!

by Gus Martin ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello folks!

Been hard at work this week tackling some bugs found by our testers, and beginning the implementation for the next features.

0.52 also marks a change of development. Previously, I’d slave away at my dark and cold basement until the next big version was released, and the task list represented the work being done.

From now, the task list will still contain the updated information, but the features will be implemented on the road to their desired version number; put it simply, if a feature says 0.6, it means that if you play version 0.6 of the game, you will have that feature available; the feature itself, however, may have been available since 0.53, or 0.55, or whathave you.

This way I can ensure fresher builds of the games out for you to test and find bugs, as well as fixing bugs quicker!

So for the changelist in 0.52:

  • Improved shot difficulty calculation for the golfers
  • Raised the difficulty of shots containing trees and whatnot on the way
  • Tees are now marked with little stakes on the sides, pointing towards the hole, as opposed to a single dot
  • First pass at the new grass shader
  • Divided the rendering of the terrain into separate meshes, in anticipation for quality up

And for fixes:

  • Clicking path no longer brings up the terrain height panel
  • Clicking the mouse at the end of loading no longer exits the game
  • Golfers now wait a couple of seconds for the previous golfer to clear the course before playing
  • Balls now disappear after the golfer exits the course
  • AI no longer moves around when the game starts paused
  • AI now properly taking advantage of the brain in calculating shots
  • Mouse edge scrolling and WASD scrolling now have the same speed
  • Reduced the area for edge scrolling to avoid scrolling when clicking the UI

And that’s all for now! Going to continue working on the overhauling of the terrain system, and am planning on tackling a new way of placing the paths for 0.53, based on suggestions from Friar, our amazing tester!

You can download the updated version in the same place as usual. Conversely, apply for the closed alpha for access!

-Gus

Boss Golf Updated to 0.5!

Boss Golf Updated to 0.5!

by Gus Martin ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello folks!

Newest version is finally here! Boss Golf is now at alpha 0.5!

New features in this version include: (For more information on scheduled tasks, check out the task roadmap!)

  • AI Needs System
  • AI Thoughts System
  • AI Confidence which affects their golf play
  • AI Brain for better/more interesting generation of choices through a course
  • Updated golf gameplay with a selection of clubs
  • Possibility to pan the character panel directly to the AI
  • Auto pan the camera when the mouse moves to the edges
  • Panel for showing progress on the hole

Some bug fixes in this version include: (For more information on currently reported bugs, check out the bug board!)

  • Wrong tooltip for paths
  • Grid tooltip also showing path tooltip
  • Resort info window not being moveable
  • Paths not connecting to gree/hole/tee/building tiles
  • Landscaper moves too slow
  • UI gets stuck on finalizing

So yeah, this update focused on AI, and some more quality of life fixes. Check it out!

-Gus

Golf Club Selection

Golf Club Selection

by Gus Martin ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello folks!

I’ve finished implementing the new golf club selection panel for Boss Golf!

Take a gander!

club_selector_update

The selection of clubs is based on the golf clubs in the golfer’s bag. As it is now, you’ll start off with a wood driver, irons 2 through 9, a pitching wedge, a lobbing wedge, a sand wedge, and a putter. Later on you’ll be able to select your own clubs and whatnot. I’ve removed the curving feature for now, as it wasn’t adding much to the game. But it will be brought back later on.

I’ve also added another panel for keeping track of your progress along the current hole you’re playing, telling you the remaining distance, what the par is, how many strokes you took so far etc.

All that’s left before 0.5 is adding the better idling behavior for the AI, and fixing up a couple of issues that were brought up by our testers, so that 0.5 will be a nice overall improvement. Should be released this Sunday (March 11th).

That’s all for now, folks!

Stroke Balancing

Stroke Balancing

by Gus Martin ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello folks!

I’ve finished adjusting the stroke mechanic to take advantage of the new club system. Had to do a bit of trial and error to get the proper values for the different clubs, based on their face head, their type, their maximum distance.

But now it all works! So each club should now feel different from the other club, and the AI will try and use the best one for each situation. (As it deems fit, of course!)

Began prototyping the new golf controls for the player too, should be done sometime this week. Then I’ll release 0.5 for your enjoyment!

In parallel, also began sketching out the necessary improvements for 0.6, which will come with an overhauling again of how you landscape the scenery, making a better distinction between holes and regular landscape, etc. You’ll receive better planning tools for plotting out a hole all at once and having the AI execute it, as opposed to the current system of sketching out zones and whatnot.

Together with that, a revamp of the terrain system, separating regular landscaping from water tools. As well as allowing for different kinds of grass, sand etc. Will need to separate the mesh by type, so that I can have better control over the mapping and overall behavior and whatnot.

That’s all for now, folks!