0.63 Update is out!

0.63 Update is out!

Hello folks!

As promised, update 0.63 forĀ Boss Golf closed alpha is out!

heightooler

Focus of this update was updating the terrain tools! For the list of changes:

  • Merged hole builder into the hole panel for better accessibility
  • Terrain height tool has been expanded into a proper panel
  • Added a tool for flattening the terrain
  • Reworked the height tool functionality for performance improvements
  • Fixed snapping of the trees when adjusting the terrain height

Unless something majorly breaks, I’m gonna begin focusing on the features for 0.7!

For this release, I wanna release:

  • Building Editor
  • Water Tools
  • AI Improvements

This 0.63 won’t break your current save game, so go ahead and update it! Stay tuned for more!

Terrain Tools Update!

Terrain Tools Update!

Hello folks!

I’ve finished coding the improved terrain system and the actions. Now all that’s left is connecting it to the UI!

But first, I’ll give you a preview of what’s coming. First, you have the good old drag to place the decoration:

decor_tool

Select the tree type, drag the tiles and the trees will be placed. Each tile can support up to 4 decoration pieces. Adding anything after that will result in the decorations simply being shuffled around.

If you want to fix it up, I’ve added a trimming tool that currently removes the last placed decoration object from the tile:

prune_the_stuff

Later, I’ll make it so it actually aims at the decoration object you’re aiming at and removes that.

Then, for elevating the terrain, I’ve reworked the previous options to use the vertex directly. For altering the elevation directly, you can either click and drag (for fine-tuning), or simply click and hold (for painting). For each of them, you can choose between 1 vertexes, 4 vertexes (a tile), or 16 vertexes (the tile and the neighbours) as below:

drag_one

drag_two

drag_three

And for painting:

paint_one

paint_two

paint_three

And finally flattening:

flattener

As you may have noticed, the decorations nicely go up and down as the elevation is changed. This is part of the update to the decoration system, which makes it work much better than before.

So that’s what I’ve been working on this week! I’ll finish hooking it all up to the UI tomorrow, and perhaps release an updated version of the demo so you can try it out. And then go back to the AI implementation!

(Ah! Forgot to add: I’ll be turning off the water tile for now as it’ll need a deeper reworking. I’ll just replace it with a regular blue tile so that you can still plan on how the water would feel.)

Dev Update #22: More Flat Shading

Dev Update #22: More Flat Shading

Hello folks!

Integration of the new terrain is almost done. All that’s left is the decoration system, which is getting an overhaul, and the water, which is also getting an overhaul.

I’ve also took another step at more flat shading by separating the two triangles from the quad! Now we won’t have a terrain of quads that look flat at points, and then oddly shaded in others.

So I give you a test course, that also showcases the new possibilities of the new terrain:

lonelyisland_hole

The mound surrounded by bunker is the hole. The mound can be nicely sculpted with the vertex tools, making it as flat or as smooth as the player wishes. Below you can see the wireframe:

lonelyisland_mesh

8 directions, righteous! Now the terrain shaping tools are even more useful, specially the vertex tool. Gonna have some fun adding water to this and seeing how it turns out!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update and new demo!

-Gus

Dev Update #14: Money, Money, Money

Dev Update #14: Money, Money, Money

Heyo folks!

Thanks to those of you who tested the terrain demo and gave us your feedback! It was very useful!

Some takeaways:

-The function of the flatten tool isn’t well communicated. It is currently flattening the tile by the vertex closest to the pointer. Need to think of a way to communicate it better.

-Bigger brushes for decorations, so that you can place trees in a bigger area. This is on the list for tomorrow.

-Ability to paint terrain/decorations so that you can just drag and move the mouse around covering an area. This is something I’m still considering, as I’m expecting the gameplay to change once I make tiles cost money.

Which is what I just did. Today’s update is focused on the All Ighty Ollar. I mean, the almighty dollar! From now on, the tiles will cost a specific amount of money (whose value will change a lot as the game gets further in development), making you consider more the kind of course you wanna build. No way to get the money back yet, as that will require actual little golfers paying to play your course! But that will come next month.

I also added a simple bulldozer tool, which basically reverts the tile back to grass, removing any decorations it may have had. Also works with holes.

Only decoration and tiles cost money; removing tiles and moving the terrain doesn’t cost anything.

Here’s a sample course I made:

expensive_hole

As you can see up there, I ended up with $4,200 remaining after plotting that hole. Since I started at $21,000, this particular hole cost a whooping $16,900! Is that a lot? I don’t know! Price balancing will feature more on the demos from now on, and I’m happy to receive your feedback!

Thanks for reading!