Art
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| That head is too large for that neck. |
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| Phat and bulbous. |
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| Oh that's pointy. |
Dev spotlight
Still working on V3. I know my progress updates are vague, but writing about how I squashed some ridiculous scaling bugs, or how I managed to break the image caching this week doesn't make for exciting content.
Writing about more abstract things like character writing or the theory of how scripting should be constructed means that I gotta dedicate buncha brainpower and time to write the dev spotlight. This will then eat into my other limited development/art time.
Problem of the save compatibility between versions
TU uses a very open ended scripting system for the dialogue and game logic, so it may cause a lot of issues between different versions of the game when a saved game is loaded.
It's usually taken for granted that updated versions of the same game would not have save game incompatibility issues nowadays, but that same restriction also means that it becomes extremely hard/impossible to fit new content into old content without problems. That is why any new content is usually introduced in a very self-contained way, so it does not interact that much with the old content. Adding new items or anything that doesn't directly interact with the characters/world state is very easy, however. Because TU is a very dialogue-heavy game the risks for incompatibility issues are heightened.
This requirement of minimal interaction and the very defined borders between new and old content means it's not possible to edit old content to any significant degree while avoiding conflicts with the scripting. For example, adding a new flag to an old conversation, so it can be checked in the new content. An old save game might have already gone past that conversation so the flag will never be added. In this case the new content treats the save game as if the flag was never added, even if the conversation was such that it would have been logically added. For some cases it's possible to create a code solution that uses some other marker or info to set the flag if it would have been set logically, but reverse engineering it to be cohesive with old saves causes massive unstable bloat. It is in no way sustainable long term, and it's very work heavy for the gain.
Technically saves between any iterations of TU are not considered compatible, but saves between versions with small number differences usually have good chance of just working perfectly. The saves between V2 and V3 will be wholly incompatible however.
Writing about more abstract things like character writing or the theory of how scripting should be constructed means that I gotta dedicate buncha brainpower and time to write the dev spotlight. This will then eat into my other limited development/art time.
Problem of the save compatibility between versions
TU uses a very open ended scripting system for the dialogue and game logic, so it may cause a lot of issues between different versions of the game when a saved game is loaded.
It's usually taken for granted that updated versions of the same game would not have save game incompatibility issues nowadays, but that same restriction also means that it becomes extremely hard/impossible to fit new content into old content without problems. That is why any new content is usually introduced in a very self-contained way, so it does not interact that much with the old content. Adding new items or anything that doesn't directly interact with the characters/world state is very easy, however. Because TU is a very dialogue-heavy game the risks for incompatibility issues are heightened.
This requirement of minimal interaction and the very defined borders between new and old content means it's not possible to edit old content to any significant degree while avoiding conflicts with the scripting. For example, adding a new flag to an old conversation, so it can be checked in the new content. An old save game might have already gone past that conversation so the flag will never be added. In this case the new content treats the save game as if the flag was never added, even if the conversation was such that it would have been logically added. For some cases it's possible to create a code solution that uses some other marker or info to set the flag if it would have been set logically, but reverse engineering it to be cohesive with old saves causes massive unstable bloat. It is in no way sustainable long term, and it's very work heavy for the gain.
Technically saves between any iterations of TU are not considered compatible, but saves between versions with small number differences usually have good chance of just working perfectly. The saves between V2 and V3 will be wholly incompatible however.
Thanks for the update! Really enjoy hearing your thoughts on the creative process.
ReplyDeleteThe creator blesses the mortals with another update, praise!
ReplyDeleteJoking aside, I cannot wait for the next version, it's sounds like another adventure to me!
I don't mind having to start over again as long as I didn't have to do a bunch of grinding to get where I was.Especially if that means the game is more fleshed out.
ReplyDeleteNiiiiiiice, MD! Thanks for the update. Personally, I don't mind starting my game from scratch, so saves aren't a big deal for me.
ReplyDeleteThe 1st pic reminds me of newborn neomorohs from Alien: Covenant. Will this... creature be in tge game?
Pic 3... is this our future mount or just our future "mount"? :3
still can't wait to do another playthrough
ReplyDeleteNo problem restarting here! I've already played a few different saves from the beginning to see how different dialogue options go, unlock different scenes that are stat locked, etc. Wouldn't be any different!
ReplyDeleteAlso a very good look on how saves work in a way I hadn't thought before, guess that's why I'm not a game dev lol
Thank you for the update!
I usually dont have any issues with restarting a game, but I do understand that if the game has a specially grindy beginning then it can become an issue for recurring players, who have to go through the same thing each uptade.
ReplyDeleteAs a game designer if the option of fixing this issue is not possible then I would offer an option to skip the repeating content if it does not include new content. However TU doesnt really give that kind of content, so I'm personally happy to begin once again.
Thank you for the uptade! Really looking forward to V3!