Step backwards, leap forwards

mangobrain on 2006/03/30 13:10 of TrainTris

After my last diary entry, I completely removed the train code I had created, essentially leaving myself with something that just rendered a fairly lame isometric landscape. I lost a lot of motivation at this point, and it's not been easy getting it back.

However, it has proved worth it in the end. I now have a train that can follow tracks, and is always drawn on top of them (not with bits of track over it, as in my last attempt); I also have a framework in place for having static "tall" objects on the map. The engine now differentiates between ground cubes, flat 'overlays' such as the rails, and static & mobile objects, which sit on the ground but are not flat and hence must be rendered in the correct order.

No new screenshots, as firstly they would still be of just a train on some tracks, and secondly I just deleted my hard-coded test level in favour of starting work on a level editor. The rest of the game should be "easy" from here on out - there are a few parts that will no doubt need debugging, but instead of jumping head-long into things as I did in the beginning, I have all the remaining algorithms already thought out, and am regaining confidence.

I'll hold off on divulging anything about gameplay until I have a screenshot that actually demonstrates it - something I should hopefully have later today. :)