COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
The Shiny Out of Time

Is it Thursday already? It seems like it was just yesterday that shinies were on a far and distant horizon, waiting for a favorable wind or a strong current to bring us to our eventual rendezvous. And yet, the day does indeed gleam brightly, and that can only mean one thing: It is time to S H I N E !

The real question, I suppose, is what will today’s shiny be? It’s been my method to discuss what I’ve been doing, and to show something that helps to elucidate the topic in a manner that makes it easier to understand and gives us something cool to look at along the way. But, for the last week or so, most of what I’ve been tackling has been one of two things: Source Code, or datafiles.


Do I really want to spend my shiny post talking about fine-tuning the thresholds and criteria that Caspian uses to determine what his stylized map renderer should show at each zoom level? Do I tell the story about how I agonized over how many pixels thick the shoreline around a body of freshwater, like a lake or pond, should be? Or how I spent a day figuring out how 130 Yoru made it onto Map I when we ran the population simulator on the map this week? (They sneaked in via the Taiga, it turned out)


Or do I show a screenshot of the debugger running while I try to figure out how my code determined there were 192% Neran living in a Kypiq city in the Broadleaf forest? (I’m sure there’s a story to tell there, but part of me fears it involves ink and quill and may not be appropriate.) I’m not even certain I know what 192% looks like, honestly, so I’m not sure what a good shiny image for that would be.


But that’s how it goes some weeks. Sometimes, when you’re working, you churn out wonder after wonder, other times you spend the week like a MASH surgeon, knee deep in the intestines of god knows who, just doing everything you can to make sure the war effort marches on. As important as that work often is, “shiny” probably doesn’t describe it.


Of course, sometimes, you’re so focused on the viscera at hand, that you don’t notice the work everyone else is doing. And when you miss it like that, then when you do go back and see it again it's almost like looking at something entirely new. I suppose that's one benefit to being so preternaturally focused on one particular goal or task to the exclusion of everything else for a week; even the mundane or the usually familiar can surprise. Like when the Potion Master updates the timing and positioning on certain combat moves, for example.

Ah well. I guess I've got nothing. Sorry I couldn't think of anything shiny to show you all this week. I'm sure that next time there will be something to show.

In the meantime, stay s h i n y my friends!


  • Snipehunter
6/28/2019 12:00:47 PM #31

Mmm them statues are nice!

Also, I love the combat animations. They look awesome.


6/28/2019 2:08:23 PM #32

I have to be honest, I actually kinda like the look of the low poly. Not that I'm saying the finalized style wouldn't be "better", but I'm actually really a fan of the low poly style.


6/28/2019 4:08:39 PM #33

Posted By Mulki at 02:06 AM - Fri Jun 28 2019

Glorious. Those rats in the background are giving me the creeps, are they all rats of different sizes? the microscopic one looks like an ant.

Me thinks plans for the new plague release are progressing nicely.


'Game over man,...game over.'

6/28/2019 4:55:11 PM #34

Posted By Mortality at 09:08 AM - Fri Jun 28 2019

Posted By Mulki at 02:06 AM - Fri Jun 28 2019

Glorious. Those rats in the background are giving me the creeps, are they all rats of different sizes? the microscopic one looks like an ant.

Me thinks plans for the new plague release are progressing nicely.

Rats?

Otterbears?

Hrmmm.... :thinking:


"Stupid questions make more sense than stupid mistakes."

6/28/2019 5:55:47 PM #35

Ratterbears? ;)

Actually, those are muskrats and other small rodents. The otter bears aren't on that little island in the combat lab. :)


  • Snipehunter
6/28/2019 6:44:55 PM #36

It's looking pretty good so far!


6/29/2019 2:06:00 AM #37

Posted By HajimeSaikou at 8:36 PM - Fri Jun 28 2019

Posted By Watru at 5:11 PM - Fri Jun 28 2019

Not to be a dick or anything but why are we back to concept art?

You're way past that, I'm afraid

I like your comments, always so friendly. Never attacking anyone.

Nice shiny. Always good to see more combat videos. Coming along pretty good.


6/29/2019 5:02:20 PM #38

I thought there wasn't going to be a stamina bar?


6/30/2019 12:18:19 PM #39

I'm eager to see different combat styles in action !


7/1/2019 1:33:51 PM #40

Posted By Infernous at 7:02 PM - Sat Jun 29 2019

I thought there wasn't going to be a stamina bar?

who wrote that? I always thought, that the most interesting stats (health and stamina) will be shown, just that you will have to open your character sheet for stats like hunger, temperature etc.

Or are you talking about enemies stamina bars? In that case, I'm with you. Knowledge about the enemies health should be derived from blood or wounds or stuff like that. Not from a simple bar.

btw, while we are at fighting... if we hit something with our attacks... will the attack still show the full swing or will the swing stop as soon as it hits something?


Friend Code: 30EF47

7/1/2019 10:05:21 PM #41

So... I take it ratterbears have been confirmed now... woot woot.


7/17/2019 1:22:40 AM #42

Posted By RydelSleak at 10:08 AM - Fri Jun 28 2019

I have to be honest, I actually kinda like the look of the low poly. Not that I'm saying the finalized style wouldn't be "better", but I'm actually really a fan of the low poly style.

Good point, it is really interesting to see from an artistic perspective, to me as well! I think we've seen a lot of pieces, but seeing/feeling it in motion as it all comes together will be something else completely :D

At this point anyway, I wasn't expecting to play much more than a MUD (not if I can avoid it) and a website, so seeing how it comes together from a completely different angle... interesting! Can't wait to dig in ;)


10/3/2019 1:01:25 PM #43

so i am taking these statues will not count as monuments to raise a holding to the capital level