After a slow period, development of my upcoming game has picked up pace again.
The game is a racing game, using feet, rocket launchers, etc. set in a Minecraft-like world. You skid down slopes, and hit your opponents with freeze rockets. First through all the checkpoints to hit the goal post wins.
Now most of the networking is completed, to accommodate "infinite" many players. Which is so dumb, of course — since very few will actually play the game. It takes into account your proficiency of the game (using a kind of multiplayer ELO), has matchmaking, playing with friends only or with randos. Infrastructure to support thousands of online players. That might not sound like much to a n00b, but I can assure you, it is a lot!
Anyway, this will simplify building of massive games in the future, so it's not a waste of time.
Some of the next steps are:
- Ensuring ELO calculations work properly.
- Show ELO on screen.
- Show ELO change after each match.
- Search for players and add friends (using a secret code).
- Remove friends.
- List friends - who's online, who's already in a game and who's not.
- Team up with friends.
This is the bulk of the remaining work. Then of course there's the usual grind of creating some levels and some minor features to be able to release a demo. I think I'll be done with a beta version fairly soon though.
