{"author_name":"hi-scor.es","cat":"LD #24","comments":[],"epoch":1345989480,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"52560","p_author":"hi-scor.es","p_authorkey":"12602","p_urlkey":"88262","p_title":"Crisis Averted","p_cat":"LD #24","p_event":"LD24","p_time":"1345989480","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"12602","us_name":"hi-scor.es","us_username":"hi-scor-es","event_start":"1345766400","event_key":"12","event_name":"LD24"},"text":"<p>I had a wonderful plan and then hit a snag.<\/p>\n <p>All along I had been expecting to use CAAT&#8217;s path-following for the enemy AI. I was going to define paths based on the GA chromosome string that would be like a &#8216;signature attack&#8217; for each enemy that would cross-breed. This morning I found out that the paths are defined in absolute terms, not relative, so I can&#8217;t just define a path giving the general direction, but instead have to calculate the general direction each time. I was also facing complexity of how to represent the path, path types (linear, cubic, quadratic), and how to ensure the randomly generated path variables would work.<\/p>\n <p>So I gave up on the paths and headed into the wonderful world of steering AI. Now I&#8217;m thinking that there will be multiple behavior types (seek, pursue, evade) and the type will be baked into the chromosome. This should work.<\/p>\n <p>The deadline is looming and I still don&#8217;t have cross-breeding or, you know, a real game. I&#8217;m starting to get worried.<\/p>\n <p>On the flipside, looking through the blog posts on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/\" title=\"ludumdare.com\/compo\">LudumDare.com\/compo<\/a> shows that the theme has a lot of folks going the Artificial Life route. That&#8217;s awesome! I hope those folks aren&#8217;t discouraged. Not many AL-based games aren&#8217;t really that fun. Did anyone ever &#8216;play&#8217; <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Creatures_(artificial_life_program)\">Creatures<\/a>?<br \/>\n <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/08\/26\/crisis-averted\/screen-shot-2012-08-26-at-11-56-38-am\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-170825\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Screen-Shot-2012-08-26-at-11.56.38-AM-273x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"273\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-170825\" \/><\/a><\/p>","time":"August 26th, 2012 8:58 am","title":"Crisis Averted"}