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Rack 2: Development Roadmap
9 years ago
So this is something I've been meaning to do for a while, but I finally got around to working on it over the past few days.
A lot of people have been asking about Rack 2's development timeline, when they can expect to see a demo, when I think the game will be done, etc. I don't have definite answers for any of those questions, but what I do have is a rough development roadmap showing what needs to be done to get the game ready for launch, and where I'm currently at.
So here it is - the Rack 2 development roadmap!
The Trello link above contains an up-to-date todo list showing what I'm currently working on, known bugs, and a rough look at what I'm going to be working on later. It is not an exhaustive report of everything I'm going to include in the game, it's just a list of current tasks.
On the far left column, however, is the development roadmap. This list contains, in roughly chronological order, a list of all the major steps I need to take in order to get the game up and running. They aren't in perfect order (I'm sure you'll notice right away that the "Audio Framework" task is untouched, despite being near the top of the list), but they give a rough idea of what I'm working on right now, and what I'll be working on later.
You'll also notice that near the bottom of the list, there's a task titled "Start Releasing Public Builds". That is roughly the place in the development timeline where I expect to start making Rack 2 builds available to the public. Patreon supporters will always be a little bit ahead of the general public on updates, but Rack 2 is going to work like Rack 1 in terms of release schedule, not like Bedplay. In other words, I'm not going to make everyone wait until the game is completely finished to let them start playing.
I want to wait until there's a solid foundation for a game and enough content to keep everyone busy for a while before I go public, but I also know that Rack 2's development time is easily going to break the 12+ month mark, and I know that the game will be playable/enjoyable long before it's actually finished. No sense keeping it a secret now, is there? :P
If you're interested in supporting the game, and want to start snagging development builds, hit me up over on patreon. I am only able to work on this game because you guys support me! I'm the luckiest guy in the world, and I owe you all so much for keeping me afloat. <3
A lot of people have been asking about Rack 2's development timeline, when they can expect to see a demo, when I think the game will be done, etc. I don't have definite answers for any of those questions, but what I do have is a rough development roadmap showing what needs to be done to get the game ready for launch, and where I'm currently at.
So here it is - the Rack 2 development roadmap!
The Trello link above contains an up-to-date todo list showing what I'm currently working on, known bugs, and a rough look at what I'm going to be working on later. It is not an exhaustive report of everything I'm going to include in the game, it's just a list of current tasks.
On the far left column, however, is the development roadmap. This list contains, in roughly chronological order, a list of all the major steps I need to take in order to get the game up and running. They aren't in perfect order (I'm sure you'll notice right away that the "Audio Framework" task is untouched, despite being near the top of the list), but they give a rough idea of what I'm working on right now, and what I'll be working on later.
You'll also notice that near the bottom of the list, there's a task titled "Start Releasing Public Builds". That is roughly the place in the development timeline where I expect to start making Rack 2 builds available to the public. Patreon supporters will always be a little bit ahead of the general public on updates, but Rack 2 is going to work like Rack 1 in terms of release schedule, not like Bedplay. In other words, I'm not going to make everyone wait until the game is completely finished to let them start playing.
I want to wait until there's a solid foundation for a game and enough content to keep everyone busy for a while before I go public, but I also know that Rack 2's development time is easily going to break the 12+ month mark, and I know that the game will be playable/enjoyable long before it's actually finished. No sense keeping it a secret now, is there? :P
If you're interested in supporting the game, and want to start snagging development builds, hit me up over on patreon. I am only able to work on this game because you guys support me! I'm the luckiest guy in the world, and I owe you all so much for keeping me afloat. <3
Also, you fucked up your italics BBCode.
Basically, it's a question of defining the rotation of the joints versus defining the location of the specific part you want to move. Forward Kinematics prefers to have the joint rotation set in stone, whereas Inverse Kinematics wants to have the position set in stone, and work out the joint rotations from there.
Forward kinematics: "rotate your elbow 20 degrees, then rotate your hand 35 degrees. No wait... 38 degrees. Actually... 37 degrees. Theeeere we go."
Inverse kinematics: "rotate your elbow and your hand until your hand is touching the glass." - *computer does the math automatically* - "Perfect!"
In Rack 2, Character creation was practically at the top after basic setup of the lab itself.
Of course, this goes beyond the simple logistics of going from 2D to 3D as well.
One of the biggest differences between rack 1 and rack 2 is that rack 1 was "fired from the hip," while rack 2 is being built with some planning and foresight.
Rack 1's development method was great for sickly getting a game up and going and throwing in tons of content very quickly. The downside, however, is that as the game grew, it became bloated, unstable, and difficult to work with because it wasn't built to be scalable.
Rack 2's development method requires a lot of boring work to be done up front, before focusing on the fun stuff / content development. The upside is that it will be much easier to maintain, much more scalable, and once I do get to the content development phase, I'll be able to pump things out very, very quickly. It will also perform much more smoothly and predictably, which is always a huge perk.
https://imgflip.com/i/z4iga