Hello, Rock Hoppers. I'm here to give you all an update on what I've been working on this month. This one's gonna be pretty brief.
Gestures
I've added a series of player gestures for use in multiplayer. Players can now wave at each other, shrug, apologize, and cheer. I have a few more empty slots, and some ideas on how to fill them, but I don't know much of anything about animating skinned models. So far I've been able to get by with canned animations, but I think I'm gonna have to learn something new for this one.
Better NPCs
I starting laying the foundations for the improved characters by adding a meta-database of all NPCs. This allows NPCs to be referenced at all times, even if they aren't currently spawned. This has a whole slew of benefits. It allows me to create missions that reference multiple characters, even if those characters haven't been created yet. It allows for persistent relationships between characters, and it lets me unload NPCs when they're not in use, even if they're involved in active quests.
Player Model Improvements
They're still creepy, sorry. But I did make substantial progress with the many clothing clipping issues. It's proving hard to stomp them out completely, but the overall look is much better, and I'm in a better position to add new clothes and accessories in the future.
And that's about it. I have a hectic summer coming up, so I expect progress to be limited for the next few months. Thanks for sticking around. Until next time.