Induction Terminal: What's in a Name?

Getting Started

Back at it again today! I can choose to be lazy, but if I do it too often I'm doomed to never finishing this game. I knew exactly where to start and what to work on today, I just wasn't sure what to call it at first. In the end, I've decided on Induction Terminal. This will be something in the world the player is forced to interact with to progress at the beginning of the game.

Storytime

In Xenodochium, the player is equipped with a special sort of tool. The Induction Station is how they get the tool. Upon waking up in an unknown location, the player is directed to the induction station. Upon interacting with the station, the player registers their character's name and they are injected with nanites that form the basis of their progression through the world. Over time the player will do things that unlock new tool abilities, such as hacking, fishing, and piloting space ships.

Technicalities

With the story details solidified, I have to actually dive into the technical details and build out this new thing. I did what I always do, I took an existing thing and copied it. I started with my interactable base, and duplicated it. Gave it a new name and look, modified the attached script to match. It doesn't actually do what it's supposed to yet, but the world object exists now.

I also took my player dead screen and duplicated it. I updated the scene a bit to match more with what it represents (there's still a lot more to do in that regard). I've modified my script too, but it's still just mostly a placeholder. It was at this point I realized that I completely forgot to localize my player respawn related stuff, so I fixed that really quick! 

What's Next

That's where I decided to call it a day. I haven't actually done anything, but I began laying the foundation for what comes next. I have this new interactable in my game world, but it isn't special yet. I have a new overlay scene to invoke, but the functionality to do so, and its own functionality, don't exist yet. But they will, because that's what's next. Continuing this where I left off, tomorrow. Getting this built and working.

Why wait? Because I don't want to push myself too hard. I want to keep going, and I know if I expend too much energy on the project at once I will burn myself out. The rest of the work won't be too bad, but it will involve other systems, like the savegame manager, so I must be prepared.

As for the potential assistance from my friend, there's nothing new on that front. You interested in the job? I don't have a budget, I don't expect to make a single penny from this game, after all. But I am happy to add collaborators.