Alright so it's only been one day since the last update but I have a mini-update and some things to tell you guys.

first, the update. I haven't had much time to work today since I had to go get my car smog checked and then I had to go get groceries. plus, it's been hot so it's hard to focus. but despite that I managed to make some progress. I've updated the time progression so that it's easier for me to update the map in-between actions. this allows me to show a more gradual movement from the zombies rather than showing them before their move and after their move. this will be far more effective emotionally because now the player will perform their move, and then they'll watch each zombie take their action, then that repeats. the classic scene of a person standing alone, surrounded by dozens of zombies as they descend on him slowly will actually be capable of being visualized with this new time system!

In addition to this new time system, I added some placeholder civilian AI. right now, they try to escape from the zombies and will fight back if they're trapped. in the release, I hope to have it so that they will walk around normally if they don't have line of sight to a zombie. if they do, however, and they have a gun, they will try shooting at it. if they see the zombie but don't have a firearm, then they will try to run away. if no escape routes are possible, then they will keep swinging with their weapon until they are eaten or until they clear a path for them to run. all that's really holding me up from actually implementing this is that I haven't coded the line of sight checker method yet, but I'll get started on that tomorrow and with any luck it will be done before the end of the week.

in some somewhat-related AI thoughts, I just realized that my AI system allows me to incorporate all sorts of different types of survivors and zombies (it's a good thing I thought out the design of the game ahead of time). if I find the time, I can incorporate different types of humans like police officers, military, special forces/SWAT, Doctors/paramedics, etc. Doctors could actually go around healing their borthers in arms, and they could do it intelligently! I already have a way to check for the most wounded person, given a list of potential candidates, so I'd just have to gather a list real quick of all wounded people in sight, then if the weakest person is wounded enough, they could run over to them and use their medical kits (they could spawn with a random number between say 1 and 3) andthen they could try healing some of the wounds. it would be very cool if I could get it working.

also, I've made a pretty good-sized names library which I'm using in conjunction with my random names generator to create civilian names. so far this library is big enough for me to leave it alone, and the random name generator works fine (with the exception of a few wierd name combinations like Abdul McGee. the exotic sounding names always give me trouble...), but I was just thinking that it would be a cool idea to let anyone who wanted their name in the game to put it in. as of right now all the names are stored in alphabetical order in 2 separate files (1 for first names, 1 for last), and it randomly picks from both, so if a player really wanted to, he/she could edit the files and make civilians have whatever name set they wanted. for instance, a player could restrict it so that everyone in the world would be named Bob Smith or some other name, or a small group of names, or they could just add to the list and add more variety. so if you wanted to add random names of family or friends into the game, you could with just a few quick keystrokes. But if you'd like to post some names in the comments section, I'll take the name and if I like it (and don't already have it), I will add it to the library for the initial release.

but now for the bit in the subtitle about potentially being a part of this project! as you may or may not know, I will be hand-building the maps for this game, and it will be a somewhat lengthy process to do by myself (it may take anywhere between 1 and 2 weeks if I do it all by myself). In an effort to shorten development time and offer a chance for any supporters to get involved, I will be accepting any map submissions in whole or in part. If I like them, I may add them to the final map(s) somewhere, and you'll get your name put in the credits!!! how cool is that?!

So if you're interested, here's how to submit your work:

Available tiles:

to ensure compatability with the final version, please restrict your terrain used to these "squares":

walls, doors (metal and concrete), windows, grass, dirt, asphalt, sidewalk, concrete, wood floor, metal, water, snow, small tree, bush, abyss (general name for an invisible wall), and gravel.

if you want a special tile to be included, please explain what it is and what it does.

feel free to hand-place any weapons or spawn points for players anywhere you want (zombies and civilians are usually randomly generated). it just makes my job easier

IN TEXT FORM

if you want to submit your work in text form (which is probably the most convenient), then please type out relevant info like a map or piece name, the name you want in the credits, and the dimensions of the entire map. if you want to put objectives in the map, clearly mark what the objectives or trigger events are near the top of the document, but after all of the necessary information.

now make a legend explaining what each character represents, like this:

- is grass

* is water

= is a wall

D is a door

etc.

now, in ASCII text, use those characters indicated in your legend, to "draw" your map out. each character is a square.

IN VISUAL FORM

create an image and draw out your map or piece of a map and have it put on a grid, evenly spaced.

when you email it to me, put the name you'd like to have put in the credits in the email, as well as the dimensions of the piece in 5 foot squares. if you're submitting an entire map, please give it a name!

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for reference purposes, each square is 5 feet x 5 feet. And I reserve the right to edit and add to these creations, but you will still get credit either way.

send your submissions to my email at finalsonicx@yahoo.com. any files that are not in .jpg, .txt, or .doc format will be discarded to protect myself from possible viruses.

looks like my mini update wasn't so mini...well if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or thoughts, please post them in the comments section! next update will come once I make some more progress (maybe a day or two).