Talking Signs

Here’s a video of the new electric element, as promised in the last post:

http://youtu.be/4dSfpIX3-EE

The 1.21 todo list is getting smaller. The most important sign of progress is that after much experimentation I have finalized the way you control the horse (and camel). Turning is easy – you just use drag across the move pad sideways. But you don’t directly control walking forward and backward. Instead, you only control the speed. Moving your finger forward across the move pad once means “speed up”, moving backwards “slow down”. Each animal has 3 speeds. It can even back up for a short distance, although it will stop quickly.

I think it’s pretty realistic and kind of cool. Because it’s a little indirect and has some (intentional) lag, it gives you a feeling of interaction with a living thing with its own will.

When riding a horse you can still use your hands, tools and weapons. No difference. But when the horse gets attacked by some other animal (perhaps because you messed with it), it may get scared and start uncontrollably running away, carrying you with it. It’s just “Run Away” behavior taking precedence over “Steed” behavior in the AI :-)