Better Notes on Tilesets

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I've been referring back to the image I created during the BBBB gamejam for tilemaps because it can get a little tricky navigating the process of dividing your tilemap in Unity, then assigning it the correct rules. The image above is a better representation of how Unity organizes the tilemap when the rules align in a way that you can begin painting shapes. Here's what it looked like with the first tilemap that I organized correctly.

You can begin to see how the shapes align when you indicate how the rules should govern the layout of the various pixel grid. So rather than indicate my own random collection of 16x16 squares, I figured I'd set it up how Unity begins to organize it. This allows for very basic map layouts without slopes or anything like that.

Here's a new tilemap that I've been working on laid out in the same order, but it does have some additional tiles to provide some variation.

This probably doesn't look like much when you haven't been staring at the same pixels as long as I have. Here's a better glimpse of how the rules will be dictated in Unity with which of the four cardinal directions will be an allowed or disallowed side. You can begin to see how the logic will align the tiles. When you add additional options, you can get variation. That's why the last two rows have similar rules assigned.

Here's how multiple entries look in Unity.

If I haven't mentioned it already, here's a great video on setting up a tilemap atlas to avoid getting weird little black lines that flash on the screen that looks similar to screen tearing.

On The Topic of Scumbags

Unity's decision to charge the developer for every install after a certain dollar threshold is a scumbag move. Now Unity is not a person and I think it's naive to think the CEO alone is to blame, but I'm sure he was involved in the decision. This decision seems like a great big middle finger to the little guys trying to make use of their software. I'd argue that the smaller developers have done more to advertise for Unity than other companies. When you don't pay for the higher tier license and you get the "Made with Unity," there's no mistaking which engine was used. You really have to go digging or wait for the credits to see when another doesn't have the logo included in the opening scenes.

I also think everyone likes to hop aboard the angry-hype train. I'm not making over $200,000 a year with Unity, so this doesn't really affect me monetarily. However, if I were to pay a company for a license, I'm less likely to want to give money to Unity if they're going to drop changes like this. At this time, I'm invested with my time and a few dollars for assets in Unity. That's not enough to make me give up on it just yet. I hope they get some leadership that doesn't screw over the little guys. I really doubt that this is going to pay the wages of employees at Unity.

Currently Playing

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

I finished Armored Core 6 in a hurry to get back to some other games I haven't finished. It's amazing for what it set out to do. I was torn about how much I liked it. I wanted to pilot an AC that is light with the ability to fly around without having to touch the ground as often, but that isn't really feasible in most fights, especially chapter-end bosses. You can get away with it on lesser missions. Seems like they really push you to make frequent changes to your AC and the interfaces are so clean and easy to manipulate. I found the cryptic part names a little intimidating about what I owned, sold, or purchased again, but as long as you're not putting the game down with long gaps of time between, you get used to the names of items.

I found the sudden difficulty spikes frustrating, especially early on when it forced me to sell everything and make the beefiest-plasma-wielding-boi that I could afford. It was less of an issue later on when you have a ton of money to be flexibile in the gear you own and don't have to back out of a map. It was much less frustrating when I put my ego aside and looked up some guides. Still did not enjoy the last fight. Felt like I just got lucky and I didn't want to spend hours perfecting the fight. I also wish there were more arena battles.

The setting of AC6 and some of the maps provided an imagery and sense of a world that has not been captured so well by another game in my recent experience. It's a bit of a shame that the maps keep you on rails and it's not a larger world to explore. On the other hand, I'm good on open world games for a while.

Sea of Stars

Sea of Stars continues to be one of the most delightful stories that captures nostalgia as we remember it. The pixel art is so delicious. I don't think I'm very far through it so it's hard to give a finished opinion. I find the combat enjoyable enough to not get bored, but it's relative simple. That said, you're not chugging potions and the flow continues. This also seems to make it feel a little easy so far. It's really just a fantastic experience at a good price.

Starfield

I couldn't resist the ability to try Starfield for the price of Gamepass. I'm glad I did, because I was not ready to drop another $70 on a game. I was almost immediately blown away by Starfield. Then I got bored when I tried to wander off and explore a planet.

Good grief some planets are HUGE and empty. I'm hearing that the main quest is the way to go if you're looking for content that doesn't include wandering around space by yourself. I'm finding that I need to stop picking up stuff. I don't really know what I need to spend my money on yet, or which crafting materials I need.

I feel pretty certain that modders and additional content will make this into an amazing experience. I'm just glad I tried it on Gamepass, and I can probably wait for a sale down the road while I work on some other games.