Sunday, December 15, 2013
Working on AI two days in a row has, historically, proven to be a bit of a mental health hazard, so I didn't want to take that risk again today Back to the working on that lovely interface!
One nice thing that I implemented today is categorical filtering for all nodes. For example, if I'm looking at the system map, I can now cycle through the object types (the ones that are present, that is), and the nodes will be hidden / revealed according to their respective categories. It strikes me as a really neat feature, not so much because of what it allows you to do...but more because it's one of the numerous examples of stuff that you get "for free" with this kind of unified interface. Any nodes that want to expose their "category" are instantly filterable, with no extra work required! This makes it entirely too easy to automatically have a filterable system map, inventory, market, etc. All for free! That, of course, makes me very happy as a developer. But at the same time, as a user, I also love the simplicity of knowing that any interface that contains categorical data can be filtered in the same way. No ad hoc, disparate mechanism for each type of data. It's all the same, every time!
Also!!! I had a very strange and exciting moment with the AI just an hour or so ago. When I left it yesterday, there was still an issue or two to resolve before the recent advancements would allow the NPCs to start working again (get back to mining those rocks, that is ). You can imagine my surprise when an NPC started mining during one of my interface tests Wow....well done sir, well done! This may be the first time I've been pleasantly-surprised with something "just working" in AI. In general it's not that kind of a field..you know...it's more like, if you aren't 100% positive that your algorithm is correct, it probably won't work. Even then it's usually still a shot in the dark But this time...well, maybe it's finally a sign that I'm doing something right
Tomorrow I head back home again for the holidays Too much driving lately for my taste But I'm really pleased with how this month has shaped up so far, and hopeful that a change of scenery will only contribute to the productivity streak
PS ~ Yes, I'm in a very odd habit of writing the weekly summaries...a week later. I'm trying to break it
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Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:28 am
#1
Week of December 15, 2013
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford