Wanted to make this post after I spent too much time trying to figure out how to read data on Android from a binary file that I had in my Unity project. Long story short (I'm going to transition to bullet points now because I'm a coder, not JRR Tolkien).

• File needs to have .bytes extension.
• File needs to be in a folder named Resources.
• You load the file as a TextAsset with Resources.Load(path).
• You pass the file.bytes to a Stream to a BinaryReader.
• Boom. Data.

    I use a binary file to hold all possible CUBEs and their corresponding values. When the game starts I read the file and parse the data into a static array so any class that needs the info can easily acquire it. I am using binary instead of XML because I am targeting mobile and switching from XML to binary saved me about a MB (removed one XML file and the System.XML namespace). 
    However binary is not very easy for me to read and write because I am just a lame human, so I use a local XML file to keep track of CUBE info as I create the game. I then use a tool I created in Unity that finds that file and parses the XML into an array of the info that I need, which I then take and convert to binary and save to the .bytes file for the app to read when the game starts.

    Here are our first versions of Knighthood's main characters, drawn by the lovely Sam Williams! The four knights-in-training (from left to right) are Harold, Chad, Eva, and Jules. They are all unique warriors and have different abilities and play styles. We spent a good deal of time concepting in order to make sure this was reflected in their looks.

    Harold is the tank. He's got power over Earth and Air, but isn't very good at magic. Chad is solid at all skills, but doesn't excel at anything in particular. He controls Ice. Eva is gifted with intense magical abilities in Fire and Lightning, but is delicate in close combat. Jules packs a punch; her speedy attacks and poisonous magical abilities make her deadly efficient. But because of her low defense she prefers the element of surprise. Together these four attend Knight School in a snowy mountain village. Though they may be a little rowdy, they work hard every day, getting closer and closer to their dream of achieving Knighthood.

    Sam built each character model in Illustrator and split them up so they can be animated in the new Unity 4.3 2D tools! We're both excited to start learning the new framework. We will have more on these characters later! Thanks for checking in!


P.S. Hooray! We finally got rid of Steve's crummy banner picture ☺

    Hello world, my name is Steve Yeager and I am a game developer. I work at IGT in Las Vegas. I also work on my own projects in my spare time. I am still learning but I do have a lot of passion for the game development process. 
I thought it would be a good experience to make occasional blog posts about my projects, especially the one I'm currently working on, Knighthood. I am a firm believer in sharing information and have always found teaching to be a very good way to strengthen your knowledge on a subject. So here is a blog about game development for people who want to learn (and don't care about grammar).

    I notice that I always push off AI as long as possible. When I inevitably start working on it, it becomes one of the most rewarding and frustrating aspects of game development. For Knighthood I wanted to have a (decently) smart AI that could actually follow you around the map instead of ping-ponging between platform edges waiting to be attacked. 

Ex: Character is at x: 23 y: 16 what grid space is he in?
x = 23/5 = 4 (divide by grid space size and drop remainder)
y = 16/5 = 3 → 4-1-3 = 0 (you have to invert the y)              
(position (x, y) equals matrix index [y,x])
(23, 16) → [0, 4]

    Currently the enemy can constantly track the player around the map, including jumping and falling through translucent platforms. My approach still needs a lot of work and optimization but I think it's a good starting point. The hard part is going to be passing this info to the character controller and motor. But that's another post. I hope you enjoyed my first post, I would appreciate any feedback for the blog or my pathfinding solution. You can comment on this post or contact me directly. Thanks!