Week 1

For making a project, there are several areas of exploration for me to try. I have many interests in working on a tool using AI such as squad based AI or utility based AI. But this time I want to tackle procedural generation. I was thinking of trying a procedural generation in dungeons. The idea is using wave function collapse in the tool to generate levels.

Wave Function Collapse Dungeon Generation Tool

Break down of the algorithm and understanding of it
Implement the algorithm version in unity, test
Optimize and augment algorithm

Features

Reads in a basic dungeon layout with given parameters, Generate a large dungeon level
A tile editor in order to generate the initial rooms of the dungeon
A tile editor for the user to be able to edit the dungeon a bit if there needed to be changed. If there was something undesirable, it can be modified

hat does it show?

It shows the skill of observation of unfamiliar algorithms or techniques and being able to understand it. Ability of breaking down its rules and being able to reimplement it.

The unknowns

Unfamiliar on how to implement plugins
The algorithm itself
Efficiency and optimization (the original creator have mentioned that the algorithm he made was inefficient).

Time Management

I believe that I need to take the first one or two weeks researching and breaking down the algorithm.

By week 8, I would have a working algorithm in unity with some additional features like tile editing

By week 12, I should have the remaining features such as the dungeon building part and having it optimized to the best of my ability

External Factors

At the moment the only external factor is the desktop that I will be using and the repository that the project will be in

michael zhengJanuary 26, 2020

The first 5 weeks of senior production have been solid. The team dynamic has been really smooth and everyone was on board. I mainly interacted with my teammates in my group which is mostly programmers. We have two main meetings on Tuesday and Friday. The meeting on Tuesday is mainly programmers while on Friday it is a combination of both designers and programmers. The tuesday meeting is a scrum like meeting discussing on what we worked on and while also discussing future plans for next sprint. When there is something that is needed to be done, we use matter most as a form of check up and relaying information. We also use google drive to share information and progress. The communication among my team members have been pretty consistent, we are usually always on the page when discussing on systems and implementation. Digital communication has been both positive and challenging, we are engaging but sometimes matter most doesn’t notify me when important messages show up.

The work I have contributed to the project show detailed breakdown on its functions and guide of understanding. I try to make it as user friendly as possible. Completion on work has been successful and the work itself is being done on a consistent schedule. I used the taskboard and usually add notes on my phone during meetings on specific information for me to remember. I believe that I am a trusted team member. I can get my work done reliably and with no hassle.

Goals

Better system managing - This goal is to make the systems as modular as possible for rapid development and changing. Since this is in c++, having it friendlier to understand is good.

Improved Updates - updating on what is changed and more detailed explanation would help on understanding the tools I am building and a stronger level.

Detailed Documentation - I want to document my work not specifically the system but how to implement similar systems as I am aware that Unreal itself is not documented enough and having this documentation would improve work slow.

These goals are like walking down a path and finding apples. I would happen to achieve these goals throughout the rest of the semester.

Console Programming

Week 1