Progress report: 10/19

When it comes to programming, my biggest stumbling block has always been content. I am capable of designing formats for the databases, textures, and data that drive the engine. However, the thought of actually having to create that content - whether it is maps, graphics, or database entries - is absolutely unnerving.

To a certain extent, I can manage this problem by temporarily 'borrowing' content from other games. Over the years I've borrowed content from Ultima Online, Diablo I & II, and World of Warcraft amongst others. But in order to work on the items, I had to create an entirely new database of item attributes.

The database has about 100 different attributes for each item, and it took me 4 hours to design, implement, and fill the database with some placeholder data. I spent another hour coding an engine class that interfaced with the database and pulled data from it as necessary. However, I was unable to force myself to sit down and put this minimal database together until early this morning (again, unable to get back to sleep).

Once I had the database together, things started coming together quickly: I programmed a simple inventory panel and had the items display as an icon. Next, I'll be working on equipping items.

The art for this inventory/paper doll interface panel comes from the same old project as the statistics panel. Like everything else, it's just a placeholder.