Throughout the course of the Externship, I haven't had an in-person resource to help me through the the problems i've faced. However, that issue has not prevented me from eliminating roadblocks and moving forward. My externship is not only teaching me computer programming and game design. Externship is also teaching me how to research and find the information I need to solve specific problems, as well as significant utilisation of trial and error creation. I learned that the number one key is patience. Frustration can cause me to get sloppy, but with enough time and effort there has yet to be a problem I couldn't eventually push through.
For Example: Today I continued work on the main menu and level selection screen (video preview tomorrow). I shifted gears from a simple text overlay to having the main menu be an active scene. In order to traverse the main menu, I wanted the camera to move smoothly between preset positions. This is achieved through a repeatedly run function that interpolates between two numbers and updates that value. That value is then substituted for the camera's position and rotation, allowing smooth transitions. The problem was the method I implemented (found widespread on the internet) was not truly linear. The transition speed would change, but most importantly, the camera would never fully reach the end position. It would end up in a slightly different position every time. It turns out, despite taking precautions not to, the method was dependent on frame rate. I searched the web, and came across THIS blog post. The post contained an a detailed explanation of the problem and the solution. However, the example script didn't fit directly into my code, and only worked for translations. I learned from its implementation, however, and created my own that also had support for rotation and going to predefined points (and not just forward). I can now transition between two points in the main menu screen smoothly and with perfect accuracy! Tomorrow I will finish up the main menu screen. I will also post a video showcasing it.
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