Emissary Programming Task List
Nov. 7, 1996
Michael White

Here's a list of tasks and estimated time required for each.
Note: Items with a "*" are new, and were not on the original task list.


USER INTERFACE:
  New Interface: 2-4 weeks
	This one's tough to judge because there's little existing interface
	code yet to start from.

	Also, non-game interface things, such as menus, start-up and demo
	sequences, etc. need to be fleshed out so I can start thinking about
	programming issues involved.  (We're planning on doing this at an
	upcoming meeting.)

  Network Map:
  	I imagine the network "map" to be art in the database.

  Help Screen: 1 day - 1 week
	Note: since this shows key layouts, we might want to make it so that
	you can edit key mappings in this screen.  It might be cool to put
	this into the data log.

  Data Log: 4 weeks
	It would help if I had more specifics on this, i.e. a listing of the
	specific types of screens that would be needed.

  Load / Save / Options: 1 - 3 weeks +
	Load and save should be mostly implemented by Unreal.  However,
  	if we need to modify it, it could be tough and require lots of
  	debugging time.

	I'm not sure what exactly "Options" entails.  (Screen brightness
  	adjustment, etc?)

* Radar view: 2 weeks
	This might come for free if Tim thinks of it...  But, it probably
	wouldn't be too hard and might help set Emissary apart.

* Automap: 2 - 3 weeks, time allowing
	May not be worth doing or quite difficult given the 3-D nature of the
	maps.


GAME MECHANICS:

  Drone Sizes: 1 day - 2 weeks
	Drone sizes may in fact be taken care of already and I'd just have
	to punch in the numbers.  Otherwise, it could be fairly complicated.
	I'll probably be able to have a better estimate after working on the
	tech document from researching the code.

  Drone to Drone Movement: 1 - 2 weeks
	Similar to drone sizes.  Probably mostly implemented in Unreal already,
	but hard to tell.

  Weapons: 1 - 2 weeks
	Much of this is certainly handled by Unreal, but customized weapons
	will probably take some time.  Note that guided missiles, and possibly
	all ammo fired, may have its own AI (like monsters).  Also, laser-
	type weapons (a blast of light with no time-to-target) may have to
	be programmed.

  Power Ups: 1 week
	This should be mostly handled by Unreal, but again, specific
	modifications could be time-consuming.

  Monster & Drone AI: 3 - 5 weeks
	This is a very rough estimate as we don't have the scripting language
	yet.

	One possibly time-intensive thing here would be monsters that roam
	through levels between various "checkpoints".  ("Mad Emissary",
	"Engineer Ravager")

* Special mechanical effects: 1 - 2 weeks
	Surface friction, ceiling-walkers, etc.


SOUND:

  Music Added: 1 - 3 days.
	Should be a matter of putting files in the right place and testing
	them.

  Voice Added: What voice?
	Is this like Duke3d's "Holy Cow!"?  In any event, voice stuff should
	take a day or so, like SFX.

  SFX Added: 1 - 3 days.
	Same as "Music added"


SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS:
  Special Screen Effects: 2 - 3 weeks
	Static, v-hold, jarred point of views, etc.  I'll have to get together
	with Design to get their specific needs.

* Special Character Visual Effects: 2 - 3 weeks
	This includes coloring players in multiplayer modes,  "chameleon"
	effects (as seen in "Predator"), glowing tatoos and lights,
	textures reflecting damage levels (if possible)


MULTIPLAYER:
* Get up and running: 1 - 2 weeks
	Some code changes may be necessary to get network play working with
	our other changes.

* Additional multiplayer modes: 2 - 4 weeks, if time allows
	Implement modes of play which we want but are not directly supported
	by Unreal.  Since we don't know what multiplayer modes there will be,
	this is tough to estimate.

MISCELLANEOUS:

  Install Program: 1 week (More if custom)
	Rob suggested doing a custom install, a la "Command and Conquer".
	This would probably take at least 3-4 weeks, but could be adapted
	for other future games.

  Compile Demo: 2 - 3 days
	This time is assuming that the game is at a stable, playable point.
