Update 27: Random Levels - Part 1

After scaling up my levels and populating them with the new assets, I went to work creating randomized levels. The original xcom had 10x10 tiles that were randomly added to a level to create a 100x100 sized level. This worked very well to create a new experience in every level, even though the buildings were often recognizable.

I've only created four 10x10 tiles so far, but I've made them all prefabs. In the screenshots below, you can see two of the prefabs highlighted. Note that this is only a 20x20 level, with only 4 tiles of 10x10 each. 

Now when I load a level I am able to randomly choose, arrange and rotate these tiles to create a random level. This is a huge step forward for my project. By creating 10x10 prefabs with content in the center, I can really create some interesting levels. Here are a few more samples:

This last sample is a 30x30 sample (9 tiles total) from a five tile set (one of the tiles is blank):

Update 21: Alpha 1.57 - Upgrading the character model

With the timing fixed, it was time to take the next step in implementing line of sight. 

An early line of sight mechanic highlighted how simple my character models were. As my characters are still just a single object (cylinder), cover effectively made my targets invisible if the one point of balance in the center of the cylinder was behind cover. It was time for me to develop my characters a little, to have multiple points (head, arms, body, etc).

Heading to my sketchpad again, I tried to design a simple model about the height and width, with arms, legs, a body and head.

The new model ends up looking a bit like this (with the old model to the left). It's a little silly looking, but is enough of a person for me to continue building the game engine.

What does he look like in a level? This is some basic animation I am using to aim at a target (The right arm is at 90 degrees - like I said "BASIC"). There is still a long way to go, but this is at least an upgrade from the cylinder.