Dev Log #1.1 – 17th December 2024

Inventory System Progress, Personal Struggles, and the Fight to Rebuild

Hey everyone. Today’s dev log is going to be a bit different. Normally, I like to focus on the game’s progress and share what I’ve been working on, but there’s been a lot on my mind, and it’s hard to focus right now. Before I dive into the technical details, I want to share something personal that’s weighing heavily on me. It’s hard to talk about, but I know it’s part of this journey.

The Fight to Rebuild

Earlier today, Children’s Social Care (CSC) canceled a core group meeting we were supposed to have. For those who don’t know, a core group meeting is when professionals—like social workers, family members, and legal representatives—come together to discuss a plan of action for the children involved. It’s a critical space where we can ask questions and clarify things about family time, especially with the holidays coming up. My children want to see me, and I desperately want to see them. But the meeting was canceled last minute, and it feels like a huge blow.

What frustrates me the most is that CSC keeps telling us they’re doing this “to help the family rebuild the relationships,” but that’s not the reality. It’s hard to swallow when I think about how we got here. The original social worker wouldn’t even talk to me, avoided me, and pre-judged me from the start. He made claims that I was abusing drugs and alcohol, which aren’t true, and then tried to block my access to the kids. When we called him out on his actions, he took us to court, framing it as “we've refused to sign paperwork,” when that wasn’t the case at all.

And now, after failing to send invites to all the professionals involved in today’s meeting, they canceled it, saying they “forgot” to include everyone. It feels like nothing but lies on top of lies. My solicitor has told me today that I can go and see the police disclosure, but I’m terrified. Almost three months have gone by, and I still haven’t received any mental health support—it’s going to be at least four more months before I get any. Meanwhile, I’m going to have to face what my daughter has said I supposedly did to her. It’s beyond heartbreaking.

I’m lost. I feel like I’ve got no one to turn to. No one to talk to about how overwhelming this is. The 100-day challenge is turning into a journal, where I talk about my personal battles as much as the game’s progress.

Inventory System Updates

On a more technical note, let’s talk about the progress I’ve made with the inventory system. I’ve been working hard to create something flexible and functional for Rotten Dawn. Here’s where I’m at:

• BP_MasterItemActor: 
  This is the core blueprint for all items in the game. It handles the code for the items themselves. I’m using this to create child classes for different item types, like ranged and melee weapons, food, tools, etc. This approach allows me to quickly add new items without rewriting code for each one.
• BP_MasterItemObject:
  This blueprint is the heart of how inventory items function. It’s responsible for things like item decay, durability, and stack limits. Since the inventory system is built on top of this object, I can easily add new item behaviors and track their status.
• Global Inventory Manager:
  This system manages inventories across the game world, including saving and loading all containers and player inventories. It ensures that every item and container is tracked in real-time.

Current Challenge: Stacking Issue

The inventory system works well overall, but I’m facing a bit of a problem with stacking. When I try to update the quantity of items in the inventory object, the stack behavior doesn’t update correctly. I’ve identified that the issue lies in the way quantities are checked and updated. To fix this, I plan to implement a local temporary variable to better manage the stacking behavior before finalizing the changes.

Next Steps: Widget Development

Tonight, I’ll be starting work on the basic widget system for the inventory. This will allow me to test the inventory functions more easily and identify any bugs or errors. The widget will include drag-and-drop functionality, item descriptions, and visual feedback when interacting with the inventory, helping me refine the system further.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest: It’s hard to focus on Rotten Dawn when everything else feels so overwhelming. But I’m doing my best to keep going. Even though I feel like I’m battling the world, I know I have to keep pushing forward, and this game is somewhat helping me stay focused.

Thank you all for your continued support (none at the moment, but AI said i need to put it 😒). It means a lot to me. I’m still here, trying to make this project happen, and I appreciate you being part of this journey.

Until next time,