Refactor Inventory: Persist Building Level And XP

by Alex Johnson 50 views

Objective

The primary objective of this refactoring endeavor is to modify the existing inventory system to store specific instances of buildings, represented as BuildingInstance, rather than simply retaining static data references via BuildingData. This crucial change ensures that when a building undergoes an upgrade and is subsequently returned to the inventory, its meticulously earned level and experience points (XP) are steadfastly preserved. This enhancement significantly contributes to a more engaging and persistent player experience within the game.

Currently, the game's inventory system operates using an Array[BuildingData] within the GameManager. This means that when a building is returned to the inventory, the game essentially destroys the associated BuildingEntity and adds the generic BuildingData back to the list. This process inadvertently leads to the loss of valuable player progress, specifically the building's level and xp. These attributes are vital for reflecting player investment and progression within the game, making their preservation a paramount concern. The existing save system further complicates matters by serializing the inventory as a list of paths pointing to BuildingData resources. This approach, while straightforward, lacks the capacity to capture and restore the dynamic state of individual buildings. Therefore, a comprehensive refactoring is essential to address these limitations and ensure a robust and player-friendly inventory system. This involves not only modifying the data structures used to store building information but also updating the save system and gameplay logic to accommodate the persistence of building state. The ultimate goal is to create a seamless and intuitive experience for players, where their efforts in upgrading and developing their buildings are consistently recognized and rewarded by the game.

Analysis

The analysis of the current system reveals several key areas that need attention to achieve the objective of persisting building state. Currently, GameManager.inventory is structured as an Array[BuildingData]. This design choice means that when a building is returned to the inventory, the game destroys the BuildingEntity and merely adds the BuildingData back to the list. The crucial consequence of this process is the loss of the building's level and xp, effectively resetting the player's progress for that particular building. This is a significant issue because it undermines the player's sense of accomplishment and investment in upgrading their buildings. The level and XP represent tangible progress and their loss can be frustrating and demotivating for players. Furthermore, the save system exacerbates this issue by serializing the inventory as a list of paths to BuildingData resources. This method only stores the type of building, not its specific state (level, XP). Consequently, when the game loads a saved inventory, it can only recreate buildings at their base level, disregarding any upgrades or progress made by the player. This limitation highlights the need for a more sophisticated serialization mechanism that can capture and restore the full state of each building in the inventory. In essence, the current system treats buildings as interchangeable instances of the same type, rather than as unique entities with their own history and progression. To address this, the refactoring must focus on creating a data structure that can represent individual building instances, along with their specific attributes, and a save system that can persist this information across game sessions. This will ensure that players' efforts are properly recognized and rewarded, leading to a more satisfying and engaging gameplay experience. By understanding these limitations, we can develop a targeted and effective refactoring strategy that addresses the core issues and creates a more robust and player-friendly inventory system.

Implementation Proposal

To effectively address the challenges identified in the analysis, a comprehensive implementation proposal is outlined below. This proposal details the necessary steps to refactor the inventory system and ensure the persistence of building state, including level and XP. This involves creating a new resource type, updating the GameManager, modifying the save system, adapting the user interface, and adjusting gameplay mechanics.

  1. Create BuildingInstance Resource:

    A cornerstone of this refactoring effort is the creation of a new class called BuildingInstance, which will extend the Resource class. This BuildingInstance resource will serve as the primary container for all the dynamic information associated with a specific building in the inventory. It will encapsulate the following key properties:

    • data: BuildingData: This property will hold a reference to the static data associated with the building, such as its type, cost, and base stats. This allows the BuildingInstance to access the fundamental characteristics of the building.
    • level: int: This integer property will store the current level of the building, representing the player's progress in upgrading it. This is a crucial piece of information that needs to be persisted.
    • xp: int: This integer property will store the experience points accumulated by the building. XP can be used for various gameplay mechanics, such as unlocking new abilities or further upgrades. Persisting XP adds another layer of player progression and investment.

    By creating this dedicated BuildingInstance resource, we establish a clear and organized way to represent individual buildings in the inventory, along with their specific state. This is a fundamental step towards achieving the goal of persisting building level and XP.

  2. Update GameManager:

    The GameManager plays a central role in managing the game's inventory. Therefore, significant updates are required to align with the new BuildingInstance resource. The following changes will be implemented:

    • Change inventory to Array[BuildingInstance]: The inventory property, which currently holds an array of BuildingData, will be modified to hold an array of BuildingInstance. This ensures that the inventory can store the dynamic state of each building.
    • Update add_building_to_inventory: The add_building_to_inventory function will be updated to accept and add BuildingInstance objects to the inventory. This function is responsible for adding new buildings to the inventory, so it needs to be adapted to handle the new resource type.
    • Update remove_building_from_inventory: Similarly, the remove_building_from_inventory function will be updated to remove BuildingInstance objects from the inventory. This ensures that buildings can be properly removed from the inventory when needed.

    These updates to the GameManager are essential for integrating the BuildingInstance resource into the core inventory management system. By modifying the inventory data structure and the associated functions, we ensure that the game can correctly store and retrieve building instances with their specific states.

  3. Update Save System:

    To ensure that building state is preserved across game sessions, the save system must be updated to serialize the properties of BuildingInstance. This involves the following changes:

    • Serialize BuildingInstance properties (path to data + level + xp) instead of just paths: The save system will be modified to serialize not only the path to the BuildingData associated with each BuildingInstance, but also the level and xp properties. This ensures that all the relevant information about a building's state is saved.
    • When loading, create BuildingInstance from serialized data: The loading process will be updated to create BuildingInstance objects from the serialized data. This involves reading the path to the BuildingData, the level, and the xp, and then constructing a BuildingInstance with these values. This ensures that buildings are recreated with their correct state when the game is loaded.

    These updates to the save system are critical for ensuring the persistence of building state. By serializing the BuildingInstance properties and updating the loading process, we guarantee that players' progress is saved and restored correctly.

  4. Update UI:

    The user interface needs to be updated to reflect the new BuildingInstance resource and display the level of buildings in the inventory. This involves the following changes:

    • InventoryPanel must display the level of the item: The InventoryPanel, which displays the contents of the inventory, will be updated to show the level of each building. This allows players to easily see the progress they have made on their buildings.
    • BuildingCard must display the level of the item: The BuildingCard component, which is used to represent buildings in the UI, will also be updated to display the level of the building. This ensures that the level is visible in all relevant parts of the UI.

    These UI updates are important for providing players with clear and consistent information about their buildings. By displaying the level of each building, we make the player's progress more visible and tangible, enhancing their sense of accomplishment.

  5. Update Gameplay:

    Several gameplay mechanics need to be updated to properly handle the BuildingInstance resource and ensure that building state is maintained during gameplay. This involves the following changes:

    • GridManager.place_building: Initialize the new entity with the level from BuildingInstance: When a building is placed on the grid, the new BuildingEntity will be initialized with the level from the corresponding BuildingInstance. This ensures that the building starts with the correct level and stats.
    • MainGame._on_return_requested: Create a BuildingInstance with the current level before adding to inventory: When a building is returned to the inventory, a new BuildingInstance will be created with the current level of the building. This BuildingInstance will then be added to the inventory, ensuring that the level is preserved.

    These gameplay updates are essential for ensuring that the building state is correctly maintained throughout the game. By initializing buildings with the correct level when they are placed and creating BuildingInstance objects when they are returned to the inventory, we ensure that the player's progress is consistently recognized and rewarded.

By implementing these proposed changes, we can effectively refactor the inventory system to persist building state, including level and XP. This will result in a more robust, player-friendly, and engaging game experience.

In conclusion, this refactoring proposal outlines a comprehensive plan to enhance the inventory system by persisting building states. This will significantly improve the player experience by ensuring their progress is saved and reflected in the game. For more information on game development best practices, you can visit Game Programming Patterns.