alexmasse
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The Complexity of Making Pancakes
🕑 Added 2022-02-25 17:20:13 +0000 UTCHi there!
Alex here today to bring some live mode development progress updates. Since releasing last December’s Paramaker focused video, we’ve been able to start doing more game design tasks related to the live mode.
Paralives is made of 3 big parts: the house building mode, the Paramaker where you will create all your characters and the live mode, also called simulation mode where you will be able to manage the lives of your Parafolks in great detail. This will include fulfilling their needs, building relationships, starting a family, getting educated, progressing in their career and so on. Before we can add all these elements to the game, we need to build the foundation of the live mode which consists of enabling the characters to perform all kinds of interaction around the house with different objects or other characters. This system is quite complex and is currently draining a lot of our brainpower but we are progressing!
Making a Pancake: Not That Hard of a Task, Right?
Today, I wanted to give you a look at how many details there are to consider in order to have functional and realistic interactions in the game. I love pancakes, so let’s use the “Cook pancakes” interaction as an example for today’s post. There will be hundreds and hundreds of other complex interactions like it in Paralives: just imagine everything you do in your own house in real life on a given day! A reminder that this post is for Patrons only so please don’t share it, thank you!
- The cook pancake interaction is added to the action queue by the player.
- The Para needs to get to the fridge. The game needs to find the shortest path from the current position of the Para to the fridge.
- The Para is ready to walk to the fridge but first needs to get out of bed because they are currently sleeping. The Para waits for his energy to be replenished completely unless the player cancels the Sleeping interaction.
- The Para stops the sleeping animation.
- The Para plays a waking up animation.
- The Para plays a stretch and yawn animation with the corresponding sound effects.
- The Para pushes the sheets of the bed.
- The Para sits on the edge of the bed.
- The Para is actually on the top bed of a bunk bed.
- The Para turns around and gets on the ladder of the bed.
- The Para moves down the ladder.
- The Para gets off the ladder and stands beside it.
- The Para turns around.
- The Para walks towards the bedroom door.
- The bedroom door opens.
- The Para walks through the door.
- The bedroom door closes.
- The Para walks toward the stairs.
- The Para has to wait for another Para to walk up the stairs (it's a small staircase).
- The Para walks down the stairs.
- The Para walks into the kitchen and walks in front of the fridge.
All these steps and we haven’t even started to make the actual pancakes! I’m getting really hungry now. - The Para places their hand on the fridge’s handle.
- The door of the fridges plays the open animation while the hand of the Para is animated to stay on the handle.
- The Para moves their hand toward the pancake ingredients sitting in the fridge.
- The Para grabs the ingredients and holds them.
- The Para pulls out their hand and the ingredients from the fridge.
- The Para pushes the door of the fridge to close it.
- The fridge plays the close door animation.
- The Para turns around.
- The game needs to find the most appropriate counter to cook on based on proximity, based on if another character is not already using the counter and if the counter is not already occupied by other objects.
- The Para walks to the counter.
- The Para needs to move their arm forward to place the ingredients on the counter.
- A mixing bowl appears to prepare the pancakes.
- The Para grabs ingredients and puts them in the mixing bowl.
- The mixing bowl is slowly filling.
- A spoon appears in the Para's hand.
- The Para hand is moved over the bowl.
- The Para starts to mix the ingredients.
- The Para grabs the bowl containing the pancake liquid.
- The game needs to find the most appropriate stovetop to use (there might be multiple of them in the house) based on proximity, based on if another character is already using it and if the stovetop is not already occupied by a pan.
- The Para turns around.
- The Para walks toward the stove.
- A pan appears on the stovetop.
- The Para opens the stovetop.
- The Para pours the pancake liquid into the pan.
- The Para disposes of the mixing bowl.
- A spatula appears in the Paras hand.
- The Para waits for a moment.
- The Para looks at their watch.
- The Para looks to the right and then to their left
- The Para looks at the pancake to see if it looks ready.
- The Para reaches for the pancake with the spatula and starts to flip it.
- The pancake plays a flipping animation.
- The Para waits for a moment.
- The Para scratches their back.
- The Para waits while looking at the pancake.
- A plate appears in the hand of the Para.
- The Para, using the spatula, moves the pancake from the pan to the plate.
- The spatula is disposed of.
- The Para turns off the stovetop.
- The pan is disposed of.
After all this work for making a pancake, we might as well eat it! - The Para turns around while still holding the plate.
- The game needs to find the most appropriate place for the Para to eat. Maybe it will be outside if the weather is nice, maybe it will be at the kitchen table if there are other family members eating their breakfast there, maybe it will be on the couch in front of the TV, maybe it will be standing up if the Para just moved in and has no furniture, etc. The game ends up deciding to eat at the kitchen table because there was an empty chair and there was enough room for the plate on the table in front of the chair.
- The Para walks towards the chair while still holding the plate.
- The Para puts the plate on the table in front of the chair.
- The Para places their hand on the top of the chair.
- The chair is pulled while the Para’s hand is animated to stay on the chair while it moves.
- The Para sits on the chair and a system adapts the sitting animation dynamically to make sure that the sitting pose looks right. The feet of a smaller Para would not touch the ground while sitting while a taller Para would need to bend the knees a bit more to have a natural sitting pose.
- A fork and a knife appear in the hands of the Para.
- The Para plays an animation to cut the pancakes.
- The Para plays an animation to use the fork to get a bite into their mouth.
- The Para plays an animation to chew and swallow.
- The last steps are repeated a few times while the pancake in the plate is updated to reflect the fact that there is less and less of it left.
- During the whole eating action, the hunger of the Para got fulfilled and its comfort improved too because they're sitting on a chair
- The Para plays a happy animation because they enjoyed their meal.
You were going to leave your dirty plate on the table, weren’t you? - The Para automatically decides to wash the plate because they like it when the house is clean and tidy.
- The Para stands up from the chair to stand up beside the chair.
- The Para places their hand on the back of the chair.
- The chair is moved toward the table while the hand is animated to look like it’s pushing on the chair.
- The Para moves their hand toward the empty plate.
- The Para grabs the plate.
- The Para turns around.
- The game needs to find the most appropriate sink or dishwasher to use. Proximity will be taken into account but also, we need to check if the sink or dishwasher is already being used and also, we would prefer if the Para would wash the dishes in the kitchen rather than in the bathroom. The game decides to wash the dishes in the nearby kitchen sink.
- The Para walks toward the sink.
- The Para places the plate in the sink.
- The Para reaches for the sink handle to pour hot water.
- The sink now pours hot water.
- The Para plays an animation to wash the plate.
- The plate is updated to look clean.
- The plate disappears.
- The Para reaches for the sink handle and turns it off.
- The Para gets back into the default standing pose.
- The Para plays a relieved emotion animation.
At last, that’s it for today’s pancake adventure. Our Para is now ready to face the day and do many other interactions which will require their own set of many steps!
Interesting side notes:
- For the whole process of this breakfast interaction only, around 40 unique character animations were needed, around 25 sound effects were played and around 15 objects were used.
- All of these steps are assuming that everything goes well! The player might delete a kitchen counter while the Para was using it, the player might cancel the interaction midway, the Para might not find their way to the fridge or maybe the only path available between the fridge and the stove needs the Para to go through a swimming pool!
- You might notice that some objects like the cooking pan and the forks appeared out of thin air. This is because having to get them from cupboards and having to wash them and then put them away after use would add a lot more steps to the already complex process of making pancakes. Skipping these steps reduces the development time which is great for us since we are a small team and also, less steps means that your Para will take less time cooking pancakes and will be able to use that time to do more activities which is good since there’s never enough time in a day!
- Keep in mind that the steps listed in this post are just to illustrate the complexity of performing an interaction. Some steps might be added and others might end up being removed depending on the level of details and quantity of animations that we can produce before releasing the game.
- Want more info about our design and thinking process behind the live mode and interaction system? Check out this past Patreon posts: First Steps of a Live Mode: Interactions and Live Mode: Our Goals and Next Steps.
I hope this gave you a glimpse of all the game design and code that will be needed to perform even the simplest interactions in the house. It’s a lot! However, the hard part is thinking about all the little details and building the core of the system which will take us a while still. Fortunately, once the foundations are there, a lot of interactions will use the same features and we will eventually be able to show you complex interactions performed by our Parafolks.
I can’t wait to share more of our progress but until then, have a great weekend and take care!
Alex
Comments
Leila Allison
Ok so this is my second time trying this comment 😅 but I had a thought. You had mentioned washing dishes in other sinks (bathroom sinks🤢) and the Sims 4 has a problem with that. I don't know if this is something you've already addressed but I was thinking that (if this is possible, I'm no programmer) maybe there could be a toggle (in build mode or live mode). I.E., you - the player - clicks on the sink that is situated in the kitchen and clicks the toggle that says kitchen sink. Now this sink will only be autonomously used for washing dishes. And the same for bathroom sinks - when you toggle it will now only be used autonomously by the Parafolks to wash their hands after going to the bathroom or brushing their teeth. Like I said I don't know if you already addressed this, but this was just my idea! Keep up the good work! Have a good day Paradevs and anyone else who sees this! 💜💜
Tibbinova
I hope the action queue tasks can be moved up and down in the queue. This is something another game needs but won’t add. It’s annoying to have to cancel everything to have your sim/para do something else first. Like make Pancakes lol. I put sour cream on mine with syrup. :)
Cinderelabaiana
maravilhoso gourgeus
Jasmin Sartison
That is so much effort! Wish the team a lot of patience for this :) I don’t know why but for some reason I really hope that it would still be possible for them to grab something out of kitchen counters for cooking but if that’s too much it’s reasonable of course .
Junio Jose
Eu realmente fiquei triste por saber que os utensílios vão aparecer nas mãos dos Paras...😭😥😥 E que a pia não irá acumular panelas e pratos sujos. Mas ademais,, parabéns pelo trabalho profissional e com carinho ❤️🌹
Minakie
14. The Para walks towards the bedroom door. 15. The bedroom door opens. 22. The Para places their hand on the fridge’s handle. 23. The door of the fridges plays the open animation while the hand of the Para is animated to stay on the handle. Is there a reason why Paras will reach for the handle to open the door on the fridge but not regular doors around the house? Having a Para not be able to open a door if they're not tall enough to reach the handle might be a good way to keep naughty toddlers from running away. :)
Synthia Hubbard
So I like the idea for there to be A beauty salon career and store. I'd like if hair styles and make up had levels. So if your skill in that area was high enough, you could do advanced make up and hair styles.
Chloe-oe-o
I know I'm late to comment on this, I hope this gets seen, but I can see how while integrating emotions some of these will be eliminated. For instance, when tense you can replace the idle time while cooking with the emotion animation. I.E Tense sims who are cooking will have a tense animation while waiting to flip the pancake.
Fran Smith
I like this too. It could also be included as chores for kids. Kids could be designated chores and washing the dishes (or even loading the dishwasher) could be one of them. They could also have to clean their room, make their bed, set the table, clear the table, put the garbage out (from inside to the main outside bin)... these types of things. Of course, these chores could be chosen by the player. The doing of chores could add to the growing Para's sense of responsibility, could increase skills, could also be tied to pocket money (another feature I'd like to see ingame).
Minimouette
Instead of the sink, maybe a container that can be placed on the side of it? Because I feel it might be complex to program the sinks for something like this considering there will be more than one model. It also imply probable different animations for different level of dishes accumulated. The idea is fun though. I can imagine Paras that are slobs just not caring about the dishes, and lazy ones to be extremly annoyed having to clean it all :P
Maxx
Why am I in love with the sink monster
Synthia Hubbard
Maybe if a SO of the Para sees the sink empty they will feel more love towards the SO for cleaning lol
Synthia Hubbard
Maybe other people don't want this, but I was wondering if we could allow the Para to simply place the dishes into the sink and over time the sink would fill up. Eventually the sink would get so full it would make the para sad to use it or uncomfortable or even impossible. Maybe a sink monster could form and take over the kitchen? A special game mod or something. lol But I'd like for the sink to fill up and the para to maybe be uncomfortable washing dishes unless listening to music or thinking on life. Maybe some of the best Ideas come from washing the dishes. Though your Para hates it lol
chameleonwren
Fascinating and thoughtful, as usual! So many steps.. that each take their own list of steps to actually implement hahah
Charlotte Neill
And we wonder why there aren't many life simulation games 😅! This is even more crazy when you consider in the Sims 2; the character's eating animations change depending on personality - slob or neat characters would eat differently - this would be really cool to have in the game btw to add personality to the para! It wouldn't have to be for everything, just for some steps - attitude when getting out of bed depending on if the param was lazy or not, a night owl or an early bird etc. These are the small details that bring your character alive!
Marta Čisáriková
This post was fun and interesting to read! ♥ If I could add more animations - FLIPPING PANCAKES IN THE AIR! O:)
Sarah
Would it be possible for instead of the spoon appearing in their hand they opened a drawer and grabbed it? Those were little details I LOVED in previous life simulation games! Makes it feel more personal I guess?
JossGun Shipper
that is alot of animations to make. Can only one animator really handle all that?
Vera Ohlsen
Bedrolls, sleeping bags for when kids stay over... I would prefer it to mainly contain smaller/collapsible [sp?] items, as that would be realistic for a supply closet.
N3pharious
You could have players choose where they want to sit as opposed to autonomously having the system choose. Might make it “simpler” while also giving players more choice, but I guess you’d still have to make other paras that aren’t controlled have to do it so I guess not. Love the bathroom sink comment I CACKLED.
S&M Gonzalez
I like the supply closet idea! it'd would also be cool if once we buy the supply closet, you could click on the objects that the supply closet could be applied to. Like for example dining tables or couches,kitchen islands with barstools, the couch wouldnt have an extra spot but maybe a pillow for them to sit on beside the couch with everyone else.
LightDeficient
I love the transparency a lot but I can’t help but to feel a little hopeless after reading🥲
LightDeficient
That’s a very innovative idea actually! I’d love this
Vera Ohlsen
Same with sandwiches! Choose "set table for family meal" -> Para brings out a tray with a package of sliced bread and various meats/jams/toppings. Everyone sits down to make their own sandwiches. That is how many Danes eat lunch at home - everyone old enough to butter bread makes their own open-faced sandwich. (It's a much plainer version than the fancy ones called smørrebrød)
Vera Ohlsen
It could be fun to have a "supply closet" item that we could buy and place in the house. Then, either by clicking on the supply closet or buying it in town/on the net, we could have spare fold-up chairs stashed away for guests. It would save on "Oh, I have to buy a chair for you now, and then sell it afterwards because I have not planned for an extra chair in this room" situations.
Judi Dielman
lol!
Leopoldine
I like the idea of having a favourite place to each meal!
Leopoldine
This post was very interesting! You really take the time to explain us what you're going through, to show us the complexity of what you're doing. Oh and that made me understand why I didn't made pancakes this morning 😁😅
Leopoldine
Ooooh I love this idea! It would be so realistic!
teszter.bp
for non lunch meals it could be an option to set the table. and the cereal, bread, milk ect would magically appear on the table and you could start eating w your family. people don't cook all the time :)
Christina Ozeki
Ah I was also going to ask a similar question, but now I see from your previous reply that it is very difficult to do. Thank you for explaining.
Christina Ozeki
I really enjoy reading these update posts, it puts into perspective the amount of work and time taken for games to be produced. Especially when they are as complex as a life simulator. Also, glad you like the 'live' sounds like the 'dive' version of the word because to me it sounds more natural than the way it is pronounced on another life simulator. Like when a news broadcaster goes to a reporter at an event happening at that moment, they say 'Let's go live..' like 'dive' hehe.
Luna
Soo many steps eh? Off topic, but this is what depression feels like to me. "Make breakfast" goes from one task to a hundred depending on the day.
Paige Fletcher
This is fantastic insight into your processes. Thank you for sharing!
Sabine B
Wow thanks for breaking it down like this Alex! I knew it was a lot but there were definitely some things I would never have thought take so many steps. One request: when picking where to eat, can paras prioritise tables above all else? I hate that Sims 4 seems to prioritise where other sims are first. Why would you take your lunch to the other side of the house to sit on your little brothers bed to talk to him while he's busy playing with his toys when the dining table is less than 3 steps away? If there's a choice of tables, like breakfast nook is closer but paras are already sitting in the dining room, then prioritising the dining room with other paras makes sense. I'd also like indoor tables to be higher priority than outdoors unless it's good weather and the para has a personality that loves the outdoors. Probably a long shot but I'd love to be able to designate a preferred place for each meal when I furnish a house. For example: breakfast is at the counter, lunch on the patio weather permitting, dinner at the dining table.
Sabine B
Yep this is pretty similar to the mental process I just had to make cereal 😩
jaaama
"making pancakes is so easy!" People with mental illness:
ladyteruki
Your version makes more sense in the context of the pronunciation of Paralives :)
ladyteruki
I'm sorry for being confusing, but I totally meant that as a joke. Also I was hungry.
Camilla Fontana
It's funny how we can think that an action is simple, but when you break it down you realize that it is the opposite of simple. Thank you for explaining the difficulties of making every action count, I cannot wait to see it happen! And on my behalf, I see no issue in having the objects appear out of thin air in order to simplify actions. Yes I like realism, but not extreme realism to the point that every fraction of a second is micromanaged to insanity. Keep up the good work!
S&M Gonzalez
Speaking of a table being full and no where to sit would it be possible if they could get a spare chair that could appear and still sit with everyone ?
Dez
I love seeing the steps written out like this. I actually live my life in steps like this, I always thought I was in a simulation, I suppose it’s confirmed!
Alex Massé
Might be possible and would be nice to see for sure! It would add even more complexity though but we'll have to see how it would work and if we can do something like that
Alex Massé
I always said live like in dive but that's a really good question actually!
Alex Massé
Nice one!!
Alex Massé
Hahaha :D
Ifechi Onubogu
I'm sorry, I CACKLED at all the steps it took just to get to the PANCAKES XDDD Poor Para
BonaparteBardithion .
I like this concept, but it still comes down to routing issues. You could assign certain characters (ex: children) a smaller collision box, but you'd still run into the likelihood they'd clip through stuff.
BonaparteBardithion .
I suspect all mix-ins would use the same animations. Probably the only difference would be the texture of the batter. Though I can see a "make X pancakes" option on a fruit bowl that starts with fruit gathering and then routes to the fridge.
BonaparteBardithion .
Play sit up animation, get phone out, play dialing animation, play talking animation, open selection window, ect...
mandalabunny
Now for the real question- is it pronounced "live" mode (like live your life) or "live" mode (rhymes with dive)?
Star Zoë
That was amazing to read!!
ladyteruki
All that work, and no chocolate chips ^_^; Back to the drawing board ! I think it's slowly starting to sink in with some people why development takes time...
C
Why do I feel like this took longer to type out than to make the Actual animation for pancakes
Dizzardy
This all sounds exhausting. I think I'll just stay in bed and order takeout.
Wondrous_Mickey
I wish some basic animations for cupboards, hopefully they could be included in update after release
Serasmiu
Alex over here calling me out on my messy house. Dirty plates. On EVERY surface.
ResembleMedia_UK
It would be fun if when 2 people or more people are located near each other and say need to get to the fridge that if they know each other to ask for para b to open fridge get the milk and to hand it to para a . or if they are cooking to interact with each other like talking , or as one para is cooking the other is preparing food. Whilst the children are trying to sneak a little bite of cookie dough .
Wolfnut88
I love how this post shows the complexity of something as simple as making pancakes. While we humans can simply streamline this processes it still takes a good amount of effort for our digital counterparts to accomplish this simple task.
MexiVenus (Juno)
Some ideas after reading the post - Messy or vacuum paras (meaning they’ll eat anything and be well fed/higher food poisoning tolerance) might have the fork and knife in their hand, get ready to cut the pink cakes, and then either throw the knife and fork onto the floor, to the side, or anywhere else and start munching with their hands. Can be the same animation used for tacos or something, with just a bit more ‘urge’ Also liking the idea of a para whistling or something if they’re interested in music. They get so lost in the whistle or the song/hun that they ‘almost’ burn the pancakes but flip them just in time for that golden brown (with a sigh of relief and facial expressions added). Would love to see some personality in the paralives live mode actions. Doesn’t have to be for every skill/trait (I mean that’s be great but we all know that would take so long, and even if the team did short for every skill, they could release them in free updates for future release after the game is done). Would love the animation of the para undoing their belt buckle or something like that when they’ve had a meal, with a bit of a belly/skin showing. Might be impossible for dresses and some skirts/shirts but if there’s a way to figure out how to do this, I think it’s be great
Victoria Williams
SAME. 🤣
Victoria Williams
Thanks for sharing! I’m here for it! Is it possible to add pathing where Parafolk pour themselves a drink of choice during the cooking process or immediately after if the player chooses? I’d love to see Parafolks drinking a glass of milk or water with their pancakes! That would be so so so cool!
Cinderelabaiana
im in love
Court12413
You had me at wash dishes in KITCHEN sink 😂
Alex Massé
Yes, totally, that will help us a lot! Many many of the steps in this post will be used by other interactions which will save us a lot of work
Maiden Minnesota
Raise your hand if the email title made you think of Bob and Eliza Pancakes! LOL! 🙋♀️😂
Auntyleti
I believe in you! I hope lots of the animations can be reused or that you find ways to not overwork, because it is also important that you take care of yourselves while creating this awesome game. Good job!
Jennifer Huber
I love how you all always keep us involved in the process. My husband is a computer engineer and I know very well how complex even the simplest of tasks can be. But it is still hard to picture the intricacies of something as simple as that Parafolk making a pancake. Thank you for sharing it. You guys are simply the greatest ever!!
Callum Brunt
Random idea, what if some paras could squeeze past other paras on the stairs? Like energetic children or someone in a hurry, could run up the stairs and bump into the other para, or turn sideways to try and squeeze past, or do an awkward little side to side thing as they try to get past eachother. or maybe it's based on the apras personality or mood. Idk, just an idea Love the post btw! It's great to see the process, and hearing about all the different things you don't event hunk about when playing a simulation game is really cool to see
Amber Rodriguez
This is so neat!! I can see why the development takes a while and I love that you’re making it a preferred that the para doesn’t use the bathroom sink, as that drives me insane. I also like that they’d choose to eat outside on nice days, or that they might choose to eat while watching tv if their entertainment need is low. It makes them have a little more personality, which I greatly appreciate.
bewwy
Now I'm hungry for this game AND pancakes...
Aliza Celem Centauri
Well now I'm hungry
Michael
So complex lol! I know you guys will try to abstract and generalize as many of these steps so that they can be reused for other interactions. Like a general "mixing a bowl of food" animation could be reused in many different recipes
Pluto
Pancakes!! 🥞
