Mar 07 2011

FIGHT BACK: CONTROLS

I set myself a goal for this week: I’d spend 40 hours actually working, no matter what! I’ve managed 8 hours on day 1, so I think I’m on target. 😀 And what have I been working on?

FIGHT BACK

Super early version below the jump, since it’s quite CPU intensive.

Arrow keys to move, X to shoot.

This is what one of my games looks like after a few hours of serious development. In my earlier post I covered how I try to nail the look, the camera and the interface before I even start coding. Once I do start coding, the first things I tackle are character movement, how things respond, and the general feel of motion. Here, that means:

  • How fast the ship can move, how it accelerates and how it decelerates when you let go
  • How fast bullets move, the bullet spread, and the timings on gun overheating and cooling off plus how that’s indicated via smoke
  • The layers of background, how fast they should scroll, and how smoothly I can get them to do it

The background is super placeholder but it achieves the right general effect. I think I’m going to add another cloud layer over the top of the action, obscuring it slightly. Then it’s on to good things like enemy ships, the dogfighting AI which will make them worthwhile, and the title feature that’s going to make Fight Back interesting and confusing. 😀

2 Comments on “FIGHT BACK: CONTROLS

  1. o_o

    I don’t think it’s tearing. I think the shimmering vertical lines (which I can now see and am unable to unsee) are due to the two overlapping background layers syncing up somehow. Maybe better background layers will fix it!

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