I think the experimental phase of Fight Back is done now and I have a fairly good grip on the core mechanics. That means it’s time to stop playing around and plot a course for the end of the project.
The last stuff to go in is content, polish and structure. Content wise, here’s the first ‘boss’ ship. It’s a heavily armoured ship that drops homing explosive mines.
Structure wise, I’m working out what I want to include in the game (in terms of minigames and progression) and part of that means laying out the menu screen, or screens, I want to include. Here’s the layout I’m considering at the moment:
Though now that I look at it, it’s missing the “Encyclopaedia” link. I want to have something in there that explains how all the individual ships work and lets you try them out. Maybe I’ll move the upgrades to their own screen as well – it’d give me room for a few more and help the main menu look less cluttered.
Polish wise, I’m continuously testing the game with people and refining stuff. I already have some changes to the UI in mind, so it’s definitely not done yet!
I haven’t worked out a schedule but I want to finish this by the end of April. Let’s see how that goes!