Day 17: Explosions and Hit Detection

I'm back from vacation and have made progress! I've finally got around to implement hit detection on the shots from the user ship so that the enemy ships with be removed once shot. I've also coupled this with a explosion sprite to give it a space battle feel. I'm also planning on uploading around 10 different explosion sprites and have it randomly choose which one to display to mix it up. The menu has also been tweaked to look better with better button placement and an updated background.

The first stage is also in development. I've set it up so adding new ships will be easier than before and are all timed based upon when the level starts. To initiate the first level, I've changed it from being automatic (which seemed very abrupt) to having a "Tap to Start" mechanism. I'll try to make the 1-1 stage around 60 seconds for adequate game play. Score will be added shortly after that to make sure the player's performance has some indicator. After that, I'll be working on the enemy attacks to keep the game more interesting and fun.

Fun fact: Currently at 800 lines of code

That's all the updates for today. I'll be showing pictures of the Menu screen in the future along with the first stage when it's completed and ready.

Happy 2012 Everyone!
ML

Day 5: Shooting and HP

If you noticed,there was no day 4 post. This project is extensive but I still have real life matters to attend to so there may not be a blog post every day. The posts will still be numbered based up how long since the project began to keep it resembling a journal.

Progress today has been good and noticeable visually. I've fixed the problem with my shots not displaying (mixed up my X and Y coordinates) and implemented an HP bar for the ship based on a percentage. I've also drawn a background to make it look more appealing and not so plain.

Today also is the day that I show my first screenshot of my progress! Now before anything I must post the disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER: This and every other progress photo do not represent the final product. Everything in these photo's are subject to change without notice and only are meant to show progress in development. This and other related photo's are from various stages of development but will remain posted for the sake of visually understanding the progress made. Actual screenshot of the final build will be posted on the android market webpage once the game is released.

Now, without further ado, here is the first public screenshot of my game currently in very early in development! Again, I want to emphasize that ALL GRAPHICS in the picture are simply placeholders to test how it would look and make sure size/hit detection is correct. These graphics will ALL be replaced before release with much more modern and good looking alternatives. Still looking for artists to contribute anything if you are reading :)



I also want to let everyone know that I'll be in palm desert for the next 5 days for the holidays. Hope everyone has a great holiday season and my blog will most likely go without updates during this time.

Best Regards and Happy Holidays
ML

Day 2: Progress Being Made

After some tinkering and tutorial work with openGL ES it has become quite obvious that the functionality it offers is too advanced for what I need it for and the complexity makes it very difficult to use. I've decided to instead load bitmaps and draw through the android canvas which has proven to be much easier. From here, I've achieved drawing pictures on the screen and implemented drag/drop movements, automatic movements (great for AI enemies), and an exit button (button of the screen currently) all quite simply. Handling touch events is pretty easy in android compared to what I was expecting.

From here, I can start loading in all the UI materials I need for the game. These include a bottom bar for score, lives, time, level and other relevant information. I can also start creating my user's ship and designing it's movement and attacks similar to a galaga shooter. Once that basic framework is in place, I can start designing enemy ships, enemy attacks, movement patterns for them and really begin creating stages and levels.

I'm happy with my progress for being very early in the development phase. Once I've made decently visible progress I'll begin uploading pictures of my work.

Happy Holidays!
ML