More Stuff...
Programming the first boss is always the hardest, not just because I have to figure out the best way to program them, but because my engine has to be tweaked to support all the exact features I need. I made some more progress last night, here's some screenies.
Mechanically, I haven't made the boss more complex. As an early boss, I'll keep him simple. However, I've added FX and some basic attack patterns.
Here I show a basic glow. I later reduced the size of the glow, as it was (A) obscuring bullets and (B) eating quite a lot of cycles.
Here I show it with glowing shots and missiles. I had to figure out how to use Torque2D's constant force function - "gravity", essentially. I couldn't get the damn thing to work! Then I realized it was just that, for reasons unknown to me, their gravity was REALLY TINY. So I started multiplying all my values by 100, and I got some solid missile and boss movement arcs.
Screenie
I added a player-tracking turret to the mix at the end, and found a bug big enough that I decided it was time to stop for the night.
Unlike other shooters, the player's turret allows him to fire in any direction. This means that he can crowd into any "safe zone" he can find. In other games, safe zones are fine, so long as the player can't do any damage while in them. However, my player can do damage regardless of his position.
There are two solutions: erase all safe zones or put up invulnerable shielding against them. The turret is the first kind.
Due to a limitation in T2D, it is very difficult to rotate the main body and attachments all at the same time. This means that having bosses which rotate to face you is quite hard.
For this particular boss, that means you can get in the upper corners and pound it, and the vast majority of its firepower continues cycling worthlessly down the front of the screen. I think what I'll do is create giant steam plumes coming out the sides of the boss, and those will do damage. That'll contain the player to the front portion of the screen. If I do that, then this particular boss won't even need a turret.
By the way, the reason I was so adamant about adding sparklies to the bullets is because screenshots were looking pathetic. There was no sense of movement. Now there is. :)
Mechanically, I haven't made the boss more complex. As an early boss, I'll keep him simple. However, I've added FX and some basic attack patterns.
Here I show a basic glow. I later reduced the size of the glow, as it was (A) obscuring bullets and (B) eating quite a lot of cycles.
Here I show it with glowing shots and missiles. I had to figure out how to use Torque2D's constant force function - "gravity", essentially. I couldn't get the damn thing to work! Then I realized it was just that, for reasons unknown to me, their gravity was REALLY TINY. So I started multiplying all my values by 100, and I got some solid missile and boss movement arcs.
Screenie
I added a player-tracking turret to the mix at the end, and found a bug big enough that I decided it was time to stop for the night.
Unlike other shooters, the player's turret allows him to fire in any direction. This means that he can crowd into any "safe zone" he can find. In other games, safe zones are fine, so long as the player can't do any damage while in them. However, my player can do damage regardless of his position.
There are two solutions: erase all safe zones or put up invulnerable shielding against them. The turret is the first kind.
Due to a limitation in T2D, it is very difficult to rotate the main body and attachments all at the same time. This means that having bosses which rotate to face you is quite hard.
For this particular boss, that means you can get in the upper corners and pound it, and the vast majority of its firepower continues cycling worthlessly down the front of the screen. I think what I'll do is create giant steam plumes coming out the sides of the boss, and those will do damage. That'll contain the player to the front portion of the screen. If I do that, then this particular boss won't even need a turret.
By the way, the reason I was so adamant about adding sparklies to the bullets is because screenshots were looking pathetic. There was no sense of movement. Now there is. :)
posted by Craig Perko at 8:59 AM
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