Prototype Progress

About a week and a half ago, I got started on programming a working prototype of my game in Game Maker.  So far, it's been surprisingly easy.

I used a few templates and tutorials from the internet to get some of the basic things down, although I did have a friend give me a hand with a few of the trickier aspects, such as how to incorporate variables into the code.  While the game has a long way to go, its current state is at least somewhat playable.  Projectiles work well, the enemies pose a threat, and the player character's movement, for the most part, works well.  However, jumping isn't as responsive as it needs to be, enemy AI is almost non-existent, the player character has a tendency to get stuck on things, sound and music volume is out of whack, certain situations give you little to no time to react, and there are still more features I want to add (like wall-jumping).

Gotta love re-colored backgrounds.  At any rate, it's best to get everything working sooner rather than later.  As soon as I get the core gameplay down, it's just a manner of producing art and crafting levels.

Annotated Bibliography

Gamer Maker 8: Engine for programming games.  Between this and Unity, this appears to be easier to learn.   I'm leaning towards this one.

Unity: Another game engine.  Supposedly has some nice features that put it ahead of Game Maker, but is a little harder to learn.  Still trying to figure out which one I should use.

Adobe Photoshop: Image editing software.  What I plan to use for most of the game's artwork.  Graphics will consist of bitmap sprites.

Adobe Illustrator: Vector art software.  Useful for making simple-shaped objects, then bringing them into Photoshop to add more detail.

Adobe InDesign: Documenting software.  Throughout development, I will need to create design documents for easy reference as to what needs to be put in the game.  InDesign offers many more features and more intuitive control than Microsoft Word.

FL Studio (Fruity Loops): Music creation software.  Not the greatest selection of instruments, but is available on PC and very easy to use.

Logic Pro: Another music creation program.  Much better-sounding instruments than Fruity Loops.  However, it's only available on Mac, which I don't have, so I'd have to come to school to use it.  Also, the control is less intuitive than Fruity Loops and takes longer to place notes.

Mega Man X: Time to discuss other games than influenced mine.  This was released in 1993 for the SNES.  It plays similar to how I want my game to be: you can only shoot straight, you can jump from walls (allowing more vertical movement and level design, as well as hitting flying enemies), and enemies are placed at strategic spots in the level, making for a greater challenge.  You can also find upgrades that increase you strength.

Castlevania: Another classic game series, starting in 1986.  The player wields a whip with limited range, and like Mega Man, you can only attack straight.  However, there are also sub-weapons you can have that give you diversity in combat, such as axes that you can throw upward, or holy water you can drop on enemies below.  You can only have one of these at a time, and they require ammunition, adding a layer of strategy to the game.  I had considered allowing 8-directional shooting in my game, but this style will be easier to create a more tightly-balanced experience with, as opposed to your main gun being the end-all solution to everything.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon: A spinoff expansion of Far Cry 3 released in 2013, Blood Dragon is a first-person shooter that parodies 80s action movies, such as Terminator.  The soundtrack, composed by the band Power Glove,  consists of the same early synthesized music found in such movies.  The result is quite effective, and a huge inspiration for my game's soundtrack.  The game also featured comic book-style cutscenes with very limited animation (played for laughs).  I'll have to do the same thing due to time constraints, even if it's not as funny as when a multi-million dollar company does it.