Trail Effect

I’ve been experimenting with a sort of trail effect. I wanted something to give the character that extra feel of movement around the screen. The effect I’m using the pixels from a picture and blurs them to nothing with a host of variables you can change. I created some really nice effects, again lost in pictures, just looks like a blur, but in motion they look really nice. The effect is the trail seems to bleed into the black background, which is in effect is what is happening; the black background is a pixel sprite in itself. As always this worked great in my prototypes but did not go well in project, I really don’t think it is feasible, a particle system is resource intensive, music to particles is 100 x more intensive, and this trail effect is also very intensive with the lot of them together the slowdown was affecting game play. For this reason I doubt I’ll include it but maybe find an alternative, it’s given me ideas for future projects if AS3 doesn’t drive me to suicide.

Menu System

I’ve worked on my menu screen this week, well the menu part anyway. It doesn’t go anywhere yet, but the majority of it is working. It’s a little dodgy on the labels for the buttons they shake from side to side, a little bit like me when I’m working with AS3! Each button is basically made up of small particles (particles again!) that line up in the shape of rectangles, then when you hover over them they dissipate and float in mid air like they are in space, then when you remove your mouse they reform in order to create the button. It’s a really nice look and I think it really ties in well with the space theme. With my menu been in space the effect should work well, especially coupled with my nebula.

Nebula

I’ve changed my focus a little and I have been working on visuals for the game. I’ve quite enjoyed working on this aspect this week, it’s been refreshing to write code that works and get something that looks pleasing in return. I’ve been changing the colour values RGB according to music of pictures. I chose a particularly colourful nebula to practice with and I’ve been trying out different music. You can’t really appreciate it properly in the pictures, I’ve provided links to some working, which may or may not still be there, and they are only there temporarily to show other people. I sent them to fellow students they seem to have been well received both for the visuals and choice of music, which is encouraging. They are almost mood visualizations of the song, the nice chilled out musical ones are smooth transitions between colours with nice blues and reds coming in, where as a song like aerodynamic could give you an epileptic fit. I’m thinking of using these on them menus, perhaps for the map screen, where you select song/levels or main menu screen.

Planets

I’ve created some planets to go in the game, they are ok I think. It’s hard to get the right look of them though. I’d like a really cool, fun looking cartoon style, preferably like Little Big Planet, but I’m not an artist. It’s actually quite easy to make a realistic looking planet with Photoshop but to make a cartoon one that doesn’t look just look like a circle chucked in is surprisingly hard. I’ve gone from cartoon to a glossy look and back again.

Particle Experimentation

Been tinkering with my particles, I can’t decide on a looks, or size, or amount of them. I really can change most aspects of them with some changes in the code, as they are drawn using the graphics API, I think it might be a case of too much choice. Too big and they fill the screen too little and they are hard to see, James suggested that my 1000 x 800 screen size is too big, so I’ve scaled it down to 800 x 600, making everything very cramped. I believe that my particles fire off too much, I have them on a timer, the faster the timer fires, the more often the sound data gets captured, the more accurately the particles match the music. That’s great but from a game point of view there a crazy number of particles to collect let alone the potential slow down. So I’m wondering if to set them off at fewer intervals but at the same time keep to the music, it’s a tough balance to keep.

Code code code

No luck so far with my coding problem, so it beats me again. Forums; my savours with my last big problem are coming up negative, I must hold the record for the post most viewed with 0 replies, I think on one forum I was up to 30+ views/ 0 replies after a few hours, I look like going bumping later or I’m on my own. Failing miserably at that I thought I’d prototype a different control system I thought might work, rather than “been” the mouse, I’ll try having the character travel to the mouse. I really like this method; it’s not instant like the old system but more reactive and fluidic than key presses. I’m quite pleased with this system and for once one of my prototypes has implemented into my main project file seamlessly, a first I think (it’ll definitely snow now). I’ve made it so the character face the mouse so appears to be floating/flying around in space and your mouse (icon hidden) is setting his path.

Score board

I’ve decided to start work on a score board. I’ve had a look and it seems the best way is mysql and databases, with code PHP to send and retrieve information. Now I didn’t know that much about AS3 until last year, I know zero about PHP and haven’t touched a database since my A- level years, so I’ve looked for alternatives. I am going to try and use a different method where by the scores are written to a text file, with a minimal amount of PHP. I do not think it will be the most secure method, I read researched about all the measures you can take to protect your databases from getting hacked I don’t think I’ll be implementing such features on my text file. I don’t really have the time to learn all the new skills to create a sql database and link it to flash, I may learn it in a week, it would more than likely take me years! But if there’s time at the end I will definitely come back to it.

Wicked, Another Problem

Hit another problem today with the code, I was getting worried I would go a day without a code problem, alas my fears were dispelled when I tried to have a finish screen. I wanted to have your final score pop up when the music stopped, either on a new frame (not really the most optimized way) or just dynamically removing everything with code (it is after all dynamically added), either way a screen blank screen with your score on. Not as easy as I hoped, there were a lot of eventlisteners (code that with functions tells flash to set off series of events) that were still trying to fire off. I removed all but one at run time when the song finishes but there was one that would not stop, it’s a problem again addressing two elements, one in the fla the other in the external as. file. I hate classes! It’s beaten me for the time being and I’ll come back to it. It’s something that I will have to face though because until that’s sorted I can’t do anything but play one level/song. Did I mention I hate classes?

Control

I’ve been prototyping a control system with keyboard inputs. It works ok but it feels a little restricted, it’s ok I think when you only want to go left or right and maybe jump now and then, or if you need to travel a long time in a certain direction like an rpg, but game is kind of free roam round the screen and changing directions fast, so I feel it doesn’t really work. I’ll keep investigating different controls.

Improvements to be made

The presentation went OK, but I’d like to improve on my current grade, James understood my problems that differ from everyone else who are going to have an unreal game final result. James brought up concerns that each level would not be different enough from the last, which has been worrying me, and I’ve been trying to think up game play elements to improve this. He was also not keen on my control system, as he said it will just be wiping the mouse across the screen, no real skill, I wholly agree. He suggested that I try key board controls which I will in the next day or so.