Classes

I hate AS3!!! I've been redoing my code and restructuring it, I've created folders but I might have bitten off more than I can chew, I'm needing more and more classes for what will be a very basic game...

More 3D less code

I've dropped the code for a bit, it was getting me down (why did I pick flash over unreal again?). Here is a snapshot of what I've been doing..

3D

I've started some 3D creation this week, I've opened zBrush and its very...confusing. I've been having a play and hopefully I'll get something going soon

Big Decision!

I've decided to completly restructure my code. The way I have it at the moment is really amatuerish and incorresctly structured. To make my life easier and to hopefully aid a leaderboard creation I'm going to completly re do it. Because I have been making as I've been learning the code is all over the place. I'm going to now split it all up into classes :/

No Custom Music :(

I've officially given up on having custom music, its just not working out and I'm running out of time. I'm also having problems with a leaderboard, this is completly new territory to me with xml etc, so i'll see how I go I really need this or else the game is going to be way too basic.

Own Music

I’ve had another look at been able to play your own songs in flash. It does appear possible with the introduction with flash player 10 I think it was, although the code for me anyway is very complicated and whether I can get it working with the code for my game etc is a big question, I’d really like to give it a go though as it will really boost my game I think. I’ll keep returning to this in the hope I can write something that will work in my game.

I've also been working on my documentation which has taken up most of my time this week.

Stars

I’ve been having a go at creating a star field to give the game some life and depth. I started making some in Photoshop like the planets creating one that looks realistic is quite easy. I thought to myself I want something a bit more fun and maybe to replace the extra sense of motion and 3D space I had with the trail effect so I turned (with a sense of due diligence) to flash and my friend AS3. What I’ve got now is some stars that move about the screen according to mouse position. It’s simple but I think effective, effective enough that I’m having it across the in game screen and menu screens to give it a space feel. I’m also creating a planet version that will move a slower pace according to perspective. It works well but again I’m pushing it with performance, it is a little laggy when operating in conjunction with my particle menu.

Add Music

One of the important aspects that I would like to get in my game is the ability to add and play your own music from your computer. This I knew would be very complicated and James said to me that it would probably not be possible for security reasons. I’ve had a look into it and it is very difficult I believe but I’ll return to it as it’s something that would really give the game long life. I would also like to be able to play songs that are located on the net; I think this will be a much easier option. I have already prototyped it by entering a website I knew contained an mp3 and it worked perfectly so all I have to do is add code so that the player types this code in themselves probably using an input box.

Menus

I’ve been at the high score table and menu graphics this week, It’s going ok rather simple at the moment, it would have all been pointless if I hadn’t have worked out my problem I’d been having. I managed to work out a way round it today, it might not be the most exquisite piece of programming but I’m hoping it will do the trick, it’s a bit of problem solving I can add to my repertoire anyway. I’ve also been working on some menu graphics for my menus. My original idea was to have just a menu in space, but it looks rather simple, like I can’t be bothered so I have decided to create the look of been inside a space station looking out into space. I want it very minimalist. I tried to go for the look of the station in Space 2001, and the apple look of shiny, glossy white plastic. I love this look but it’s hard to recreate well for me anyway. I thought my early tries were going well but I hated them more and more, I think I am closer now though. Like a lot of my work in the client brief we working on it’s been time consuming Photoshop work but I’ve quite enjoyed doing it, it’s been a real rest bite from malfunctioning code. I’m sure someone more skilled than me could make a much better job but I think they are getting there.I've also created my own nebula/ map.

Game Elements and Power Up

I’ve had another bash at my power up code today and tweaked it, to make it more arcady and implemented it finally into my game. I’ve got some nice arcade pop ups etc to make it more fun, I haven’t addressed yet the main problem of making levels different. James suggested that in my last tutorial that I use flash’s capability to get the bpm of a song and use that information to spawn characters on screen. I wasn’t sure this was possible, as in my previous attempts few months ago, when I was experimenting with different approaches I had to use several different software packages to achieve this. I had use adobe audition to get the actual bmp in numerical values then import that into flash. He suggested that it was the book I have been learning from but I cannot locate it. Using the bmp approach would be good as I think I stated in a post before but having to use other software apart from flash would mean it wouldn’t work with people playing their own songs.

Game Elements

My main unresolved problem at the moment is having levels be affected drastically enough by music to make one song/level be different enough from each other. At the moment they are too similar, which I don’t mind too much, it’s more about fun and playing songs you want to play and beating friend’s scores, who share a passion for the same song but I get the feeling that, that isn’t good enough for an FMP. It’s something that I really don’t have a concrete solution to. I can fill each level jam full of different score affecting solutions, such as my power up thing, but to make one level very different to another level based just on music is tough, very tough and is something that’s constantly on my mind.