We Have a Player

I have been working on a very simple game called Dodger. Previously I just had obstacles moving. Now I added a player symbol. Put up a black background. Added colors for obstacles and the player. The big coup is I got keyboard input working. You can use the arrow keys to move the player left and right.

Next big challenge is to add collision detection. I want there to be a penalty if you crash into an obstacles. This is a dodging game after all. After that I might give the player a couple lives, implement scoring, and we might just have a minimal game on our hands. Go team.

Game Clone Overload

Previously I decided I wanted to write a clone of Pac Man. Sounded legit. But now I think that may have been too ambitious a project. I start school in a week and a half. Wanna get something completed before school demands become too high. Therefore I have reverted back to coding a game called Dodger.

I got the idea from reading a post by Al Sweigart. He is the author of some books about writing games with Python. Al recommends you write a lot (50+) of simple games to learn game development. The first he recommends is this Dodger style game. Bad guys zoom down the screen and you need to avoid them.

I decided to write my game in Java. This is a good excuse to brush up on my Java GUI programming. So far I have randomly placed the bad guys on the screen. And they move downward. Now I need to put up some symbology for the player. Maybe a space ship? I am looking forward to another idea from Al - writing a snake style game. First things first though.

Pac Man Fever

Earlier this summer, I learned how to write Windows 8 apps. It was a tough education. Actually learned most of the lessons by reading a book on writing Windows 8 Apps with C#. Translated the ideas to my C++ apps. Created about 10 apps in all. Six of them are now featured in the Windows store. As soon as I get some cash, I am going to put up a nice web site to market my apps. Right now I have some placeholders on a free web site.

Learned how to write Windows 8 Apps took a toll on me. I was staying up late every night. Stopped exercising. Stopped working on projects out in the yard. Pretty much got into a funk. Ever since I completed the apps, I have not been doing much programming. I think I created maybe 1 mickey mouse sized utility in Java. Whew. I need to get back to coding.

Today I decided I would write a Pacman clone. That is a sizeable task. I think I am up to it. Only have a month before the fall semester starts at school. This semester I am taking a tough class (intro to PHP). So I need to knock out Pacman in the next month or so. Baby steps though. First chore is to write the Pacman Level Editor (PLE). This will allow me to draw and save the maze. That will be a cool little tool. I think I shall write it in Java for kicks.

Intuitive Controls

I have been downloading free iOS games to my iPad. Some have been fun. Others were disappointments. I think the deciding factor was how easily I could figure out how to play the game. Take Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP. It has a bunch of blocky style stick figures as characters. There were some instructions on how to interact with the game to begin. However I never really figured out what double tap or hold down your finger meant. Thus I was confused the whole time I played the game.

I had the exact opposite experience with Where's My Water. The initial premise was easy. Swipe to dig through the ground. The levels were set up to gradually teach me more complex techniques. Mostly the hand movements were the same. It was a game of strategy. A new control or two poppoed up every now and then. However the design had me pretty confident at most times that I was in control.

That's what it boils down to. Master designs make it seem easy. I am sure a lot goes on behind the scenes to make sure I learn quick and feel in control. Now I just need to implement that feel in my own games. Then I shall rule.

Zynga Layoffs

Zynga has announced that it is laying off 18% of its workforce. It shall close a bunch of offices. This was being done to prepare for hard times. Luckily it was not just people getting a pink slip. Those laid off would be getting severance packages, and maybe their stock options accelerated.

AllThingsD initially alerted me to this news. Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga, confirmed the news on their blog. Zynga is a public company. They previously announced guidance for their second quarter. Now it looks like they will just about meet the bottom range of their guidance. Stock might get the beat down.

Who knew things would be this bad? I wonder whether Zynga will make it in the long term.