Category: Level

Audience technical level

Posted on

Keep on Trucking

Laundry List

I’m getting the feeling that this is the point where a lot of my other game projects have died out.  A core game and fancy title graphics.  I have rarely taken the time to go back and add all the bells and whistles, such as sound effects and flashy graphical effects.  Plus, I’m really not a fan of level design.  It really feels arbitrary to me, but it does take expertise to make good levels in a puzzle style game.

Therefore, to keep myself on track I made a laundry list of the next things to complete in the game.  Some will require a little research since this is my first XNA game, such as saving the game status.

  • Hold Confirm button to keep placing wires
  • Zoom in for letters on title screen
  • Game over screen delay / graphics
  • Display level/stage before starting a level
  • Transitions between screens (such as fade out)
  • Show player ranks for stages on level select
  • Don’t allow levels that haven’t been completed to be selected on level select
  • More levels; different array sizes
  • Colored backgrounds for level screens
  • Save levels completed along with ranks
  • Render objects in Blender
  • Add graphics/sound effects on level complete screen
  • Keyboard controls so that others who don’t have XBox can play test

The first task I tackled was the hold confirm button to keep laying pieces.  This is a core gameplay change, so I felt it was most important.  Basically, I just required a new instance variable in the GameLevelScreen class, which tracks if the confirm button is being held down.  On each update, it checks to see if the button is held down, and if it is, then it tries to set a piece at the current cell.  Therefore, it is constantly trying to set a piece at the current cell (but can’t since no more than one piece can be assigned to a cell), so there may be room for optimization here later.  Anyway, the controls feel MUCH better and less jerky now with this in place.  I think I need to put a cooldown on resistor usage, because the player can select a resistor and just spam it all over the board to quickly complete the level.  It’s okay for the wires to not have a cooldown, because spamming wires will likely cause the player to bust an LED and lose.

Continuing to resolve the tasks that required the most programming first, I decided to implement the record display on the level select screen.  To do this, I had to create a PlayerRecords class, which holds the records of each completed level.  This object is populated with the level ranks after each level is completed.  The level select screen uses this to display the ranks for each level.  Currently, if a level is replayed, then the ranks are overwritten each time the level is completed, which should be fixed later.  For now, the level select screen just shows the integer values associated with each rank, but these will be changed to the rank graphics in the near future.  Plus, I will need to implement a way to scroll through the higher levels.

 

In the level select screenshot above, I played through level 1 getting ranks C, S, B.  Then I selected level 5 and got ranks S, C, B.  Noticed an error which caused the game to crash.  After completing the fifth level (level index 4), it would actually go to level index 5 (which didn’t exist but used the layout of level index 0 as default).  When that level was completed, it would go to level index 1 (level 2) next.  So it appeared that it was looping back to level 1 (level index 0), but it really wasn’t.  Therefore, when it tried to save the statistics for level index 5, it reported an error because I only allocated the array in the PlayerRecords class to hold values for five levels (level index 0 through 4).  I went ahead and added the level index to the game level display, but I will probably create a method to convert that index to a stage number.

New Levels

Next I started working on adding new levels.  Before churning out new levels in the Mappy tile editor, I wanted to make sure that new levels can be easily added to the game.  I added two new List variables to the LevelDefinition class, to hold all of the tile maps and object maps.  This will eliminate the if/elseif statement mess that was in the getter methods that return the object arrays, tile arrays, and rank arrays for the currently selected level.  I really need to create a Map object to hold those values for each level, but I don’t want to have too many classes right now, so I don’t think it’s worth the time and effort to rework that code now.  The only benefit is that it would eliminate potential problems of managing five parallel Lists, but instead it would just be one list of Map objects.  I added additional checks in each of the methods that return ranks in the LevelDefinition class, so that it doesn’t try to index a position in one of the rank arrays if the level parameter is greater than the size of one of the rank lists.  This shouldn’t ever happen unless the NUM_LEVELS constant in the LevelDefition class is set to a value higher than the size of the rank Lists.  If this happens in the object or tile array getter methods, then it just returns the array information for level 1 (index 0).  I didn’t add any checks to see if the object and tile arrays were completely empty, because I thought that would be obsessive.  I may have to think about the ability to add an expansion to the game later, which may conflict with the PlayerRecords definition.

I used the Mappy tile editor to create more levels for the game, bringing the total to 20.  I wrote a small Ruby script to loop through all the files in the map export directory, and it does some minor modifications to prepare those arrays to be used in the game, then it writes out the results so that I have all the arrays in one file instead of 40 different files.  Made another minor modification to the rank code, which was preventing it from saving the ranks for the first stage (index 0).

  

 

More Title Screen Updates

Got side tracked and spent about an hour getting the letters on the title screen to zoom in.  After all letters are displayed, then there is a 5 second pause, then the letters zoom in again.   I’m not sure how much more time I will want to spend on the title screen.  Gameplay is most important, but the title screen is the first thing that people see.  I definitely wanted to display the title screen as soon as possible.  I am so sick of seeing idiotic Game Studio Logos on startup that just waste my time.

So now I think I just need to re-do the font for the menu items to match the title font, and then have a new menu item selected image (the default tile has been there for a while).  I’m thinking of just using another portion of the computer card images that I already have, and maybe apply a brighter white color and a drop shadow.

Posted on

Tax Tag and Title

New Title Logo

After wasting about an hour trying to follow a Gimp tutorial to make a 3D text logo, I ended up using Gimp’s default  bevel logo creator.  The results are just as good as the 20 step tutorial I was using, and it was done in about 2 minutes.  I went ahead and made separate layers for each letter in the title.  I exported each layer as a separate PNG image, that way I can apply special effects with each individual letter.  I also kept each letter image at the full size of the title text.  It is a little wasteful, but eliminates the need to do calculations in the code to place each letter.  I just put each image at the location where the title needs to go, and it should look fine since everything but the letter is transparent.  Hopefully, this won’t have an impact on performance, and it’s just a title screen so high frame rate isn’t essential.

 

New Title Background

Used the image of one of my old computer boards, and shrunk it down to a 256×256 pixel square.  Then I used the Make Seamless filter in Gimp, which is found under the Map menu.  Then, I made the image grayscale and lighter by using the Colorize option and setting the saturation to zero.

  

 

The new graphics were then imported into the project.  I added a variable to track which letters should be displayed on the screen, and a constant to track the amount of frames between displaying letters.  Currently, the letters just pop-in, but I would like to add a zoom in or other method of displaying the letters later.  I added a variable to track the offset of the scrolling background image.  I simply created two loops to display the background image, setting it off vertically by the number of pixels in the offset, which makes it scroll.  Finally, I created a gradient that is filled with light green at the bottom, and gradually transitions to a transparent color.  I overlap this on top of the scrolling background image, to make it appear as if the background is fading away.  Well, it doesn’t appear that way to me because I know how it’s implemented, but I think it should appear as fading away to the untrained eye.

One problem now is that the title screen looks considerably different than the rest of the game.  The title screen has realistic images and rendered text, while the rest of the game looks like it could have been created in Microsoft Paint.  This is really apparent on the level select screen which still has the old title logo.  I may have to use Blender to render some of the components to make those look more realistic as well.

So until I create another update video, I won’t be able to show off the scrolling effects.   This picture will have to do for now.

The Game Biz

Began reading up on what needs to be done to publish the game, if I want to make money off of it.  One question I also have is if I need to create an LLC or other form of company to sell the game.  I read on one site that a company is not required until over $3,000 is made.  A company also helps protect the individual from being sued directly, if that unfortunately happens.  Taxes would also be paid through the company instead of my personal income, which may help in the long run if the company does not make much money.

Posted on

Amateur Foley Artist

Gathering Sound Effects

Now is a good time for me to start gathering sound effects for the game.  I could have went to one of the sites that offer free creative commons sounds effects and downloaded what I needed there, but one has to be careful to read the license for each sound effect to ensure that it is covered by a creative commons license that allows it to be included in a work that is sold for profit.  Right now, I’m just creating this game for the contest, but if the game is popular I would be willing to sell copies of it for money (sorry RMS).  I’m trying to make the development of this game as open as possible without sharing the source code, because I believe I read once that sharing source is not allowed by XBox Indie games.  I also didn’t want to make another credits screen, which would be filled up with URLs with links to sounds effects.

My iPod Touch was used for recording all of the sound effects as voice memos.  The sound quality isn’t the best, but it does the job.  I wouldn’t mind going back later and recapturing the sounds using a high quality recording system.  Using a tip that I found on the Internet, I was able to export all of the sound effects through iTunes directly into WAV (MP3 was also an option) so I can edit the sound effects in Audacity.  To change iTunes to export as WAV (default is AAC which is useless), there is a setting under Import CD that must be changed.

Now is the fun part of capturing sounds.  My clippers and hair trimmers were used to make buzzing sounds.  These can be used for error sounds.

 

Running water at full pressure almost sounds like electricity.  I doubt anyone would notice the difference, unless they read this post.  Futher modifications in Audacity will also give it a more electric sound.  This will probably be a constant sound that plays as wires are filling.   I think Audacity has an option for making an audio file seamless, so it can be looped multiple times without any breaks in the audio.

 

Ice makes a nice chrunching and breaking sound, without all the mess of breaking a real glass.  This will probably be the sound when an LED breaks.  I know it should probably be a burn out for fizzling sound, but I think the breaking sound will be more dramatic.

 

Two spoons were used to make a nice ringing sound.  The spoon hitting the glass makes a longer vibrating ringing sound.  These will probably be used as a confirmation sound effects.

   

A drawer slamming makes a good sound, which can be used for a cancel event.

 

The test on this CO detector makes a nice beeping sound.  I could imagine that sound being used as the ranks at the end of the level are displayed.

 

I’m not sure if this will make the final cut of sound effects in the game, but a shaken Pepto Bismol bottle makes a great liquid type sound.  I’ll probably find some way of working it in the game.

Background Images

While I was at it, I went ahead and used my iPod Touch to take picutres of an old sound card and network card that I had in storage.  After some touching up in Gimp, these should make great background images.

 

Minor Graphics and Input Fixes

Set the default cursor position for the level to 5,5 because it really bugged me that the cursor starts off the board on the first level in the upper left corner.  It also minimizes the distance that the cursor must move from the starting position to any other space.  The position of the game board has also been centered on the screen (SCREENWIDTH – (iTotalCols * CELL_SIZE)) / 2, (SCREENHEIGHT – (iTotalRows * CELL_SIZE)) / 2 = (640 – (10 * 32)) / 2, (480 – (10 *32)) / 2.  This is a very helpful formula that I’ve used for centering objects in many games.  Fortunately, I already defined a board offset variable as a Vector2, so I just needed to add that formula to that offset variable.

By simply adding one line of code, I was able to disable the ability to place a piece on a empty space.  I still allow the player to move the cursor to empty spaces, primarily due to the fact that the starting position of the cursor (5,5) may be in an empty space.  This happens on level 4 (donut level) where there is empty space in the middle of the board.

Fixed the resistor graphics so that it can be superimposed over the default wire images.  Increased the maximum pieces to 10 (1 + 9 resistors).  Now all resistors are selectable.  The currently selected piece has a red background.  Later, I will probably make only certain resistors available on each level.  For example, there’s really no point in having a 9 resistor on a level where the maximum battery and LED value is 2.  The selected piece can now be changed by using the left and right bumpers.

Now displaying the selectable pieces at the top of the screen, but I’ve got to be careful that it isn’t cut off on the television screen.  I think I remember reading that 20% of each side of the screen image is not displayed on the television.  Added right/left bumper pressed/released abstract methods to the Screen class, which made me implement it in all the Screen subclasses.  Added methods to increment and decrement the selected piece, which is called by the action button (X) press and the bumper button presses.

 

Fixed the GamePieceResistor class so that the Elex value can’t be lowered below zero.  LEDs can be activated with a zero value wire, but it won’t add any points to the total luminosity score at the end of the level.

Made minor modification to the level 3 board, so that the last two LEDs are placed further back on the game board.

The Level Select screen now takes the player to the selected level once the confirm button is pressed.

Changed the cancel button to set the selected piece to the wire (index 0).  The Back button now takes the player back to the main menu.  The Back button will probably be disabled, after I create a Pause menu.

Noticed an issue on the XBox 360 that doesn’t happen when running the game through the PC.  If I set the MediaPlayer sound to zero (for mute), then it must be set back to 100 for sound to play through the XBox again.  Just commenting out the line that set the sound volume to zero will still keep the sound muted.

Went through and manually played the five levels that I have so far, and used my score for the S ranks.  I just created values for the A, B, and C ranks, which seemed appropriate.  All these values are stored in arrays in the LevelDefinition class.  I updated the getPieceRank, getLuminosityRank, and getTimeRank methods to return the appropriate values based on the current level.  Forgot that I was passing the time as milliseconds, which took a little while to debug.  Dividing the time value by 1000 before passing it to the getTimeRank method fixed that problem.

Changed the message from “YOU WIN” to “LEVEL COMPLETE” after completing a level.

Removed the fill frame number from currently filling cells.