Monday, August 30, 2010

Dreg's triumphant return (I hope)


Arrow keys: move. Space: jump. A: punch. D: Kick. E: interact.


Hello again! Miss me?

Yeah, I definitely had a bit of break... then I got working, like seriously. I didn't update for a while cause I was fed up with all these little updates about small additions to the game. I want to make the damn game already!

So what you have above you is the beginning of the Dregs of War! It's still a little clunky- the foreground is minimal, and I haven't added a lot of details. But you still get the general idea. Then again, I won't be adding many more details to it, because the previous post is too complex for my struggling little computer to keep up. Seeing as I declared that the game should be able to run on my machine, I'm going to have to make some sacrifices as far as graphics go. The main reason for slow down is the mini map, but it's so easy to get lost in this game that the map is pretty much essential.

Here are the new bits:

- the map is faster now, and you can add your own little flag on it to look for. When you're give objectives, they show up on the map too.
- When you die, the game puts you back at the beginning of the current neighbourhood.
- I have my excuse for cutscenes, where the camera will focus on different characters / areas and sometimes a simple animation will play.
- the game has states which are triggered by the player's actions. The main example you see here is the fact that people say different things to you after you've performed certain actions.

Lots of other things have been tweaked, but generally I can see this game coming together. I reckon that what you can play above is about a fifth, or maybe a quarter of the whole game. It takes a while, and let's face it, I am only making a flash game. My next project is definitely going to be smaller in scope!

In any case, now it's becoming less and less about programming, and more and more about designing. I need to make the next few levels, complete with cut-scenes, backgrounds, sounds and (urgh!) new enemies! Fun fun fun!

As for programming, I still need to sort out saving, and I want to make a sort of quick travel feature players unlock as they explore the world (to avoid boring treks through bits you've already seen)

Unfortunately I have some paid programming work to do, which will further slow this whole project down. Do you remember last year that I declared I would finish the game before last Christmas? Hahahahaha! I'll be lucky if I can make it for the following Christmas!

Anyway, as always, please point out improvements the game needs, and any bugs you discover. Wahey!

Here, have an image of a new part of the world, The Big Drink: