Phil Peron Flash Platform Developer and Game Development Hobbyist

S’troidz!: Week 7 Update

Week 7 is here! This has been the most difficult week so far. Trying to juggle family, work and S’troidz! proved to be difficult and thus, S’troidz! had to suffer. The good news is that it wasn’t totally unproductive. I managed to implement the majority of code needed for the final alien type and that alone represents a pretty important milestone on the horizon: The completion of all major game objects!

S’troidz!: Week 6 Update

Week 6 has arrived along with hyperspace jumps and shields! I struggled with how shields should work but ended up settling on the most destructive method (destruction usually equals fun). This means that when shields are up, your ship becomes a weapon allowing you to smash through anything.

S’troidz!: Week 5 Update

It’s been an incredibly busy two weeks. Unfortunately, not so much for S’troidz! The good news is that I accomplished the goals I set for myself, was mega-productive at work (or my “real’ job) and managed to retain some semblance of a life outside coding. As difficult as it was to stay away from S’troidz!, the break actually served me well and the batteries are charged for another push.

OK, so what’s new in S’troidz! r5? Let’s see!

S’troidz!: Week 4 Update

I’m continually amazed at how difficult game design is. I was reminded of this during the r4 dev cycle when I started implementing power-ups and other goodies. Given the platform I’m building on, it was easy. Adjusting the game play so that it was still fun was tricky and required a change to how the ship moves.

S’troidz!: Week 3 Update

I learned more than I produced this week. This wasn’t by choice. I had planned for a lot more. What started as a leisure session to create some explosions (among many other things) ended up being a complete rewiring of nearly half of the classes that make up S’troidz!

S’troidz!: Week 2 Update

This week’s update is bittersweet. I added some cool stuff but had to dump dynamic game balancing. (It’s not you, it’s me) Deep down I knew it wouldn’t last. I just didn’t think I’d be killing it so soon. It’s still something I’d like to work on some day but for now, I’ll be rocking a more linear approach. It’s easier to test and much easier to change. Onward!

S’troidz!: Week 1 Update

Welcome to the week of aliens. Well, one alien actually. I’ve already written the movement for four of them but a nasty (unrelated) bug with one of my components and a half-baked integration plan made the beginning of this week’s development a bit muddy. The good news is that I came away with a better understanding of how things should be structured and when that magical day of refactoring comes around (probably next week), I’ll be ready. Without further ado, here’s the change log for S’troidz! r1:

S’troidz!: Week 0 Update

It’s here! The zeroth weekly update on My Game Experiment! I’ve actually been working on S’troidz! for a few weeks now but I don’t like negative week indexes. That’s just crazy. This update will cover the development I’ve done so far and close with what’s on the table for next week’s build.

My Game Experiment

About a month and a half ago, I downloaded PushButton Engine. My primary reason for doing so was the same as it’s always been when checking out a new piece of game technology… curiosity. I’ve been a gamer for over 30 years and a curious one for probably 29½. My approach to game development in the past has always been this: I see something cool in a game and wonder how it works. I snoop around until I find a solution. Then I write a paltry little demo that proves I understand how it works. It’s like loving magic with a passion, buying a magic kit, figuring out how all the tricks work and then never performing. That’s basically been my routine. Until now.