Updates!

The game is still in early development, but recently a few core features were implemented:

Player Lifes, Respawn Mechanics, and “Game Over!”

The player starts with 3 lifes. When the ship is destroyed, one life is lost. If the player has at least one life left, the ship is respawned 3 seconds later. After the respawn, the ship is invincible another 3 seconds, which is indicated by a fast-flashing animation. When the player lost their last life, that’s game over, and the game returns to the splash screen after 3 seconds.

Game Over

Game Over

Score Tracking

Whenever the player destroys an enemy or picks up a power-up, the score increases. The score is currently displayed in the top-right corner of the game screen.

Pre-shot Animations

A pre-shot animation has been added to indicate to the player that the opponent is about to shoot. In the current state the animation is a simple change in color of the opponent’s ship:

Pre-Shot Indicator

Pre-Shot Indicator

This animation is a hint for the player that the opponent is about to shoot, which makes the game feel more fair.

Upgrade/Downgrade Animation

When a power-up is picked up, or a power-up is lost due to being hit, the player is shown a short animation to indicate the change in power-up status.

Power-Up Animation

Power-Up Animation

Power-Down Animation

Power-Down Animation

PowerUp-Level Indicator

As you might have noticed in the power-up-change animations, the ship’s current power-up level is indicated by small colored bars on the player’s ship. It is comparable to a segmented progress bar. When a power-up is collected, a yellow line is added; when a power-up is lost, a yellow line is lost. The number of lines is limited, which means that the maximum number of power-ups that can be collected is limited. I don’t know yet if this type of display will remain, because currently everything is still placeholder graphics.

Bullet Sealing

Turrets will no longer shoot when the player is nearby or directly above them. This prevents the player from being surprised by a bullet from directly below. This is called “bullet sealing.”

Next Steps

That’s it for this post! I’m currently in the midst of doing some code refactoring. When I’m done, I might move on to creating some actual graphics for the game!

Resources