Day 12
Done today
- Added a small laser weapon.
- Fixed some bugs:
- Fixed a bug with excessive energy consumption when shooting weapons.
- Fixed a bug where values like health and energy could regen over their maximum limits.
- Fixed a bug where not all parts of the enemy would flash when receiving damage.
- Experimented with UI and popups.
Bug hunting
When creating and testing the new weapon type (laser), I noticed a couple of issues that I decided to fix right there. There was also this “enemy flashing” bug, where not all parts of an enemy would flash when receiving damage, that has been there since day one (well, since this flashing mechanic was put in place). Before having fun with new features, I think I might do a quick bug-fixing round, so the rest will be easier to implement.
Damage types
Right now, my damage system is quite simple. It involves removing health from the target equivalent to the damage amount of the projectile, which is determined by the weapon that fires it. Upon collision, the projectile is destroyed. As I said, a very simple thing.
To have more variety (and fun) with the weapons, I would need to implement (at least) the following features:
- A shield, which absorbs damage before it’s applied to health, and that regenerates over time.
- Some projectiles (e.g. laser) that partly/totally ignore the shield.
- Exploding/Area of effect damage, that deals continuous damage to one or more targets. Naturally, it cannot apply damage on each frame, so there would need to be a mechanic to apply damage on a repeated basis, per target.
- Damage over time (DoT), like burning, acid, etc.
- EMP to reduce energy or paralyze.
- “Hot” projectiles, which would increase the heat of the target.
- Something that would screw the controls, like making the war machine advance in a single direction, or shoot all over the place.
When heat or energy is affected, there should be some clear visual feedback. At the very least, the associated gauge would need to flash or something. Maybe some common animation may occur on impact too, like a small lightning when hit by an energy-depleting attack, etc.
Playing with UI
I’ve been playing a bit with the UI, to create some “Paused” and “Mission Failed” dialogs. I started to tinker with CanvasLayers and customized controls, and I realized that I should probably investigate the custom themes before I dig too deep in the UI design. This game will probably need some heavy UI when customizing the war machine, so I think it’s best if I experiment and learn with some simpler things first, like those popups.
What’s next?
Tomorrow, I plan to work on the following:
- New enemies (behaviors) and/or weapons.
- More UI experimenting.