Taylor Bevens – Workflow for a 2D game

IdeaThe idea for my game is a side-scrolling shooter, with one objective, to achieve as high a score as possible. I had the idea of a space ship in deep space shooting enemy aliens and meteors, trying to amass a high score which can be shared with friends, to compete with one another and continuing to play to beat each other. Games like Geometry Wars and other space shooters come to mind, especially with the simple gameplay.

VisualisationTaking inspiration from games like Grid Space Shooter, I want my game to move from left to right, and have a clear goal to erase the enemy. However I want a much clearer background of space, with the usual black back and white/yellow dots for stars and possibly planets. The enemy will shoot balls of fire or laser matter, which will be purple.

http://thexblig.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/grid-space-shooter-screen.jpg

http://www.picpicx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ac523836c0df112654df9e960262a78c.jpg

Planning and ExecutionHere I created a rough visualisation of what my game would look like, including the player, enemy and the projectiles they fire. I created this on photoshop, so I would have a much clearer view of what I wanted it to look like. This was a good practice to do as it directs me in the path of how my game will look in the final stages. I have annotated the planned image so I can refer what is what to people that will look at my Workflow, or ask how I went about creating the game.

BlockingI went in to the game and started blocking it out, which means I began fleshing the game and adding the core elements to it, like how the game played and how it worked. I also added other basics like the background and the sprites, which then led to me trying to code the basics, like moving the spaceship and when things explode upon being shot.

DetailAs my game progressed, I was adding more and more detail to the game, like the AI being killable as well as the player, and detail to the background (stars, planets etc) amongst other things. This was crucial as I wanted my game to seem polished and finished, and not just the bare minimum, so people know I have put effort in to my game.

Final TestingAfter spending a few hours creating my space shooter, I came to the final testing where I believed that my game was finished, and was fully playable. I run across a few bugs, for example, the player not dying when hit by the enemy ship or rocket, but that was fixed as I noticed it in my final testing. I found that the final testing is very helpful as well as crucial, as it allows me to see whether my game is ready to go, or is a bug ridden mess.

Screenshots of Finished Game, Space Shooter

This first screenshot shows a window of the game as well as the gamemaker project in the background, to show you the game assets and objects, whilst the game window shows you an instance of the game where the player and enemy are shooting at each other. You can see on the left of the screenshot that I have a handful of objects, sprites and sounds, which is proof that I have made it!

This screenshot focuses on the game itself, where you can see the player flying in space, and the enemy shooting at the player as the player exploded one of the enemy. You can also see the health bar in the top left, which is slightly smaller than usual due to being hit a couple times! As you can see in the final picture, I had decided to include all of the things I spoke about in my workflow, like the starry-space background, and the player spaceship/enemy spaceship. I tried to create it to the closest I could with my workflow, and I believe Gamemaker was a reasonable engine to create my game, as it had all the functionality and usability to create the game.

Editing Game SpritesAfter creating my Space Shooter, I decided I would remake the game in to a more original idea. I then started changing all my sprites to “Sky Adventure” the image below is the sprite for the player character, which is a flying eyeball. The inspiration for this was slightly from Terraria, and the rest from things I thought up.

Remake: Sky Adventure

After creating the first game, Space Shooter, I decided to remake the game with my own assets and features. In the picture above, it shows the game remade as 'Sky Adventure' where you play as a flying eye and shoot down the enemy planes. The background is scrolling, and has three layers - The sky with clouds, a single layer of just clouds, and then the crow. They all move at different speeds, and I did this in Gamemaker's level object, which gave the sky more depth. The rest of the sprites and assets were remade and recoloured in Gamemaker's own sprite editor. The gradient sky background was made in Photoshop, however. Most of the mechanics remain the same; player shooting enemy and vice versa.

I have tested a few final versions of my game, and my remake feels like the best, even though the type of enemy and player may feel slightly out of place, which is something I can think about and take in to consideration when I make my next game.