Micro Breakout
Puzzle, Retro
After Pong, breakout seemed the next logical choice and I decided to stick with the "micro" look with the idea of creating a set of four retro games. As with Pong, micro breakout's graphics are created entirely with the Flash drawing API. Glow filters are used to give a slight three dimensional look. This particular game was created almost entirely during the daily commute to work. I found that a 45 minute journey can fly past when you are knee deep in code. I have sinced moved closer to work and thankfully have a much shorter commute.
Micro Space Invaders
Shooter, Retro
The third entry in the micro series, Space Invaders is another great classic that every game developer should have a crack at. Again the graphics are created using the flash drawing API. The original game limited you to firing just one shot at a time. At first I decided to change this in my version but I found this made the game far to easy. Balancing games is very important. Too easy and the player will become bored. Too difficult and the player will become frustrated. In re-creating the classic games I have learned some valuable lessons which while very obvious are much easier to recognise in practise. Sometimes I need to learn from my own mistakes.
Micro Pong
Sports, Retro
Pong is the game developers version of "Hello World!". For me, good graphical representation is just as important as playability. So many games appear on the Flash portals that have great gameplay but really suffer from poor artwork. Stephen P. Anderson's In Defense of Eye Candy article, talks about the benefits of pretty interfaces. While designers always preached about function over form, new research has shown that good graphical interfaces are important due to the emotional response they trigger in people. A player is more likely to have patience with a nice looking game. So when I decided to try my hand at a classic game I decided to keep things simple in order to achieve a nice look. Simple graphics for a simple game. The game was designed to look like Nintendo Game & Watch LCD games (of which I have a growing collection).
A snowball's chance in Hull
First Person Shooter, Christmas
This chrstmas themed game was made for b3ta.com as a sort of christmas card from me to the community. Its a simple first person shooter snowball fight with various b3ta memes. The memes appear at random in this game, an improvement on the scripted approach in 6th June, 1944. Also use of the timeline is minimalised with most animation controlled by actionScript. The game used the Fuse tween engine and overall the game feels much more finished and clean. I made this game after I had been working as a full time Flash developer for a year and found the whole process a lot easier. The b3tans liked the game but for some reason the magic donkey didnt put it in the christmas newsletter... I suspect it was little too in-jokey!
June 6th, 1944
First Person Shooter, World War 2
This was my very first game. It took me over a year, on and off, to complete. The project was a little over ambitious given my Flash skills at the time. Looking back at the code I cringe slightly. The game is incredibly hard, something I mistakenly thought would add replay value. This was down to my repeated playing of it when i tested it. The enemies arent randmoised and so I got to the point where I knew exactly where every bad guy was going to be and when. The game was inspired by games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. The game incorporates a sniper level, a tank level and an armored boss for variety. I used cut scenes to add a little more to the game. It recieved a respectable score of on Newgrounds and is still occasionally played. I am happy with this game, escpecially when I think about how little I was experienced with Flash. I have posted it here both as nostalgia and as a benchmark by which I can judge how I have improved.