Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Game development is an iterative process. Even with your grand plan mapped out in your GDD,
it will undergo much change and fine-tuning as you implement it. Every time you add a new
game object or component you will test it, make sure it behaves properly and meets your quality
standards, and fix or adjust what doesn't. You'll test to see how it looks, how it functions, how it
interacts, and how it fits into the flow of the game.
With each new addition to the scene, you repeat this process. Sometimes bugs appear that need to
get worked out. Sometimes it works as advertised but doesn't fit the flow of the game as originally
visualized. Other times you or someone else thinks of a way to make it even better, which requires
going back to the drawing board to implement the new changes. With each test comes more
feedback, more adjustments, and more refactoring, whether from internal quality control checks or
beta tester feedback.
Each cycle of additional refinement is an iteration of the game development process. In this chapter
you will implement your game design from Chapter 9, refine it, and get an introduction to how to
address snags that might arise along the way.
Implementing the Design
Summing up the design changes from Chapter 9, first you divided the obstacle course into seven zones,
in a particular order according to the game design concepts you learned and applied: 1. Land Mine,
2. Moving Platform, 3. Cannon, 4. Pendulum, 5. Laser, 6. Blizzard, 7. Enemy (Figure
10-2
).
!
laser
blizzard
land mines
player
moving platform
pendulum
cannon
!
enemy
Figure 10-2.
Revised obstacle course design
You also determined some additional criteria. The obstacle course should become more difficult the
further the player advances. Within each zone, you will populate the hazards in such a way as to
make the zone more difficult from start to finish. You will provide a narrow safe area between each
zone for the player to catch his breath and regroup before diving into the following zone.
First, divide the empty sections into zones of similar size according to the z coordinate. Find the
already defined points, such as where the ramp joins to the elevated track, either side of the moving
platform, at the start of the first pendulum and the end of the third, and finally where the elevated
track joins with the second ramp. All that remains is to divide the elevated track between the end of
the third pendulum and the beginning of the ramp into three parts (Figure
10-3
):
