Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Having reached the point where the game runs well, it's time to get it off to a conventional start by
creating a Start screen as a portal for your player to enter the game. Besides having “Play Game”
and “Quit” options, you may want to allow the player to see some navigation instructions, credits,
and maybe even some game-play strategies. In games that require skills, you may even opt to allow
players to change the difficulty level.
As there are a few game-play issues remaining, you will tackle the most basic parts of the Start
screen first.
Start Screen
Because the game theme itself is along the lines of a train wreck, the Start screen will reflect the
monumental task awaiting the player. Besides giving a preview of the major elements, it will also
present a plausible back-story to help engage the player.
The premise is simple. Our player, charged with protecting the (costly) vegetable garden from hordes
of ravaging zombie bunnies, has found instructions for modifying a common garden gnome statuette
into a potato gun-wielding Gnomatic Garden Defender. When the scene opens, the dubious-looking
construct stands ready to exterminate the voracious invaders.
Let's begin with the new level or scene that will be the Start screen.
1.
From the File menu, create a New Scene.
2.
Save it as
MenuBase
, and put it in the Scenes folder.
The Main Camera should automatically be set to Orthographic projection because the Default
Behavior Mode remains set to 2D.
3.
Set its Size to
3.75
.
4.
Check to make sure its z position is
-10
.
5.
If you are not already in it, switch to the 2 x 3 Layout or tear off one of the
views so you can see both the Scene and Game views at the same time.
This scene will be a combination of 2D and 3D objects that will blend together better without
pixel-perfect sizing. The texture sheet for the main elements is already 1024 x 1024, so in this case,
rather than quadrupling the size and putting them on a 2048 x 2048 sheet, you are compromising by
setting the camera to a smaller orthographic size.
6.
In the Scene view, toggle the view to 2D and pan the view until the camera is
centered.
7.
Create a Quad object, and name it
Stone Wall
.
8.
Set its x, y, and z Positions to
0,0
,
1
.
To cover the 16:9 aspect ratio, you will have to scale the quad to be wider than it is high.
9.
Set its Scale to
18
,
11
,
1
.
The quad should now easily cover the Game view screen, leaving no blue background showing.
