There're only a few more things that need to be done before Platform Tour is ready. I see no reason that keeps me from finishing Platform Tour by the 22nd, unless I completely slack off. I still need to make the last phase of the final boss, end credits, and do a difficulty playthrough - the idea is that the game is very difficult if you don't find the upgrades - and even with all of the upgrades it will provide a challenge.
Get excited! Platform Tour will be complete in a week from now! I've attached some space station pics.
Time for another update! Currently, I am working on more enemies to add to Platform Tour. I have completed Construction Zone (Zone 5), Resort Zone (Zone 6), and Ash Zone (Zone 7), and now I am beginning work on the Space Station Zone (Zone 8), the final zone in the regular game. Once I finish this, I will add bonus levels and fix up some bugs, and then Platform Tour will be finished! The scheduled time for completion of Platform Tour is October 22, a month from today. Anyways, the Space Station supports reduced gravity, leading to higher jumps. It will also host a new arsenal of monsters to deal with in the reduced gravity and darkness of space. I will also have to fix up the maps to make the areas look nicer - like adding bottoms to some of the levels. The upgrade system is still working - I have ten different bullets and twenty different shot patterns setup, in addition to numerous ammunition and ability upgrades. One of them that is a bit broken is the evasion upgrade - this one shrinks the player hit box markedly causing the player to avoid taking damage from bullets that pass close to the player - close enough that the bullet image actually passes over the player image - unless the bullet passes practically over the center. This allows Chris (hero name) to dodge the plethora of bullets that the boss shoots. Also, vision upgrade increases the area visible to the player. If you compare the associated screenshot to the previous one, you'll see that the player is smaller in comparison to the visible area. Anyway, back to work!
Okay, I know it has been a while since the last update, but I have long since finished the Machinery Zone (Zone 4) and have begun work on the Construction Zone (Zone 5). I'm most proud of these little I-beams that I took some meticulous time to shape like actual I-beams in 3D (sure, they took about 40 minutes out of a weekend to model...), but the crossbars add a nice touch to make it look like a steel building skeleton. Also, I've added a kite enemy, which is mostly to be decoration, but may occasionally be in the way. Now, to add other enemies and things and make more levels for my game.
I have the boss of the third zone set up. I may have to tone back the difficulty because it does a very good job of filling up the screen with bullets (can you say MegaMari?). The boss has a 'weakpoint' which currently requires you to hit him 100 times (this number is probably the first one that will drop - basically because it's kind of a pain to try to hit this guy with 100 shots that don't go very far... and it gets your hands tired (however, tiring the hands helps bring you closer to the game, which ultimately leads to victory). I figure that I don't want the player to have tired hands after fighting this boss... maybe for one of the later zones. So, now that the boss is setup for High Seas Zone (Zone 3), I can move on to Machinery Zone (Zone 4). This zone is supposed to introduce moving platforms and, of course, with moving platforms come smushed players. Smushing is instant death... basically because there's no reliable way to remedy the situation without introducing some major 'features'. I'll probably start working on the first section tonight. Oh, btw, the boss is wearing black eyeliner for some reason...
Isn't that a purty picture? There's a bird among the masts and it's flying in the way. I also added some air mines, but they aren't working properly (they all keep falling in the sea for some reason). I also added the ability for explosions to activate temperature switches. I still need to add an audio clue that something just happened, though, as the effect is pretty much a mystery until you find that there's a new passageway open.
Made first level for High Seas Zone and added 4 new enemies as well as pressure switches. The pressure switches open a door if you jump off of something really tall and land on them. The faster you are going when you hit the switch, the more the door will open up. As far as the enemies, I added a fish named 'Surprise Fish', a machine called the shield turret (I opted out of calling it the 'Gran Turreto'... ), and a machine called 'Arroglestop', which looks like a stop light, except it isn't. Making so many enemies right off of the bat for Zone 3 should make Zone 3 go by pretty quick. There's only a few issues such as the Seasteppers seem to be walking a little ways off of the floor, and the Shield Turret re-activates the shield too fast... maybe I should've called it "Turrette's"?
Almost finished making the boss for the Tundra Zone (Zone 2). Next zone is going to be the High Seas zone (Zone 3) and introducing water and swimming. I have also added Napalm - for those of you who are familiar with Quadrill, you will remember that napalm explodes on impact and causes FIERY HAVOC. The same is true in the Platform Tour, except that it doesn't result in a raging fire that consumes the area, but instead causes the nasty explosion that you see in the picture to the right. Explosions deal damage indiscriminately - that is, they damage you and the enemies in the explosion. The boss here (slightly off the top of the screen as he flies overhead and lands typically near the mountain or, if you are not paying attention, right on top of you). The boss is also weak to the Aqua-bullet that you may find in one of the Tundra Levels. All of the levels have a hidden upgrade - ammo types, ammo size, ammo durability, or weapon. I am also entertaining the idea of player ability upgrades as well e.g. high jump, double jump, roll, etc., but we'll take things one step at a time. I figure that I'll go ahead and start making the High Seas zone, then go back and tie up more loose ends.
This is Platform Tour. Currently, I have created the indoor introductory zone (Zone 1) and most of the tundra zone (Zone 2). The next thing left to do is to make the boss for the tundra zone. I have to make the artwork for it, which will probably take about 1-2 hours to do (and would take less time if I weren't watching television while I draw). My favorite part is actually programming the AI, as I usually don't make very robust AI (in fact, the most robust AI that I've done before are the JumpCross AI and the elite dark-ball in Q4. This is a picture of the tundra zone. The monster hanging from the wall is a salk scorpion, a packageable biosynthetic insect.
