Game Dev Engine #6. Mouse Input.

[@jumbledfox2098]

This video really inspired me about a week ago right before i should've gone to bed, I'm glad i stayed up though as i drew some sprites, which eventually turned into a new breakout game on my website, with a level editor and a bunch of level packs! written in rust of course haha. thank you very much for the inspiration. i'm gonna record a quick little showcase video and put it on my channel now

[@JDoucette]

One of the coolest things about making games/demos and sharing is seeing the inspiration it creates for other people. Thanks for letting me know about it, since it really adds value to the work I do.

[@JDoucette]

I just checked out you video (I'll post a comment there shortly) and your game demo. That is so cool. So yeah, you made enough of a GUI to get things moving! :) -- very nice that you have an editor. Most indies, including myself, don't take this step first. The sprites and graphics are very reminiscent of my own minimalistic single-color pixel-art game. I'm glad that I am not alone in liking this very minimal art style -- as I've been wanting to make some more demos out of my Xona System 8 engine like this.

[@jumbledfox2098]

@@JDoucette I'm really glad you liked it! inspiration is a great thing and I'm very glad you could inspire me to make it. I was very inspired by many things from your game as they were just such good ideas, like the powerups and general overall aesthetic. im really excited to make more projects, maybe a nice gui system one day! haha

[@JDoucette]

@@jumbledfox2098 Apologies, have been busy. A few things stand out that make me happy about this. One is that this very simple art style actually has promise, which means I can throw together quick demos that focus on gameplay and see if they are fun, while literally making 1 color art. Second, is that the power up systems here are really just a focus on gameplay and cool-factor -- again possible since the game comes together quickly with a simple backend engine and no real art. Working from first principles, you can make even a pong / breakout / arkanoid clone into a fun game. You may not have noticed, but the ball speed always gradually increases, even if you get the slowdown. This may also be a fun 2-player game.

[@JDoucette]

@@jumbledfox2098 And yes, make that GUI !!

[@JellyMonster1]

You play a mean game!

[@JDoucette]

Heh! Yeah, to be able to show it off, you have to be able to play it! I thought about programming a simple AI to play, but that gets complicated quickly when there are multiple balls, and various power-ups like shooting and capturing / releasing the ball.

[@Xonatron]

This looks fun.

[@JDoucette]

It is quite fun ... I think with some game balancing / power-up balancing issues fixed, and have unique levels to play, would make this into a reasonably attractive game to play. I feel the level design is key, and making sure there are no boring parts.

[@JDoucette]

I also wonder how it could be made to be multi-player as well ... but it feels that it is not required. This engine easily allows multiple "arcade cabinets" to be played at the same time, independently. I intend to showcase this later. The complexity here is the input system -- which inputs are consumed by which window. I think possibly the solution is in the context of the "gamer / controller", and windows are assigned game "controllers", regardless of what backs them (mouse, keyboard, gamepad, flight-stick, etc.)