A New Beginning...

Faced with a rare weekend to myself, and not particularly enamored with the idea of watching rain trickle down the window for 3 days, I decided to get my backside into gear and pick up my programming reins once again.

Despite my fondness for FishEd, and the numerous ideas I have for the Blitz Max version, part of me knows that I could easily spend another 2 or 3 years finishing the project at the expense of Citadel (the whole reason for originally learning Blitz some 5 years ago).

Thus, my motive was clear; shelve FishEd for another rainy day and get Citadel done.

Definitely.

For certain.

Another reason to start being more professional in my approach is my imminent move to the East Coast of Canada; Scary Fish will cease to be a UK company, and will be reincarnated as a digital media company in Canada, where I can take full advantage of the generous funding incentives which the provinces of Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland have to offer. If I'm going to be a fully-fledged developer again, I need to start developing.

The first task on the agenda was to centralize my blog; I had some entries on LiveJournal, some on the Scary Fish website, and some here on Blogger. After several hours of mind-numbing cutting & pasting, I finally had everything converted across to Blogger, which now means that I can update the blog from anywhere - much more convenient.

The next task involved getting my code to a point where I was happy using it as a basis for the game as a whole; with numerous snippets and external files to contend with, it took a couple of hours to sort everything out.

In actual fact, the technique I used was pretty foolproof; starting with a relatively blank file, I ported across various routines one by one, debugging as I went, and thus wound up with a relatively clean, efficient, and bug-free test bed. It was an interesting way to work - akin to an artist producing a neat drawing based on rough sketches - and might come in very useful in the future...

By the end of the session, I had the scroller, control system, rudimentary bullet system, and basic collision working, and also managed to iron out several irksome bugs in the process.

Flushed with success, I booted up FishEd and began expanding my test map; it was an absolute joy to finally be able to switch between FishEd and the game, making tweaks and changes then toruing the level to see the new additions. Despite the fact that I hadn't used FishEd for a long time, the controls and features felt very intuitive, and it was an absolute breeze to use.

At the end of the session, my thoughts turned to the next stage of development; with a notepad brimming with ideas accumulated over the last 4 years, where on earth does one begin? Enemies? Weapons?

After long and careful consideration, I decided on the following:

1. Define the game framework (add title screen & basic transition to and from the game).
2. Develop the camera system (follow player, follow target, free roaming)
3. Add basic editing features (enemy / background placement)
4. Add basic player / background interaction (lifts, teleports, etc.)

Once these features are in place, I can begin developing things such as the enemy and AI, weapons systems, bonuses and pickups, and environmental hazards.

Now all I need is an artist with a similar vision and plenty of spare time... :)