Replace 'screenshots go here' with an actual screenshot
Playtesting
Set up playtesting site
If you've been invited, it's right
here
Send out invites
If you did not get an invite, and you want one, write
atiaxi@gmail.com.
Add a 'version' label so people can tell if I've updated
Fire up the VM and see how it works on
linux and a fresh Windows install.
Make someone with a mac playtest for me.
"Letters" mechanic
Find out how fonts work in Flash
Attach letters to filled cells
Randomly assign letters
Uses english distribution by default
A 'current target word' display
Update display based on letters hit
Power Ups (Names subject to change)
Incorporate into letters mechanic
Make a 'timer' mechanic
Design and add a frame to display powerup progress
"Stop" - level stops moving momentarily
"Multiball"
"Dense" - ball simply goes through breakables instead of
bouncing off of them.
"Paddle" - Making the paddle as high as the entire level? That's a
paddlin'.
"Immune" - HP cannot decrease
Cheats!
for testing purposes only, really.
Levels
In the level designs below, '-' is any unbreakable block, '.' is any
breakable block, and anything else is a specific breakable block
Figure out a format
Make a proof-of-concept level
'You lose' screen, transition to level select
'You win' screen, transition to level select
Figure out how to embed levels.
I started a thread about this on
actionscript.org
. Solution and links included!
In-level speed controls
Record times
Infinite
"Home Row"
The target word is the nonsense 'asdfjkl'.
"Typewriter"
The target word is "typewriter".
"Stairway to Heaven"
The target word is 'stairway'
"Sine of the Times"
The target word is 'cosine'.
"Megabite"
The target word is 'jaws'.
This does not reset! The word is short because the player only
has a certain amount of time to get it.
"Mission Unbreakable"
The target word is 'unbreakable'. There are only unbreakable
blocks in this level, but they merely line the top/bottom. If
possible, I want this level to go faster than the others,
because it stinks having to wait for the 'u' to finally show up
"Parallel Parking"
The target word is 'parallel'. The entire level is an infinite series
of breakable rows
"Columns"
The target word is 'column'. This is 'parallels' shifted 90
degrees and with varying widths
"North vs. South"
The target word is 'splitscreen'. There's just an unbreakable
line between the top and bottom of the screen
"Text Adventure"
The target word is 'xyzzy'. I seed the map to make sure
they're all there.
"Spelling Bee"
The target word is 'insect'. The level is shaped like 'BEE'.
"Shaped like Itself"
The target word is 'smile'. The level is a big smilie face.
Menus
Make a main menu
Change entry point to 'main menu' screen
Hook up infinite mode so people have something to play
Save/Load game
Level Select
Pause Screen
Credits
"Help" screen
Phase out main menu
Hook Credits screen to the level select screen
Hook Help screen to the level select screen
Polish
Pause/win/lose need borders and a solid background
Nice looking level select screen
Nice looking main screen
Playing state needs a background for main and upper/lower, plus labels.
Animated intro
Animated notification when you hit a block in the target word
Animated notification when you get a powerup.
Similar animated notification when you win
Points!
High score recording
Assets
Art
Keys
Space Bar
Ball
Background
Update the help page
Sound / Music
Keyboard typing noises for collisions
Menu music
"Playing game" music
Powerup sounds / music clips (e.g. clock ticking for "STOP")
Ability to turn music/SFX off anywhere
Victory!
Defeat!
Post-production
Optimize for Space (less than 5MB!)
Preloaders
Site locking
Locked to localhost, llynmir.net, and FGL
The paddle seems to be stopping short of the bottom of the screen.
The ball is still going off the right edge of the screen sometimes.
Now it checks itself against the width as it was at the beginning,
rather than the level's current width.
The ball is still getting stuck in unbreakable blocks.
Haven't noticed this at all since my last fix.
Columns sometimes advance too soon
Removed the canary entirely; it now checks the entire column.
Hopefully this fixes things
Target word isn't getting passed along during level selection
Target word is sometimes big enough to overlap with HP gauge.
You need to click on the playing area after any/all state changes in
order for it to register keypresses.
Started a thread at
actionscript.org
and
the adobe forums
;
turns out it really is a flex bug and not something I was
doing wrong. That's so... rare!
If you start a level that has a target word, then later infinite mode,
infinite mode will have that target word instead of none.
If you've got multiball, you apparently can't launch a reset ball.
Launch code was only looking at original ball - but I can't
replicate the original situation. Almost certainly actually fixed.
If you win while the powerup music is playing, it doesn't stop playing!
Can't seem to replicate this.
Background music cuts out after 3 minutes (via Ash)
DENSE powerups let you break the unbreakable
This was the original intent but playtesters found it confusing.
