[Tutorial] Simple Game From Begining to End

[webgeek]

Hi all; I've gone ahead and put together a simple tutorial on how to make a game from begining to end. It focuses much more on technique then on performance but it does show all the basics. I've broken it down into eight major sections thus far with more on the way.

Stage 1: Facing the Mouse
Stage 2: Following the Mouse
Stage 3: Shooting
Stage 4: Enemies
Stage 5: Collision Detection 1 - Mathematic
Stage 6: Beautification
Stage 7: Refinement
Stage 8: Guns Galore!
Stage 9: Enemies Shooting
This covers many basic questions like how to orient a clip to the mouse, how to follow the mouse properly, how to animate a projectile on an angle, how to collide that projectile with something, pausing, etc. Feel free to let me know if you run into anything you want or need. Thanks!

Updates:
06/26/06 - Added in stage 6. Basically this involved dropping some images into the game and fixing a bug in both stage 5 and 6. It looks like I'll be making quite a few more stages. The next one will involve the enemies shooting and a general enhancement of their AI.

06/28/06 - Added in stage 7. I decided the game is kinda fun and worth a little extra oomph so rather then rushing to close everything out, I decided to step back and tune things. I've changed how the controls work a bit to be both smoother and more realistic-feeling. I tweaked some of the variable names and comments to be more accurate and easier to follow. I added in a pause command (use the "p" key while playing) as a first step in making it a real game. I also added in the concept of a shield and gun energy. The gun energy drains as you shoot and recharges over time. The shield just charges up. Once the enemies can hurt the hero, this will become animated and look better.

06/30/06 #1- Added in "gun modes". This lets you change how the four guns on the ship fire. Oh yeah, added in four guns to replace the one that has been there all along. You can now fire with four different modes, "single", "dual", and "quad". Each mode has a different cooldown and energy drain rate based on the number of guns firing. You change the gun mode by using the "m" key while playing. Please give it a shot and let me know what you think!

06/30/06 #2- Added in the ability for enemies to shoot, the hero ship to be hit and take both shield and hull damage. I also tweaked the bullets look and speed.

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WilloughbyJackson has graciously provided me with some sound effects and graphics that I will add to the game. Looks like explosions and the like are in