Sunday, August 12, 2012

Tool Building

I bet you think, all this time I spend at the computer, I'm writing a video game. Ha! You're wrong!

Ok, well normally you might be right, just not today. As I've mentioned, I've been working on the code to unlock and load new levels as the player progresses through the game. While normally, this should be an easy task, anyone who knows me knows that I'm incapable of doing anything easy.

I won't go into the details, but basically, whether or not a level becomes available is based on how well you've performed in previous levels. This means that setting up the levels (not even the levels; just the icons that represent the levels), requires precise settings. Considering there are more than 30 levels in the game, this becomes a daunting task pretty quickly.

And how do I deal with this? Tools! Not existing tools, of course. Oh no. I have to build special tools for the sole purpose of placing and setting these levels. On some level, this is frightfully frustrating, simply because I'd rather be building the actual game.

On the other hand, its kind of nice to be stepping away from the madness of the game code and working on something not connected directly to it. Its a relief to know that, if I screw up one little function, it won't be completely  unraveling the rest of the game in the process.

Still, I'm looking forward to getting this nailed down, because completing this step means I'll be able to leap forward with the game even more rapidly. No longer will Quig be trapped on his home planet. No! Now, our hero will be able to explore the depths of space, bringing light to every corner of the galaxy! Sillow beware.

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