From humble beginings...

Here we go!

After level creation, using this method, player placement (rudimentary), enemy placement (rudimentary), basic movement controls (to be improved), a whole lot still needs to be done, but having in place what I have, it doesn't look that bad.

The hard part in a random level generator is placing things, because having no playground to place entities, creating a "fair” level is tricky / hard. My tests up until this point are just select a few cells and place the current entities (player and moving targets) without a second thought.

The results are bad. Everything is just too close.

In a game like this, where exploration is one of the key factors, this doesn't help. 

What if everything just gets so close together that even the exit is just a couple cells away and the level is just left unexplored? Some considerations must be made, and I’ll probably enforce a few rules, so that random isn't just THAT random.

Maybe define an area the player can spawn, and where the exit can be and everywhere else in between is eligible to be considered a valid spot for the rest of the level entities.

Seems reasonable, feasible and possibly safer. I just might go the extra length and even make it optional at the start for extra kicks.

Fortunately, the solutions are easy to implement and should prove to be enough for the current needs without needing massive changes in the current code.

The art is possibly my biggest concern, because my artistic skills are less than or equal to 0.

These are the worries of working alone, with no available budget, and with time constraints!

A game like this also needs an inventory system that needs to be simple enough to use, damage control, a nice soundtrack and a lot of bits and bobs to glue it all together.

All in all, I’m quite pleased with the results so far. It’s being quite an enjoyable experience setting all this up, I’m sure more hurdles will come along, but I will worry about that when and if I get there.

The next few posts should be a bit more technical, because I’d like to share the inner workings of the game.

 Read you soon!