Tonight, I spent several hours working on simplifying the look of the UI, using symbols in the place of words such such as an actual G.E.O.S Gem instead of "G.E.O.S Gems" and a stop watch icon instead of the word "Timer" etc... I adjusted all the code to make everything tidy and neat. I made all the number text for the readouts a nice off white color so it all looked in unison.
..And after all my hours of trial and error, I hated it! I just didn't like it as much myself, so I put it all back, lol. That's the great thing about developing software, you are in complete control of these details in the end, but please take a look below to get an idea of what I tried to do and tell me your thoughts below! :-)
But one thing I did change was I made all the asteroids and enemies and your player ship wrap around from the bottom edge of the UI to the bottom of the screen. This makes it look a lot cleaner I think and prevents asteroids and you from being hidden or jumbled in with the UI words and numbers.
I also made your player trail when thrusting more vibrant and stand out more, as well as enhancing the look of your fired shots with a little more color. Your shots are easier to see now and hey.. it's not much, but it's something.
Anyhow, the monster rocks and tutorial mode is all coming. I'll likely make the tutorial next and then work on the what I have planned for the Monster rocks coming! If you didn't see the "hype pic", it's right here...
I think the players are going to love the monster rocks when I get what I have planned added and coded in.
One thing I am beginning to see however is that I've just about done all I can with Rock 'N Roll. I mean as far as adding new stuff and making it more and more complex. I realized this when I started working on my tutorial mode yesterday and the first part of the tutorial will have a player be invulnerable to the rocks to begin. And this made me wonder why I didn't have an "invisibility" power-up in my game yet. And so my 14th power-up which I call "E.T." for Evanescent Tranquility was born and added to this game yesterday.
But before I simply made "E.T" just another power-up, I brainstormed all the possibilities on how E.T. could be so much more than just another power-up. I toyed with the idea of making it a whole new "risk vs reward" aspect of the game. I almost started programming E.T. as a whole new function tired to the L2 button on the controller or SHIFT by default on the keyboard. It would players to simply use E.T. anytime they wanted to or got in a dangerous predicament in the game. Ghosting to avoid damage. Anytime. But I had a catch in mind with a cost for using it being 100 score points for using it, and that cost doubling each additional second you used it on each level. If you ever had too low of a score to pay the cost for using it and panicked or tried to use it anyhow, it would result in a chance of exploding. Risk VS Reward.
Another button for players to learn. Another function of the game to further complicate my game. I pictured new players buying my game and loving being able to use ET at first passing through asteroids unharmed until they blew themselves up and rage quit my game just moments later in anger. I imaged negative feedback and posts about how complex my old school retro game was and questions as to why I didn't just keep my game simple. I laughed at myself and decided then and there to just make it the 14th power-up and work just like most of the other power-ups already in like Rapid Fire and Cannon Ball, a cool little power-up to use from time to time expiring when the power-up timer ran out.
Looking back now, I truly am shocked at how far my first game here has come. Rock 'N Roll started with just a few power-ups and the main idea of the Spi-Roll attack to get out of harms way, my twist on the old school arcade games hyperspace that teleported you to a random location on the screen.
I never had any idea that in the coming weeks and months, I'd come up with everything I've already added.
Resources and collecting them to sell for game cash or score points and upgrades in an upgrade space station.
I never dreamed then that I'd soon come up with earning G.E.O.S. gems (Galactic Emeralds of Sacrifice) to save the earth or M.E.S.A. (Mass Energy Shield Augmentation) to shield you from death.
And I certainly wouldn't have bet that I'd come up with the idea of a duct taped aluminum beer can as a little turret buddy to help you out that I'd end up naming the "A55 Kicker"
Other ideas that spawned and were added to the game were the "Mother Sucker" power-up to allow you to suck up resources as you blast asteroids and the recently added "Zaxpoleon Dynamite" to allow you to place sticks of dynamite suspended in space to blow things all to hell, including yourself if you're not careful!
..And just yesterday, I added "E.T." to my game (Evanescent Tranquility). And soon, I will add those insanely ridiculous-in-size "monster rocks" and I know people are going to love them because combined with the Zaxpoleon Dynamite, OMG.. it's gonna be a ton of fun. Oh yeah!
But with that, I am starting to see that I've about run Rock 'N Roll as far as it should really be taken with new stuff. Sure, I'll patch it and tweak and balance things for as long as it's a product available for purchase on Steam. Rock 'N Roll is my baby. My first published game. It might not be Call of Duty or PubG but it's still my first born child of code and I'm happy to say that I did it. For someone that has never taken a course or even read a book about coding, I'm proud of this game and what I've accomplished.
I owe a huge "thank you" the the developers and company behind Game Maker Studio as without that excellent engine, it wouldn't have been nearly so possible for me. I highly recommend the Game Maker Studio to anyone out there looking to make their game they've dreamed of making for years a reality. (and Game Maker Studio 2 looks amazing as well, I'll likely get my hands on it in the near future)
I've got new ideas for new games but it's hard to leave and stop trying to make your first born mess of code better and better and better. But it's almost time to move on and just keep on eye on this first child of code, tweaking and fixing it when it needs a little developer love.
My only hope is that just a few people try my game and enjoy playing it even half was much as I enjoyed developing it. That's not to say that it hasn't made me want to pull my hair out a few times, but the reward has definitely been worth the trouble.
Alright, lol... I'm done blabbing in text.. /end.wall.of.text = 49152. :-D
Have fun out there. Enjoy your gaming.. or whatever it is that you do.