The challenge.
Supporting the elements of a roguelike and connecting player mechanics with enemies, items and levels while working in a five-person team.
My contribution.
I handled the entity engine, mechanics and gameplay, and contributed to game design. The other team members developed art and animation, menus and states, maps and AI.
- Entity engine design and implementation.
- Mechanics and gameplay programming.
- Contribution to game design.
What we built.
A 2D game with knife and pistol combat, stat-changing items and a series of levels leading to a final encounter. Its implementation can be explored in the repository.
Separating engine and game responsibilities helps coordinate a team’s contributions.
Development decisions.
Combat brings several rules together
The knife and pistol offer different ways to approach enemies. The weapon code represents type, range, damage, firing rate and firing state. Items and statistics add another layer: an action’s outcome also depends on how the character has progressed.
Connect the map to the action
The project uses Tiled, TinyXML and SFML. Its map module handles dimensions, layers, tile representation and collision checks. The environment must work both as an image and as a play space, with boundaries that make sense for movement and combat.
A common foundation for different contributions
The 2D engine groups drawing, view, event and sound operations over SFML. It works alongside weapon, enemy, level and HUD modules. My engine and gameplay work integrated with the maps, states, menus, art and AI developed by the team.
The project in use.
- Enter the corrupted world and identify the space available for movement and encounters with enemies.
- Alternate between close-range and ranged combat, accounting for weapon reach and collected items.
- Progress through the levels towards the final encounter and compare the mechanics with the trailer and repository.
What to explore.
A way into the project through its screens, supporting material and, where available, its source code.
- The properties that distinguish weapons and represent their firing state.
- The relationship between map layers, drawing and collision checks.
- The separation between the 2D engine and the game-specific modules.