Graphical User Interface

I haven't really touched the gameplay since my last post.  Instead, I've been working on building a graphical user interface library for use in the game.  I'll explain why.

I feel like I've reached the point where I can really start experimenting with the mechanics of the game, but manually editing the levels with a text editor is really really tedious and I have to guess at the numbers and run the game to see what it looks like and then go back and tweak them until they look right.  Long story short, it's extremely inefficient and not fun at all.  That's why the latest videos have no geography.  It's just a blank space with two players in it.

Time to build a level editor.  With a level editor, I feel like I can experiment with level layouts quickly and test the gameplay to explore what's fun and what's not.  I really feel like this is the next step.

What was holding me back from building an editor before was the lack of a graphical user interface library.  I built one in 2006 or 2007, but I was too overzealous and it ended up being a big clunky mess.  I didn't think so at the time, however,  I thought it was the bees knees.  It was as close a copy of the WinForms functionality as I could get it, which is overboard for my needs, to be honest.  Because of the time I spent on it last time, I've had a good idea of how I wanted to do it, but it was a bit daunting.

However, I finally decided to stop dragging my feet and just build the darn thing.  The foundation is working now.  I have buttons, labels, etc. and they're working great.  I already like it alot better than my last one.  It's alot cleaner and smoother to use.  The next controls I need to build are the textbox, listbox, and combobox.  The listbox shouldn't be too bad, but the textbox and combobox will be a bit of a pain.  However, once they're done, building the game's and editor's interfaces will be a cakewalk.

After I'm done with it, I'll hunker down and build the editor.  After that's completed (enough), things should really start moving along with the mechanics.

Since the time is coming when I can start experimenting with different levels and even try to play with story a bit, my mind has been running wild with various ideas.  I have some good ones that I'm excited to try out.  I know it's probably a bit early for that, so I'm not setting anything in stone yet, but I think the mere act of experimentation and exploration will help me develop the mechanics of the game.

Thanks for reading!

clevceo