Errolian’s Bits and Pieces

It’s well before the deadline, but here is my entry for the 3D Buzz Xmas Game Programming contest.

This is my first ever attempt at writing a game of any kind. I entered to see ‘if I could do it’ rather than ‘can I win?’. Now lets see some other entries please, so I don’t come last by default.

Title: Elves Revenge
Players: One
Genre: 2D Platform Shooter
Levels: 20 Random Levels
Language: English
Platform: Windows PC x86
Code: Microsoft XNA Beta 2 (C#)

Downloads:

• Game Only (6.82Mb - Rar format)
• Source Code (7.01Mb - Rar format)

Requirements:

• Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtime 9.0c
• Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0
• Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable (Beta 2)

If the game errors, it’s likely you need to re-check you are running the latest versions of the above.

The Game:

You control Santa, who needs to gather back all the presents that have been scattered around by the Elves who have rebelled against Santa. Santa must get back as many presents as he can before the bad elves take them for good.

Score points for killing the elves, and finding the presents. You lose points when the elves get to presents before you,and when you lose a life. You are also slightly penalised if you get stuck on a Xmas tree.

Xmas trees have prickly branches and will hinder you for a short time if you touch them.

Hop onto your reindeer for a short speed bonus.

You are Invulnerable for 2 seconds at the start of each Level - use it to get away from close spawning elves.

Some elves are faster than others!

Player Score in red is a Negative score.

Win game by staying alive through all 20 levels.

Lose game by losing all 3 lives.

Hint: You advance to the next level when all elves are dead, so try to keep 1 elf alive while you grab the remaining presents to maximise score.

Controls:

Use Keyboard or XBOX 360 Wired Controller (Player 1 slot) to control Santa and throw Snowballs at the elves.

Note: XBOX 360 controller is untested (as I don’t have one… yet).

Player can only move and shoot in straight lines (Up/Down/Left/Right) - elves have no such restrictions!

Game can be played in Windowed or Full Screen mode (use Toggle in Main Menu).

The Code:

I had some existing knowledge of C#, but learnt using the XNA Framework as I went along. I tried to follow OOP methodology wherever possible, but there are areas that can be improved (see lessons learned).

The game is set to run at 60 Frames Per Second using independent frame rate timing, meaning it should run at the same speed on all modern computers.

I have made a lot of comments in the code both for my own benefit and for anyone wanting to learn XNA / C#.

Lessons Learned:

Having gone through all the C++ Evil Monkeys VTM’s (on 3D Buzz) I was going to base the code on that, but decided against a direct copy and to challenge myself, therefore I went from memory only. Now I know what an advantage having a good initial design down on paper is. About halfway through I realised some of my code just didn’t stand up as I progressed, particularly when I went from a single level design to having multiple levels. Careful examination of the code will show these design flaws (e.g. having to propagate the Player class through the Levels, and having to iterate through all game Sprites rather than just particular types).

The next game I will actually plan in advance on paper, and save some heartache.

As an aside, my Photoshop skills have notably increased in the production of this game.

Possible Improvements:

- Re-write to better use OOP
- Save/Load High score
- Pause key
- Additional item types and/or projectile types
- Two Player mode
- Improve sprite graphics