Code + Creativity
I have been talking about making my own game for almost two years. Two years! In that time, I have made some games using Python and Pygame. I have also been studying and working and trying to enjoy life. But I always find myself still thinking about it. Wanting to take a chance. So when I noticed that Brackeys and others were hosting a new game jam, I just had
December 31, 2018. Officially the last day of the year. I wanted to end this year by finishing what I started: Creating the last post for how to make a Space Shooter in Pygame and Python. It feels right to wrap things up and start something new and fresh for the new year. There are a number of machine learning and game development projects that I am looking forward to
After completing today’s tutorial we will have finished a lot of loose ends in the space shooter. Every game has some kind of display or system to tell the player their current status, such as their health or strength, and some kind of reward system, displaying a score or even giving actual rewards for achieving some goal. These are all used as a way to give the player feedback about
Today was the first snow of the winter season here in Hangzhou, China. It was so nice to see snow again. Most space shooters rely on a way to either improve the ship’s capabilities or on random power-ups that enemy characters pick up when they are destroyed. So for our space shooter we are going to create two types of power-ups: a shield and missiles. Each will have its own
There is something magical about animation. Seeing each still image assembled on top of one another with ever so slight variations to create the illusion of movement. And then playing those animations at higher speeds to create a moving picture. I still remember my first game was just a square that could move, but the first time I made it move I knew I loved game making and programming. Today,
I finished the last post and got super excited to just keep going today. To recap what we have done so far, we have created our space environment and background, loaded our player’s spaceship, added movement, and made two different kinds of enemies for our player, asteroids and enemy space fighters. Let’s get right into the next tutorial and finally give our player a way to fight back! In today’s
Keep it simple. It’s a good motto to remember in life, in your ventures, and especially when you set out to make your own game. I can tell you with every game that I make I try to create some elaborate ideas. I think they are some amazing ideas (and maybe they truly are), but I sit down and begin coding and reality sets in. More complexity leads to more time.
Enemy AI is an important aspect of any game. Graphics, story, and music can all be drowned out if your game contains some wonky or useless AI or gameplay. Sometimes graphics takes a backseat and the developer can create a memorable experience from gameplay and simple graphics. When you decide to make your first game, think about the users’ experience. Try and think about what adventure you want them to
That’s my checklist for getting started in making a game. After creating the game window, setting up my character, getting my character to move, …hmmmm… ah, yes! Loading images and a background. First, we’ll need to think about what kind of game we are going to create. Then, we will have to either make our own 2D sprites for the game, or download free ones. Finally, let’s write a little
I am writing this blog because I really love programming and creativity. I believe that the only way to get better at something is to practice and get involved in your passions in as many ways as you can. The main language that I use is Python and I wanted to improve my skills as a programmer by also learning Pygame. I got interested in programming years ago by programming