Tilemaps in games help save resources by reusing a limited number of tiles, often just to the edge of visibility on screen. My first creation of the FTilemap class didn’t include this important functionality, but I’ve corrected that now.
You can still render the entire FTilemap by making skipZero = TRUE, and in some cases that may actually save overhead. FTmxMap will now check for skipZero layer property, and set the FTilemap appropriately (it is FALSE by default). Be sure to pass a clipNode to determine where the centerpoint is (usually this will be your FCamObject).
// create camObject FCamObject cam = new FCamObject();
// create map, clip to the screen FTilemap map = new FTilemap("YourImage"); map.clipNode = cam; map.clipToScreen = true; map.LoadCSV("CSVs/MapFile");
iCade and iCade 8-bitty are bluetooth game controllers that passes keyboard button presses to your portable device. They make great controllers for touch-screen only devices and even for playing on a laptop.
One of the things I’ve been looking everywhere for is an easy way to include an iCade controller in my Unity projects. The only one I could find is the plugin from Prime31 for $35. It seemed odd to me that there is a free SDK to make iCade work with native Xcode projects, but no free Unity integration. So I decided to write it and share it.
Download the scripts from Github. The following videos explain how to test for iCade button presses, and make your iOS device send the button presses to your Unity game.
Video part 1 covers adding the scripting to your project to detect for button presses.
Video part 2 covers setting up Xcode to sync the button presses.
Below is an image showing the names to use in your scripts for each button.
Button layout for iCade 8-bitty.
// Examples
// isDown returns true if the button is down this frame if (ICade.instance.isDown("UP")) { Debug.Log("UP button is held down."); }
// justPressed returns true only on the single frame when the button was pressed if (ICade.instance.justPressed("Y")) { Debug.Log("Y button pressed."); }
// justReleased returns true only on the single frame when the button was let go if (ICade.instance.justReleased("Y")) { Debug.Log("Y button released."); }
I haven’t used the Prime31 plugin, so it may work better than my way.
FParallaxContainer is a new class I added to the FutileAdditionalClasses repo at GitHub. The class is for adding layers to your Futile game that move at a different speed than the camera. You can use this class to create the illusion of depth with slower layers in the background, and faster layers in the foreground. The class extends FContainer, so you can add any FNode content you like to it.
Fill the container with objects, most likely an FTilemap, then set the size. If the FParallaxContainer size is less than the screen size, it will always position itself centered with the FCamObject. When the size is larger than the screen, but less than the cam’s worldBounds, it moves slower than the camera. The example below shows this, with the camera in red, FParallaxContainer in blue, and the worldBounds in green. Notice how the left side matches up when the camera has hit the left side of the worldBounds, and the right side matches up when the camera has reached the right.
You can also use FParallaxContainer to create a foreground layer, moving faster than the camera if the size is set larger than the camera’s worldBounds.
You can also limit the movement to just one axis by making the x (width) or y (height) smaller than or equal to the screen size. Objects within the FParallaxContainer can be placed outside of the size you set.
Example code:
FCamObject _camObject = new FCamObject(); _camObject.setWorldBounds(new Rect(0,0,Futile.screen.width*3,Futile.screen.height*2));
FParallaxContainer starfield = new FParallaxContainer(); starfield.camObject = _camObject; starfield.size = new Vector2(Futile.screen.width*1.1f, Futile.screen.height); // this is only going to move slowly left/right, not up/down AddChild(starfield); /* add some stars to the starfield, via starfield.AddChild(FNode);*/
/* add the camera last, so it appears above all other objects */ AddChild(_camObject);
At this year’s PegJam, I decided it was the perfect time to put together my idea for the Experimental Gameplay Project Sifteo Cubes Competition. I’m partial to dungeon crawlers, so my first idea was to make a random map, which you can move about by connecting cubes to see adjacent screens and then moving your character between them. I also wanted to keep it very simple, so it could be completed during the weekend. So, the game became a multiplayer “Capture the Flag” game. Unfortunately due to time, I didn’t get to the random map generation part. But overall, it turned out pretty good.
Prototype Screens
Each player takes a turn where they can move 5 screens, trying to be the first to visit all three flag checkpoints. The first to do so wins. Simple enough. Players begin in a random spot in the map, each flag is also placed randomly. Each quadrant of the map has its own color floor, with a strip of white floor separating the four quadrants (it’s a 7×7 map). While playing, the other players should be paying attention to the others movement and placement to figure out where all of the flags are. When a player has used up all of their moves, a notice pops up for players to switch, and the screen focuses on the next player when all cubes have disconnected.
Taking this idea forward, I want to give the game more of a board game feel. So here’s a bulleted list of what I would add:
2-4 players
Menu/options
Orientation not matter
Graphics/Animation!
Randomly generated maps
Shake to roll dice for # of screen moves this turn
1 time bonuses found in map, (i.e. extra moves, limit other players to two screen view limit for a turn)
Mini-map of where you’ve been on disconnected screen(s) — if it doesn’t make it too easy
Version 2.02 has been submitted to Apple, and includes a huge number of improvements and bug fixes. I’m really happy with how much better it has become with this update.
– dramatic drawing speed improvement for iPad 3
– iPhone 5 ready
– cut/copy uses system clipboard and can be used across documents
– onion skin retained between Spritesheets, appears centered for Spritesheets of different sizes
– preview image in Spritesheet edit view renders correctly when Auto-adjust frames is enabled
– color palettes cached
– eyedropper selecting completely transparent pixels defaults to black and doesn’t change pencil alpha
– recent colors reopen correctly after leaving screen and returning
– Relink Dropbox after revoked access
– option to create new or update existing from Dropbox file with same name (and dimensions)
– Dropbox and Library export allow larger size export, linked to Preview image scale
– App info added, includes link to documentation, report bugs within app
– stamp tool shows preview of stamp image in color button
– spritesheet/tilemap size and background color changes added to undo states
– selecting a recent color resets drawing tool to most recent that uses a color (pencil, line, shape, fill)
– button added to Tilemap view to quickly edit the Spritesheet used by the Tilemap
– other bug fixes
Sprite Something v2.0 has been submitted to the App Store for approval. What’s new in this update:
iCloud – sync spritesheets, tilemaps and color palettes across your devices!
Dropbox Import/Export
Photo Library Import/Export
Rectangle and Circle tools
Improved navigation flow (especially on iPhone)
Twitter message integration (not GIF’s yet)
Faster Tilemap drawing
Fill/Magic Erase All option
Adjust Select rectangle before choosing Cut/Copy/Delete
Show/Hide tool options (iPad)
GIF’s now use compression and display across browsers correctly
Speed improvement when using background image
Add notes to your spritesheets and tilemaps
Lot’s of bug fixes
One major note is that this update requires iOS 5.0+. I made this decision because: 1. it is available for all current iPad devices, 2. has a nice Twitter API, 3. made my life easier. I hope this isn’t a major conflict for anybody using the program out there.
The idea for what became Woodhead started from the combination of two puzzles in Professor Layton & the Unwound Future. If you like puzzles at all, you owe it to yourself to pick up any (or all) titles from this series.
The first puzzle I wanted to draw from and expand upon was a square maze. In this maze were multiple blocks, which you controlled by rotating the maze by 90 degree increments, and the blocks would fall based on the current gravity. My first thoughts were that the iPhone would make a great device to play more of this kind of puzzle on. Using the accelerometer, it would have physical feedback to what was occurring onscreen.
Gravity Maze puzzle from Professor Layton & the Unwound Future. Arrow buttons rotated the in-screen maze by 90 degree increments.
The second puzzle which had some great potential was the toy car bonus game in your suitcase. This puzzle was one of my favorites. It works like this: you see the map, your car is at a designated start point, and there is a goal to get to. Your car moves forward until it hits a wall (you lose) or a special tile which changes the car’s movement. You have a limited number of special tiles to place, each one affects your cars movement in a particular way.
Still image from the Toy Car mini game in Professor Layton & the Unwound Future. Copyright Nintendo. You should buy it.
So, I mocked up my idea of combining the two. The thing I wanted to specifically change was that I wanted the tile placement to be more fluid. Instead of placing all tiles before movement, I wanted tiles to be collected, more like “power-ups” in traditional games, and then placed once collected. This would keep gameplay moving and engaging during play. I experimented with stockpiling tiles to be placed when needed, but i felt that forcing placement, at the time of collecting them, simplified the decision process of what to do with the tiles.
The only image I could find. Includes original pixel art, showing the screen when waiting for a tile to be placed. Notice Woodhead is not wood, just a purple square.
The result worked pretty well, except the control scheme. Rotating the device was very disorienting, especially when placing tiles changed the board layout that you had memorized. So, swipe to move replaced the (somewhat gimmicky) rotate gravity concept. Rotate to move was added back in later, but only on the bonus levels you can unlock. The novelty is much less abrasive when it is only there for short periods of time.
Another game I really liked is Cross Fingers, which had a really fun way of making use of the touch screen, so you will also see a bit of that in Woodhead starting on Page 4.
Due Diligence
It seemed to me, the idea must have been done before, so I did some searching in the app store. I did find one very similar app: Blocks Mania. It was a similar game in looks (pixel art) and control (swipe to move, don’t stop until wall). The differences from Woodhead are that, in Blocks Mania, the view is very zoomed out, and while there are power-ups, they are not using any touch control in their effects. The fact that Blocks Mania was also pixel art did make me change the graphic style, which I think was a change for the better.
Woodhead is a challenging puzzle game created by Terrance Kritmen (writer & music) and myself (design & programming). It is available for iPhone/iPod Touch from the iTunes App Store ($1.99).
A level from Woodhead
The above picture shows one of the levels in the game. The gameplay goes: swipe to move, try to collect all the jewels and reach the exit within the given number of moves. Doesn’t sound too groundbreaking, does it? Well, here’s how I tried to shake that up a bit.
One thing that (almost) always bothers me about touch screen games: onscreen controls, virtual buttons. So, with Woodhead the only on-screen buttons are the quick reset and the pause button. Movement is mapped to swipes, that’s an easy start to touch interaction. How else could I take advantage of the touch screen? To start with, if you look at the screenshot, there are three items that don’t look like jewels (when you see them in the game, they’re always moving). When Woodhead touches those items, the game pauses and allows you to touch the screen to place a tile onto the game board. This allows you, the player, to add items to the game board. Each different item lets you place a different type of tile: cardboard makes a solid block, arrows change Woodhead’s direction, green slime makes a larger goo spot that Woodhead sticks to instead of sliding past. You will need to plan ahead to future moves, trying to create the quickest path for you to reach the goals.
Woodhead makes the news.
How else does this game differentiate itself? Writing. Which is pretty damn funny thanks to Terrance Kritmen. Each level starts with a newspaper page, giving the level name, (sometimes) a hint, and an “In Other News…” article. Woodhead, being the title character and a bit of a narcissist, is inserted into the photos. In between worlds (or Pages as I like to call them), Woodhead answers questions at press conferences, giving the game some story and humor.
Here is the video trailer for Woodhead, which should give you a good idea of the humor in the game:
– Matt
PS Be sure to have your speakers or headphones on for the end credits in the game…
