In the beginning…

When I first started coding ‘Tower Block Builder’ I set about building up the game engine first. This was to check that I could code the game and to see if it was playable, so no graphics were created and the whole thing was wireframe using the basic drawing tools of Box2D (see attached pic).

First problem was compatibility for tablets and touch screens. Most of the clicks worked for both but ‘dragging’ shapes proved more difficult. Searching out problems on Google is always advisable, but you have to trawl around a bit to find the answer you need. Sometimes the answer isn’t out there and it gives you an idea how to solve the problem another way.

Because of the differences in tablet dragging with a finger and using a mouse I had to allow for both and created two sets of control techniques. Luckily Chrome has a simulation mode for tablets that meant it could be tested as I went – but final testing must be done on an actual tablet and I was lucky enough to have access to an Ipad and Android tablet.

A working game engine was completed and a playable level created. That proved the game could work but then I realised the full game would need a start screen and level select screen which needed the game engine embedded into rather than a freestanding ‘one level game’. This meant building a ‘game shell’ from scratch containing various game screens (start, info, passed, failed, level select) and would have saved time if allowed for from the start.

It was when I began to create the graphics and look of all these screens that the enormous task of creating a game hit me. Don’t forget that EVERYTHING that appears on the screen has to be coded in and created from the ‘Start button’ to the ‘Level failed message’.

With this in mind I began to look for a style for the game. More about that in my next blog.