Bionic Commando was chosen because I loved the NES game back when I was younger. I got the version for the GameBoy as well as the GBC version that updated a lot. The main mechanic is a claw that shoots out and grapples and pulls the player or lets the player swing. The player cannot jump, so the bionic arm is one of the main means of movement.
It was this mechanic that I did not do well. Which makes this attempt a failure. I was able to get it working well enough but there were some game destroying bugs. These bugs around the main game mechanic could have been resolved if I redid it a better way, however, that is kind of the point of this RIP Method. Make mistakes, think of better ways to do them but move on without refactoring too much.
Another issue I had this time was when I wrote out the gameplay elements, they didn't cover all the work that needed to be done. I will have to keep an eye on that to make sure I don't make that mistake again because that seriously messes up estimates... and hurts my motivation and my feelings.
The rest of the game went well, learned a better way to handle enemy states, but I feel like it too can be improved a lot to make it even more reliable and efficient. There was some ways I thought of doing things but found better ways, for instance: I was working on letting an enemy type fall through a platform to drop down, but it was not falling. I turned off collision completely, but it was still not working right. Then I found that turning one collision channel made things work the way I wanted while still letting the enemy get shot by the player. It's a small thing, and something that makes sense when looking back, but when approaching a game engine with all its complexity, it takes some time to get used to not just finding functions but getting a feel for how the engine is designed to be used. The doors was another improved method that was made easier. But there are improvements I think that I can put in for those as well.
Anyway, the third project is done. I learned more and feel like I've gotten a bit faster and more efficient even though it took longer, I spent less time working on it because it was interrupted by the game dev challenge I did which I'm counting as my fourth project. Which means that my next project is the last stage of the first level.
The graphics are available here:
I'm choosing Battle Unit Zeoth as the project, it's a game that I liked playing on my GameBoy when I was younger. It's a side scrolling shooter where you control a mech and shoot bad things while getting weapon upgrades. It was a short but tough game to get through.