Monday Update #1

Weekly Update:

I joined the #100DaysofCode challenge about a week ago, so I've got even more excuse to keep working on the project! I want to post these logs weekly here. This project is a combination of wanting to create an awesome game/framework, and wanting to continue learning more about C++ and improving my coding skills in general, so I figured the 100 Days of Code challenge would be a welcome addition. (My 100 days won't be ENTIRELY working on Splonking, but let's see how much I can get done in these 100 days!)

Since the last update, a lot of features have been added -- the "game jam" version of the game was not only very rough, it only had one type of obstacle. Also, much work has been done on the codebase: don't worry, there's still a LOT of work to be done. I consider the current build still a proof-of-concept and not quite an alpha. We'll get there though!

As of right now, for core gameplay features we've got: six different kinds of obstacles/enemies, fuel pickups, and a shield powerup. I've got some ideas kicking around for some others to add, but it's definitely feeling like the core gameplay elements are "there" now.

Assets are still temporary, though I'm growing fond of / getting used to the general art style: I might stick with a pseudo-vector style in the final product, I'm not sure. Those decisions are a ways off, at any rate.

I've also added a scanlines overlay, which will need to be refined in the final product: don't worry, it'll be a toggle-option and not always on! I really like the look of it though.

On the behind-the-scenes front, I'm in the process of refactoring much of the code/logic the be more modular and fit in the generic engine paradigm I'm working toward. Lots of optimizations (a simple re-work of the level generation logic approximately TRIPLED the FPS I was getting during gameplay, and subsequently revealed a bug in the physics logic) and lots of more boring stuff (making the code cleaner, etc) 

Check out the youtube video for a gameplay demo of where we are currently. Thanks for reading!