Wow thanks Mathias, Britzl, Sicher, Axel and all!!! You got me past a hump that would usually be enough to have a man throw up his hands and resort to bad habits(you fill in the blank lol)
Instead, I had an awesome community to back me. Yeah, this was a great lesson of “Don’t panic and look for reasons to quit”
The game is submitted to the Game Jam, Entry number 9 now it’s 9x9!!!
Thanks again team and I’ll keep polishing the game until launch!!!
Cool!
A question about that great effect when the big guys in the background appear, is that a shader or a flipbook animation?
Thanks Sicher! I actually animated that in After Effects after reading about it in one of Axel’s posts.
I used a ripple effect on a circle object and then used that as the mask for the big guy ^^
I just confirmed that the animation for the big guy which is 700 frames is what killed the memory.
I’ll just create a shorter version that can fit in the Atlas is what I’m thinking ^^
Clocking out for the day with next steps being:
Thanks again Team!
The big guy animation can probably be done very efficiently with shaders. Lots of tricky work though. 
Don’t know what Shaders are but I’ll add it to my next steps above!
Quick question:
Any ideas on how to do a “Play Again” after death.
Clean Game restart would be fine
One way: use a collection proxy to load, init and enable the level collection. When you die and want to replay, unload the collection, then load it again.
Very interesting! I’ll give it a shot in a couple hours. If it works I can just create each level in it’s own collection with it’s assets and build the whole game that way ^^
Yes, this is a very good approach when dealing with multiple levels.
A little help on using proxies:
I have all the level 1 content in a collection called main.collection
that collection contains a main.go which contains the GUI and a main script.
Where do I create the proxy collection?
Also, what is it that’s actually running the whole game? Is it the main.script that runs the game or another thing?
As soon as I figure out how to do this without breaking the game I think I’ll want to start on the artwork for level 2. Want to keep moving.
Thanks!
You may also try this extension. I have not tried it yet, but I hope to add it to my game in next few days.
The bootstrap collection specified in game.project points to the initial collection to load. Any scripts attached to game objects in that collection will be active and run your game. In your case it might be the main.script but it could just as well be other scripts.
I have an example of proxy collections here: publicexamples/examples/menu_and_game at master · britzl/publicexamples · GitHub
Oooops! Sorry! I’ve insert wrong link! Here’s the right one - https://github.com/Megus/defold-router
Thanks for all the replies everyone!!!
Alien Language ^^
I had to prioritize other things the last few days.
BUT I was able to read the links and try solutions a number of times.
I think it’s just a little beyond my level right now, same with Shaders ^^ It’s like alien language to me now lol
Building Levels
No reason to slow down though. I’m going to read a little each day and only commit about 20% to learning and the other 80% to building assets for the different levels.
Live Screen Chat Anyone
If anyone is willing to do a live chat and walk me through building the “Replay” feature I would be up for it. It would be nice to have that for the Jam ^^. I’ll be on for another 2 hours from the time of this post.
Cheers friends ^^
Progress for today ^^ I think I’m happy for now with this level as well.
Next Steps:
Captain’s log:
I’ve been contemplating on game most recently. The last addition to the balance of the game was towers and it added a layer of interest…but it’s not enough. It doesn’t seem full yet…
1st Necessary Element:
Pace. Enemies should be revealed one at a time. So, first orange 1, then orange 1&2 until the end of the level where they all come at you. I’ll also greatly limit the lighting. I’ll make it so that you have to collect a Cross point to use lightning. The more you collect the more you can use it. That way there’s an additional goal and the user has to be frugal. No one likes unlimited ammo and lives.
2nd Necessary Element
Complexity. I had concept art of the elements already so there’s no reason why the character couldn’t choose 1 element to start with and grow the class of that element. I would want to play that kind of a game multiple times to unlock all the features.
3rd Big Decision
3 hearts, 1 life, no save, straight play. Save 7 worlds in one sitting.
I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad but I like that it has to be a straight play. It’s like an adventure each time. But I would want the whole game to be 40mins. Anything more than that will be annoying.
Is this within my limits? No.
Is it within the limits of the people here? I believe it is.
When I need it I’ll ask for help ^^
Captain out…I’ve been watching 1987 Star Trek next generation…it is amazing.
