This is an archive, stream of consciousness style, devblog of my adventures trying to code up a game for the first time.

Screenshots, screenshots everywhere!

Lots of stuff happening today. I got audio playback working. I need to flesh it out a bit with volume control/muting, and support for sound effects, but it works! The sole track I have right now works really well for the title screen. I need to add the controls to the title screen, as there isn't really a tutorial. I've been listening to some other tracks, but haven't found anything yet that really meshes with what I have and what I want. I have some ideas for what sounds certain interactions will trigger. I'm thinking I want to go with a very simple, clean sound design, which reflects the journey the game takes you on.

As requested by Acid, I'm going to share some screenshots with you. I had to create a title screen just for you (I hope you're happy!). Here it is in all its glory:

I'm going with a very pixelated look because that's all I can draw. It took me close to half a dozen iterations just to get to the current player character (my avatar). Here on this screen is where I need to add the controls: WASD for movment, QE for switching layers, and then F, +, -, [ESC], and [SPACE] (implied) for utility/alternative actions. This screen is also an example of how the story-screens are going to look: white on black text with only the player sprite displaying.

Moving on, here we can see the (current) first level. I would say this is probably going to be what it looks like in the completed game. The player sprite is visible at the top, with the white tiles as passable terrain. One of the themes I am playing with is remembrance. As the player progresses through the game, the colors will become more and more vibrant. This was the core concept of the game, along with switching layers, and has so far remained the same throughout several redesign processes.

Finally, here's an example of a later level in the first act. I have always enjoyed creating mazes, and while I feel like this particular element of the game is weak, the challenge is in manipulating the game pieces. One of the influence of this game is the perennial classic Chips Challenge. Of course, you can't critique this game on its gameplay alone. The part I'm focusing on the most is the story, as that will have the greatest impact on the player. I want the game to be fun to play, but I don't want it to be just a silly distraction.

I also have working fullscreen mode. This is something I was holding back on, because I didn't know if I would ever be able to do it without rewriting most of the code. How I handle collision detection, sprite/tile drawing, and location, is all on a per-pixel basis. I have a scaling modifier built in, but I was worried that either everything would be messed up if I went into fullscreen mode, or it just wouldn't work at all. After experimenting a bit I was able to launch into either fullscreen mode or normal mode (which at a scale factor of 2 is 1056x576). I was having trouble with the internal viewport (as I later found out) where it wouldn't scale properly when switching modes, as you can see in the image below.

The solution was incredibly simple. I just needed to change the OpenGL viewport to the width and height of the new DisplayMod:

GL11.glViewport(0, 0, desktopDisplayMode.getWidth(), desktopDisplayMode.getHeight());

This post is starting to become very long thanks to all those pictures. I'm trying to stay away from describing the game in too much detail, as I want the player's first playthrough to be the most "enjoyable"–in the sense that they take from it the most. There's still a little left I'm going to touch on, but not today. I'm posting this early since there's something I have to go to. I'll leave you with this, since I have so far forgotten to mention it. The game title, Chromothymia, is a reference to the competition theme and my lovely mind. It is a portmanteau–and it is up to you, dear, reader, to figure out its morphemes.