Displacement Maps

While we are all excited about the enhanced performace of Flash 8, I have found it's very easy to murder CPUs with cool looking tricks such as these.

Thats a bunch of duped MCs in a bitmap blurred and then made into a displacement map. Nice underwater effect. Totally useless due to performance though. I used this effect in my last Squiggle Squid proto but it is barely noticable.

More Squiggle Squid

Here is another proto for SS. Just messing with Flash 8 stuff. I was going for an underwater effect when he zooms to your mouse with a displacement map. Its barely noticeable and VERY processor intensive. Oh well.

Some early art character design in there for Squiggle too. Got the tentacles staying in place too.

Just Rock, Paper, Scissors

Often in discussing game design the statement, "Isn't this just glorified rock, paper, scissors?", comes up often. While many games are minor variants on RPS (see Naked Toonbots, a game which is RPS with a super meter) other games, such as Street Fighter, offer incredible depth by using the RPS mechanic.

In Street Fighter 3 there are 3 core mechanics, strike, throw and parry. These 3 mechanics have a RPS relationship. There are many additional mechanics layered on top of this but the core is the same.

There is also a bit of strategy in RPS. While the depth of strategy in RPS often referred to as "guessing" it's more in depth than that. In fighting (real fighting) a common strategy is to hit: body, body, head. People catch on fairly quick to patterns and want to change their pattern to counter their opponent's. The idea is to trap your opponent in different mixtures of these patterns.

We are playing RPS, I beat your scissors with rock 2x in a row. Now you are likely to change your strategy. Are you going to switch to paper next turn expecting me to do rock a 3rd time? Most likely, so I switch to scissors and beat you again.

So while RPS is very simple it offers a solid core for games mechnanics and strategy.

Squiggle Squid

I am working on a bit of a side project. My goal is to create a casual action/puzzle game. Here is my prototype:
Squiggle Squid Proto

The idea is
- The squid always moves slowly towards your mouse
- click to make the squid shoot to your mouse
- the farther he moves, the bigger the ink cloud
- any shrimp touching the ink cloud are captured
- capture as many shrimp in a combos as you can
- don't touch the spikeys

Again nodes to Bit 101 for the IK. My biggest combo is 15. Werd.