The Coder Archive

  • Last time, I showed you the simple but effective physics system that powered Lucky Shot. By the end of the article, we had a smooth, adjustable, and flexible movement system that we could apply to each of the AI enemies.  I also mentioned that the physics system took care of most of the natural-feeling movement of the game’s enemies, and that the underlying AI was comparatively simple. This is what I’ll be showing you in this article — how the physics and AI worked in tandem.

    Behind Lucky Shot Part 2 of 2 – Sharp Wit?

    Posted on November 6, 2011 | 2 Comments
    Last time, I showed you the simple but effective physics system that powered Lucky Shot. By the end of the article, we had a smooth, adjustable, and flexible movement system that we could apply to each of the AI enemies.  I also mentioned that the physics system took care of most of the natural-feeling movement of the game’s enemies, and that the underlying AI was comparatively simple. This is what I’ll be showing you in this article — how the physics and AI worked in tandem.

    Continue Reading...

  • A while back, I posted a postmortem for my game, Lucky Shot. In it, I mentioned that one of the aspects that was most well-received was the AI. I myself found this amusing — while it was a good system, it was incredibly simple, only a small step above the enemies you see in a game like Super Mario Bros. So how did the enemies move so smoothly? A lot of it has to do with the movement system, and that’s what I’m going to cover in this article. Before I get started, though, I’d just like to say that this likely won’t be anything new to anyone who’s programmed a physics system in a game before — in fact, if you have, you will likely see this as overly basic. And it is. This is meant more as a beginner’s introduction and as a showcase on how some very simple ideas can lead to some very nice behaviour. It does, however, require some knowledge of high-school level math and physics.

    Behind Lucky Shot Part 1 of 2 – Smooth Moves

    Posted on October 30, 2011 | 1 Comment
    A while back, I posted a postmortem for my game, Lucky Shot. In it, I mentioned that one of the aspects that was most well-received was the AI. I myself found this amusing — while it was a good system, it was incredibly simple, only a small step above the enemies you see in a game like Super Mario Bros. So how did the enemies move so smoothly? A lot of it has to do with the movement system, and that’s what I’m going to cover in this article. Before I get started, though, I’d just like to say that this likely won’t be anything new to anyone who’s programmed a physics system in a game before — in fact, if you have, you will likely see this as overly basic. And it is. This is meant more as a beginner’s introduction and as a showcase on how some very simple ideas can lead to some very nice behaviour. It does, however, require some knowledge of high-school level math and physics.

    Continue Reading...