Today we are going to learn how to make the following game:

Note: the demo game above is NOT using the gsensor(for convenience), but the mouse. This tutorial will be using the gsensor.

This tutorial is buildup from a previous Gsensor tutorial. You can find it here.

Preparations

Go on ahead and download the advancedGsensorTutorial.zip from the previous tutorial and open the .fla.

Create a new layer and label it ship.

Next draw anything that looks like a ship… here’s what mine looks like.

Go on ahead and select it and make it into a Movie Clip by right clicking and pressing Convert to Symbol.

Make sure to label the name as hero, check Export for Actionscript, and give it an Identifier name of hero. Click OK.

Great! Now you can delete the hero currently on the Stage because it will be dynamically added on to the screen (Do not delete the hero in the library).

Let’s go on ahead and prepare for blasters!

Draw a simple bullet/blaster and like the hero, let’s make it into a Movie Clip by right clicking and pressing Convert to Symbol or the shortcut F8.

Make sure to label the name as bullet, check Export for Actionscript, and give it an Identifier name of bullet. Click OK.

Like the hero, you can delete the bullet currently on the Stage because it will be dynamically added on to the screen (Do not delete the bullet in the library).

Coding

Our goal for coding will be to replace the default image with the cool hero ship we made and allow it to shoot those bullets we made earlier.

Go ahead and press F9 to open up the actions panel. Assuming you have not touched the code, find line 31 and let’s add a container.

createEmptyMovieClip("container", 0);

This code allows us to store everything into a container MovieClip and control everything in a much more structured manner.

Next find line 36 which says:

var mc:Object = _root.attachMovie("ball", "hero", _root.getNextHighestDepth());

and modify it to say the following:

var mc:Object = _root.container.attachMovie("hero", "hero", _root.container.getNextHighestDepth());

If you’ve made the changes and test the movie out (or even play it on the cowon). You should be able to play with the ship with the gsensor.

Coding the bullet will now require a little more coding, but don’t worry we’ll go one step at a time.

Start on a new line on the bottom of the same Action layer, for me it was line 112.

Let’s begin by making a function for shooting a bullet:

function shoot_bullet(obj:Object) {
 bcnt++;
 var mc:Object = _root.container.attachMovie("bullet", "bullet"+bcnt, _root.container.getNextHighestDepth());
 //centers the mc to the middle of the object.
 mc._x = obj._x;
 mc._y = obj._y;
 mc.spd = 10;
 mc.onEnterFrame = function() {
 //movement applied to this mc
 this._y -= this.spd;
 //bounding restrictions.
 if (this._y<=0) {
 this.removeMovieClip();
 }
 };
}

The following code creates a bullet on the center of the designated object (in our program the hero) and will move to the top of the screen at a speed of 10 pixel per frame and will be removed from the game once it reaches the y coordinate of 0.

You will notice that I am using a variable called bcnt. What is that? Well it is a counter as for how many bullets have been fired off. So let’s define the variable bcnt where all the other variables are defined. In our example, it’s line 27 right under the declaring of the variable gCurRotation add:

var bcnt:Number = 0;

Now we are settled. All we need to do is have an action or an event that calls our newly defined function. Add the following action to the bottom of the code:

onMouseDown = function(){
 shoot_bullet(_root.container.hero);
}

The following code responds to every time the user presses the screen/Mouse is down, the shoot_bullet function will be called causing the hero to shoot a bullet.

Awesome! Well that completes the first installment of making a flight clone. Hope you enjoyed it.

You can download all the files here.

If you come across any trouble say it feel free to comment.

The game still needs some fine tuning and obstacles for our little furry hero, but since I felt the game was still very playable I am offering a beta release to you all. The game you will notice is in Korean. That’s because I wanted to motivate myself into the translation process. It’s been a very fun project translating texts from English to Korean and English to Russian. Hopefully when the game is complete the four languages will be functional.

In this current release you will notice the following:

• High score will be saved.
• Three different types of platforms
  • Normal: These are normal.
  • False: As the name implies, these platforms will break upon touching.
  • Move: These platforms will move side to side.
• Removed Settings and Achievements Page
  • Reason: Being developed – will be updated.

If you’re an advertiser and would like to purchase some ad space either on the game or this website, you may always email me.

I would like to also point out that the game Santoki took a lot of time to develop. These little games do not simply fall from the sky, it takes hours upon hours. If you so feel kind, I would greatly appreciate any sort of donations for Santoki (Please see the paypal button on the bottom of the post).

Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

Santoki

Why a Santoki?

I was actually born in the year of the rabbit according to the Chinese Zodiac. So that is why I inherited my nickname “santoki” – imagine that. Plus, bunnies are cute.

What’s Santoki about?

Well in this game, you get to play as a santoki and you work yourself out jumping and hopping across platforms. The idea of the game is simple – the higher you go the more points you get. It becomes much more challenging as you peak higher and higher to the top of the mountain as you’ll have less platforms to come across and more obstacles arising.

The cool thing about this game is that you can control the santoki with your cowon gsensor making it challenging and very addictive.

Is the game in Korean?!

Actually, it’ll be available in multiple language supports. However, the screens you see are in Korean. I wanted to release this game in a multi-language platform setting. Hopefully, it’ll be available in English, German, Russian, and Korean.

Expect to see this game soon.

-Santoki

If you would like to just skip the tutorial and just download the file, you can get it here.

Otherwise, let’s get started.

1. Drawing our hero

If we are to move anything with our nifty Cowon G-Sensor, we’ll need a hero object – a ball. Let’s go on ahead and grab the Oval Tool (0) and draw a circle. Once you’ve made a circle select it and make it into a movie clip (F8) and name it “ball” and make sure to check Export for ActionScript and give it an Identifier name of “ball” and press OK (see picture below).

2. Coding our hero

believe it or not, we are 1/2 way there! Well, almost there. Now go on ahead and create a new layer, label it action and lock the layer (see image below).

Now the best part… the code. Press F9 and enter the following code in the “Actions” layer:

/* Variables */
// Always Initialized Variables
var setX:Number = 0;
var setY:Number = 0;
var setZ:Number = 0;

var preX:Number = 0;
var preY:Number = 0;
var preZ:Number = 0;
var DIR:Number = 0;

var curX:Number = 0;
var curY:Number = 0;
var curZ:Number = 0;
var gCurRotation:Number = -1;

//Callibrates the current position of the s9 as the "initial position"
SetXYZ();
stop();

//creates hero with .4 speed sensitivity;
create_hero(.4);
function create_hero(spd:Number) {
//creates a mc and links the mc labeled "ball" and names it hero.
var mc:Object = _root.attachMovie("ball", "hero", _root.getNextHighestDepth());
//centers the mc to the middle of the screen.
mc._x = Stage.width/2;
mc._y = Stage.height/2;
//sensor speed;
mc.sensor_spd = spd;
mc.onEnterFrame = function() {
//the code that allows movement based off of the xyz movement.
_root.ReadXYZ();

//movement applied to this mc
this._x = this._x+this.sensor_spd*_root.curX;
this._y = this._y+this.sensor_spd*_root.curY;

//bounding restrictions.
if (this._x>=480) {
this._x = 480;
}
if (this._x<=0) { this._x = 0; } if (this._y>=272) {
this._y = 270;
}
if (this._y<=0) { this._y = 0; } }; } // s9 Accellerometer function
function SetXYZ():Void { trace("set() working!");
setX = ext_fscommand2("GetEtcTASValueX");
setY = ext_fscommand2("GetEtcTASValueY");
setZ = ext_fscommand2("GetEtcTASValueZ");
if (setZ>0) {
DIR = 1;
} else {
DIR = -1;
}
preX = setX;
preY = setY;
preZ = setZ;
}
function ReadXYZ() {
curX = ext_fscommand2("GetEtcTASValueX");
curY = ext_fscommand2("GetEtcTASValueY");
curZ = ext_fscommand2("GetEtcTASValueZ");

curX = Calibration(curX, preX);
curY = Calibration(curY, preY);
curZ = Calibration(curZ, preZ);

preX = curX;
preY = curY;
preZ = curZ;
if (setZ>=0 && curZ>=0 || setZ<0 && curZ<0) {
curY = curY-setY;
} else if (curY<0) { curY = -512-curY-setY;
} else { curY = 512-curY-setY; }
curX = curX-setX;
curY = curY*DIR*_root.gCurRotation;
curX = curX*DIR*_root.gCurRotation;
}
function Calibration(cur:Number, pre:Number):Number {
if (Math.abs(cur, pre)>80) {
return (pre);
} else if (cur == 0) {
return (pre);
} else {
return (cur);
}
}

3. In Action!

If everything went correctly, the ball hero you created earlier should be spawned in the center, but unable to move. The hero is unable to move since it is moved based on the Gsensor movement of the Cowon. If an output prompt prints, “set() working!” Then it worked. Otherwise, you may have done something wrong.

The code has been commented where needed in describing everything where needed. If you feel the movement is too fast or too slow, you can change the initial speed by changing the variable on the hero:

“create_hero(.4);” // change the .4 to any number;

Again if you would like the source code you can download it here.

Depending on the feedback, I’ll try making this into a series – a break from me making games.

Changes made to the game:

• Added Energy Bar
  • To prevent aimless shooting, the energy bar penalizes the player for “wasting” shots.
  • If the energy bar is depleted, the user must wait until the recharge hits 1/2 way.
  • The energy bar automatically recovers overtime.
• Added Score
  • Killing Enemies will show a green score popup.
  • Located Top left of screen
• Added Pause Feature
  • Bullets, Ships, and the crosshair are all frozen by pressing on the screen.
• Added Plasma
  • A high tier weapon with fast speed and excellent damage, bust costly energy
• Added Auto Shoot
  • No longer do you have to tap the screen to shoot. By pressing the [keyboard UP/DOWN] you can auto attack
• Improved AI
  • AI upgraded
• Added End Game Animation
  • Gates close when both enemies defeated.

Check out the game:

22% has been donated so far for a Cowon s9!

Humble Beginnings

Flight has come a long ways since its first release for the iRiver clix and e10. This game wasn’t even fully developed as the CPU had a hard time calculating bullets and the hero was unable to do much. Nevertheless, the game inspired me to a new level of an “active” game and a passion for a smooth playable game – something a lot of flash Clix game lacked.

The First of its Kind

When 2souldesign.net released the v1.1b patch of Flight for the Cowon s9, it was quite a hit. The game began to fully utilize the power of the Cowon s9’s Gsensor for a fully action based game. It incorporated a lot of the nostalgic game elements from old console space games.

The game was unfortunately limited to a direction of moving forward into space with no element of evasion and “microing” your hero.

The Birth of a New Game

Because of Flight’s robust coding, I was able to take away the crucial elements of the game and create a totally different game that controlled a cross-hair in which the hero ship would always aim at – allowing full control of the ship and direction of its aim. This new engine I’ve been working on now enables a totally new way of wrecking havoc on enemy ships and maneuver to dodge harm.

So far I’m happy with the results, although I haven’t been able to test on the Cowon s9.

So why wait? Check this video out.

You’ll notice that the game has the following:

• A Minimap
• The Ship finally has a Hitpoint
• Enemies have more HP
• Hero has more degrees of freedom to move
• Hero can shoot missles
• Hero has unlimited blaster shots
• Hero can slow down time

More updates to come in the future.

The old design

The new design

You’ll notice immediately that there has been a number of changes to the site. Let’s take a look into some of the functions that have been added to this new design.

• Thumbnails
  • For each posts (Not yet fully changed)
• Recent Tweets
  • Now you can view my latest “tweets”
• Recent Comments
  • Just to keep you more informed
• Related Posts
  • Some posts may indirectly refer to another (Must be optimized)
• Popular Posts
  • You can now find out what’s been the most talked about
• Better Search Feedback
  • Searches for a title will now be highlited
• Featured Articles
  • Breaking posts or just announcements will now be pinned to the top.

Find a bug?

Please help me out, if you find something inconvenient, broken, or any other problem please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll be updating this site internally regularly, so let me know if anything goes wrong!

Thanks again, and I hope the best with this new design.

Advertising

If you would like to advertise on the sidebar, I have available 125 x 125 pixel boxes on the sidebar. You may contact me via email to discuss about pricing and policies.

For several months now, I’ve been really wanting to redesign 2souldesign.net. So for a few days now, I’ve been making some mockup designs and really came to like one of my designs. So I’ll show you a sneak preview of what I have right now.

A redesign from a bird’s eye view.

One of the key things I really wanted was a cleaner look with good spacing between each elements. With the above design, I think it has accomplished just that (albeit not finished). I’m also leaning towards a pinned featured article that would be ahead of all other posts, if it’s popular. Thumbnails for each post was also something I thought should be implemented to allows an easier association with the corresponding post.

By the way, yes, that model on the 5 updates for Shadow Kai is one of the newer units I’ve modeled. I’ve been debating about having the unit’s hood on or not, and decided to take it off – so this actually an older model. So far the game has a bowman, priest, assassin, and warrior.

Shadow Kai Unit

A comment suggested a G-sensor game using sounds, which I personally find interesting, but almost impossible to create due to the lack of a cowon s9. If you would like for the game to be a donationware (Application for a donation of any kind), I’d be more than happy to make it running!

Here’s the link.

The problem with the old model was that the archer looked more like a boy than it did of a full grown warrior. The switch of design did take some extra time I was not too fond of, but the end result seems a lot more promising.  With the addition of the new model, I decided to take some considerations made into the navigation system and have found it quite cool to play around with.

The Archer

Old Archer

New Archer

The Archer’s shoulder was broadened to give it a little more tougher look and was given a bow for obvious reasons. The Archer was recolored with red because, frankly it was hard to see in the green grass and it seems to really make the archer stand out as a foe to reckon with.

The New Navigation System

The picture above shows the navigation system and the console system working together. The new navigation system runs off of a drag-and-drop movement. Basically, press on any ground (grass) and drag it to the direction of view you prefer. Upon release, the map will memorize the end point and allow you to go on drag and dropping to further view the map.

The units you select will automatically be centered with a small ease effect. This will allow you to fully see all of their surroundings and optimize your strategy without having to drag all around.

Have fun navigating around the world with 5 characters randomly spawning. Can you find the most powerful unit?

[Updated 1.12.10] Download here.

//Note: May not work on Cowon S9

Was this post good? Help Santoki out to get a Cowon S9 for more games to be developed on.

Shadow Kai has been one of my games that have been shelved and restarted numerous times due to complications and time issues. This time I have come across 5 problems that have been haunting my progression for this game. If you have any insight or would like to contribute any ideas, feel free to give in any inputs, I’ll take a look into all comments.

1. How big should a character be?

This is actually a practical problem. The Cowon S9’s capacitive is great because you don’t have to worry about other objects touching the screen, but if you haven’t noticed already pressing buttons for some games may be a pain! The capacitive touch screen requires a button that is big enough to respond to a button press.

This requires then a serious look into a characters size. A bigger character then reveals great detail of the 3D work and a great touch response, but does take up a wide area of the screen which limits what you can see at one given time. A smaller character on the other hand makes it almost impossible to select and much less detail to identify, but allows a much more better vision of the surroundings.

2. How should the game be navigated?

Another simple, but a very crucial mechanic to the game is movement. I wanted to play with the Gsensor, but because I do not have the Cowon s9, this is near impossible to implement. Instead, I decided to try out a quad directional movement to navigate the world. This is a problem if the user slides his/her finger off of the button, as it will lock the movement of the directional key.

You can find a copy here.

3. The Stacking / Collision problem

The old collision problem has come again to haunt me. What should the character’s boundary be? What happens if two characters collide when in movement? Or worse, what happens if a character stops on top of another character? Does it push the character underneath it?

These are some questions I’m left to sort out.

4. Isometric Problems

Many games have become popular using the isometric perspective, but this game has been using an engine with a bird’s eye view to simplify things. A problem that may occur then is that a user can abuse the extension of the horizontal versus the vertical stretch. eg: moving left and right would allow more move space than up and down.

5. I still do not have an S9

But you can help by donating by paypal.