[Blog] Game Dev Progress - Spawn Zones (Patreon)

While I focused entirely on commissions for the first week of the month, I've been spending the last few days on game development. Allow me to show you what I've done recently - creating enemy spawn zones.

Breakdown

In this screenshot, you'll notice a few boxes. I use these rectangles to detect various conditions in the level design. Let's look into that!

Check for:

- Is this space empty of solid objects? If so, this space is considered 'free.'
- Is this space within the trigger zone?
- Is there a solid floor beneath this space?
- Is the player currently within the trigger zone?

If the answers to all of these questions is YES, then this space is SPAWN-ABLE.

Taking both available spaces into account (2-1, 2-2), we will then randomly choose to spawn an enemy in whatever space is considered spawn-able. 

There's another one of these spawn zones along the edge of the screen (3) in case I ever want to spawn enemies just off-screen, like in the original CV. Same rules apply.

None of that is required when spawning airborne enemies, however - as they ignore gravity & collision with solid objects. Instead, airborne enemies will spawn along the edge of the screen at the player's Y coordinate 0 (allowing for height deviation).

Bonus: Notice how the Debug Info changes to reflect that Box 2-2 is no longer able to spawn enemies, since it no longer qualifies after overlapping a solid wall.

This system isn't perfect. It can't spawn ground enemies at different Y positions like in CV & CoTM, and I'd prefer a range of possible X positions instead of only having a set number of spaces to spawn at. I'll also need to allow spawning on the left side of the screen too... But this is good enough for now!

Next Goal:

Although this mechanic is still not finished, it's at an acceptable level for a demo. So, I think I'll move onto a new goal and come back to it later. As for what that goal is...

Sub-Weapons HUD! At least, I think that's what I'll do next... Right now, this info is communicated through text, making it hard to understand your currently equipped weapon at a quick glance. I have to determine how exactly I want that to look... As I am very particular about the balance of visual elements. 

I can't merely copy CV's HUD, as our games have different goals, and thus, have to accommodate different needs. Let's look at how various CV-like games design their HUDs based on their specific needs.

Castlevania 3: 

CV3's aspect ratio was smaller than what we have now, so the info is condensed into a tighter space. This means every single bit of space is being used effectively, but it's also more information than we need to display.

This poses a concern about not having enough info, resulting in the HUD appearing empty. We also have 2 Sub-Weapons, which means we have to display both items. If they're large images, that might offset the visual balance, with a certain area looking heavier than others. That makes the HUD distracting and makes looking for info at a glance more difficult.

Bloodstained - Curse of the Moon 2: 

CotM2 is much cleaner with its design. It doesn't feature superfluous details, like the level number or descriptive text. Notice how it also displays the sub-weapons - they are smaller, with their larger character portraits nearby. This makes it easier to parse that info despite the sub-weapons being so much smaller in visual weight.

You might notice a large empty space too, but this is done to accommodate all the playable characters, as you can have up to 4 (or even 9) total. The weapon points are closer to the health bars, since they can't be displayed next to the weapons due to a lack of space. It also makes it easier to see both your HP & weapon points together.

We only have one character, however, so we can't use that space in the same way.

Castlevania: Seal of the Eclipse

This fan-game takes inspiration from both CV3 and CotM2. However, they also have a few new elements: the SP gauge & secondary character health info.

The sub-weapon info is clearly highlighted, making it easier to find that info if you're looking specifically for it. But it also attracts more weight to the center of the screen, especially with the secondary character next to it. These areas are clearly separated by black spaces, but visual distribution of info feels a bit more distracting, as there's varying levels of contrast & colours in both major areas.

The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest:

This HUD is more closely inspired by CV3, but cleaned up. It fills the space with new elements, such as: the player level, time of day, and named location. This game is a Metroidvania like CV2, so that information is much more meaningful to its design.

It's well balanced, but it also contains different bits of information than we planned. Like a character portrait (I don't know if it's necessary to have). We also don't much care for player level, time of day, or location. Plus, we still have 2 sub-weapons...

Midnight Castle Succubus DX: 

This game is similar in design to CV2, and thus, involves collecting a large number of items across its semi-open world. Displaying all of that info is an effective use of the space, but it's also way more information than we need. Notice how the health bar is instead displayed by a numerical value due to how little space is available.

Most of this HUD is comprised of collectibles & weapons, which we just don't have. But if we ever did, I think I'd have it displayed on a separate screen altogether. While effective, it doesn't focus enough on what I need/want my HUD to focus on.

Anyway, that's it for now. Don't forget to eat & sleep.