MatthewDoyleArt.com Blog

As preparation to take on my new job role, I wrote a small flash game using ActionScript 3 and OOP (object oriented programming) to brush up on my flash scripting skillz.

So far, so good.  It is still a work in progress, and there are many known issues:

• the enemy you shoot isn’t always the one that is removed from the game
• player may leave the screen (need to add screen limits)
• placeholder art asset for explosion & torpedoes
• no enemy AI beyond basic movement
• enemies pop into view rather ugly sometimes
• ship heading is suffers from rounding errors
• torpedo heading suffers from the same rounding errors
• …and lots more

Features to add:

• radar
• lasers
• shields
• enemy combat AI
• pick-ups
• scrolling background
• …and whatever else I find time to add

The game is composed of several class files which can easily be reused for other 2D space shooters:

• Main.as (main game loop)
• PlayerShip.as
• EnemyShip.as
• Torpedo.as
• Explosion.as
• UserInterface.as
• Collision.as (code thanks to gSkinner)

You may download a full source code zip file, or play the game from here (World Building).

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I’m the type of guy that likes to beat dead horses long after they’ve been beaten into dust by the mob. Better men and women, with more distinguished careers and education have probably already analyzed the World of Warcraft phenomenon with a greater level of granularity than I can offer here, but God gave me a keyboard, and by Xena I’m going to use it. What makes WoW so casual gamer friendly? Why is it such an MMO juggernaut, despite its lack of depth and complexity in a genre that is defined by said depth and complexity. Why is every MMO company out there trying to make the next WoW, even if they won’t admit it. Why are millions upon millions of dollars being thrown at former Blizzard employees by bandwagon investors looking to reap some small portion of the WoW profits into their pockets?

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