Big day today. Got a lot of cleanup work done, made the code run a little smoother on screen transitions, and did some neat stuff with the way that messageboxes and pausing works. Also, switched out the AI timer so that when the game is paused, the AI stops running. I liked the AI-keeps-running design more, but I don’t think it would go over well with players who think they’ve paused their game.
Also, added a controls screen, so new-comers can see what the controls do. Made a spot for “Tutorial”, too. Still not sure how I want to come at the Tutorial. I’ve always like the audio-only idea, but that DOES leave deaf players out. Anyway, a starter screen is there in the background, ready to go when I decide how I want everything done.
I’m almost wondering if I should worry about the new art down the left side. After all, the biggest part ahead of me is going to be switching everything to conform to the 80% rule. And with my deadline coming up, I don’t have a lot of time to really tweak the graphics much anymore.
In making that switch to the AI timer, though, I’ve introduced a bug where – on first startup – the content loading (I think) causes a skip in the timer. Sometimes it’s just a few seconds, sometimes it’s as many as ten seconds. I’ve just realized that the issue wouldn’t be noticable if I switched the art. ;)
How tricky!
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