(click the image above, press spacebar to spin the cube, click the planes)

For each side of the cube I set up a grid class (a DisplayObject3D) that takes 2 different ColorMaterials (one with a .5 alpha, and one solid).  Inside this grid class, I build an array of planes.  When a plane is clicked, it is swapped out with a new solid ColorMaterial plane and the old plane is removed from the display list.  To do this, I send the parameters from the clicked plane to a function (the array index, the x value, the y value, and eventually the color value), and a new plane is built in place with these parameters while exchanging the ColorMaterial.

You might ask, why not just change the alpha of the single plane instead of changing the ColorMaterial?  Well, it’s not so simple.  Each plane of the same color shares a ColorMaterial, and when you change the alpha, it changes the alpha of every plane that is associated with that ColorMaterial.  I tested out many different methods and my “swap” method seems to be the lightest and simplest way to achieve the color change (so far?).

Eventually, each grid class is going to need to access every ColorMaterial, as each side of the cube will include colors from other grids.

So I’ve been working on implementing the grids (and making them active) on each side of the cube.  I got them on there, with every plane stored in an array and with different actions.  Right now, for testing, I just have a simple tween applied to each on a mouse over, and on a mouse click, they go back to original position.  Well I thought this looked pretty damn cool so I’m posting it up for everyone to play around with.  The FPS will be pretty low, I have certain settings turned on/off for testing and there are  A LOT of planes, there won’t be this many objects at a single time during actual gameplay.

*For better performance, download the Air Application: For Mac | For Windows

*And if you don’t have Adobe AIR, go here.

A mock up of what a finished level might look like.  The semi-transparent squares show which colored planes must be placed on them to make them active.  The squares of 4 colored planes are where the special bubbles float.  A special bubble is attained by filling all 4 squares with the specific colored planes.  The player can not walk on any area of the level that is not filled with an activated plane.  For a more information about our gameplay refer to Nick’s post.  This is still a work in progress, we have yet to nail down some of the ideas.

Here is a better look at the special bubbles (to be created in Papervision shortly)

This is a test of the grid system for the game.  I’ve coded a class that creates a grid of planes, each with separate event listeners, for the sides of the cube.  Eventually, we will have a “highlighting” effect that fires when a user mouses over a certain grid piece.  Right now, I am using Plane primitives set to single sided that are just flipping 180 degrees along the Y axis and “disappearing”.  You can see how they are flipping by pressing spacebar and rotating the cube.

I’ve constantly been running into walls with this.  As you can see, there are some layering issues where the planes are above the character, even though they are at a lower z-depth.  I know what is causing all of the problems, I’m just trying to figure out the correct ways to go about fixing them (something with Viewport Layers).

Essentially, I would like to create a grid just using math, without using any Papervision primitives as placeholders, but I have yet to figure out the best way.  Well, back to work.

So flash has this weird issue with running a network game which will be the topic of debate for the upcoming week.

So to battle this you will need to follow 3 easy steps.

First: You will need to go here
Flash Global Settings

Next Click on the Edit Settings Button on the bottom left. and click on Add Location

You will be prompt with a box that looks like this. Pick “Browse for Folder”

Finally pick the folder where the game files will be coming in from.

And now you will never be hassled by Flash about networking issues again.

The Tick system for the server works. Code wise it was relatively simple to implement. Theory-wise i just couldn’t wrap my head around which part of the code had to be timed.
But anyways, I got it situated. The player’s variables are sent only 30 ticks per second instead of as fast as the computer can handle. This way all players move at a similar speed. Also If a computer is lagged the player will skip instead of just locking out and being behind.

Here’s a sample of the code.

Also this week i went through and commented out all of my individual code so that when Jared takes it into the updated code he can find everything easily.

Lastly, for Throwback Saturdays, an image of my Wall of Concept as i was trying to figure out how many ticks should occur to make the the game run smoothly.

And finally as per Jervo’s request here is a zip file of my current code. It is packaged in the raw form instead of on a browser because of flashes death security.

Get the Source Files here

This past week, I started to generate a game manual based on our new game concept (which we had revised based on our meeting with Paul) and I also incorporated some of Paul’s ideas into the new design. Here is what I have generated so far:

The Fourmation

Game Manual

Game Overview

At the start of the game, each player is assigned a side with a character. The object of the game is to get their character from one corner of the side to the opposite corner ending position. Each player must use platforms to build a bridge to reach their ending point. The player must used platforms either from their initial library, stolen from other players, or acquired from thrown free-for-alls. The player’s side consists of a grid that is 10 by 10 spaces. The squares of the grid are white, but there may be groupings of specialty squares that are different colors. These different colored squares require platforms that match these colors. Players may opt to go around these squares or try to grab platforms that match the colored squares. Players must also use a special end platform on the last position in order to win. This end platform, marked by a star, must be acquired by the players during a free-for-all. However, their appearance is rare. The first player to reach the opposite corner of their side and use the ending platform wins.

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