2007-09-24
After playing the "Quake: Enemy Territory" demo and having it run slow on my 1 year old computer with low settings, I vowed to do everything in my power to make sure I never release a game that can’t run well on a current average computer. For flash, this means making the transition to Action Script 3.0. Bowmaster Prelude’s game engine is created entirely in Action Script 2.0. I’m taking this opportunity to create a brand new, highly optimized engine based on the Prelude design but implemented in AS3. Before making this decision I created performance tests to compare the difference between AS2 flash 8 and AS3 flash 9. The difference was quite significant as the AS3 version outperformed the same code and graphics of the AS2 version by up to 5 times the speed.
So what does this mean for Bowmaster 2? With AS3, BM2 will have more targets on the screen, more projectiles flying through the air, more advanced physics using Vector based collision detection (no more arrows passing through things — unless of course you’re using the pierce arrow ;), better animation and graphics, but more importantly BETTER PERFORMANCE FOR EVERYONE!
Check out the demo below to see the power of Flash 9 and AS3! Muahahah…
Specifically, this demo features the new "boulder" collision detection code that can be applied to any spherical object such as catapult ammo, loose boulders, or debris from castle explosions. This demo also features a more advanced projectile collision detection system that can allow arrows to hit targets at ANY speed. See for yourself by clicking anywhere on the screen. A super fast "test" arrow will be fired from the top left corner and will collide with the FIRST object it comes in contact with (be it a boulder, foot soldier, or the ground).
Please note that this is just a demo and not the final game engine. Unit animations, terrains, unit stats/behavior, gravity, projectile speed, background artwork and graphics may appear different in the final game.
I’m currently not bought off by nVidia. You will not see at the beginning of BowMaster 2 an animation that says "nVidia… the way it’s meant to be played" and I will not require Window’s Vista or Direct X10 to play the game.
