Jefferson asks..


The name of this site should give you some idea as to how difficult Centipong is to create from scratch.
But just in case, allow me to plot you some points to help guide you along the way.

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Step 1

Pong

Pong requires the following abilities.
1. The ability to control a sprite (the paddle) onscreen with the left/right (or alternatively up/down) control buttons.
2. The ability to draw and move a second sprite (the ball)
3. The collision of Ball to Paddle.
4. A second paddle at the other side.
5. Sound, go beep!

Bouncing the ball is a simple case of "If it hits something vertically, reverse the vertical direction", and "If it hits something horizontally, reverse the horizontal direction"
Don't forget to bounce against the walls, too.

This is all you need for pong.
Start with that, learn how to create it, and be happy that it's easy to make.

Step 2

Centipods

Replace the second paddle with a dot.
If the ball hits the dot, turn the dot into another ball.
Bounce both balls around on the screen.

Step 3

Centipedes

Replace the single dot with a series of dots, and walk those dots back and forth across the screen.
Start them off from beyond the edge of the screen, so they walk in, and then smush them to bits with your ball, causing everything to bounce around.
Collide all balls with all Centipede parts, until all the parts are turned into balls.

Step 4

Mushrooms

Add objects within a grid. If the ball of Centipods make contact with the objects in the grid, bounce them off.
Whenever the objects are hit, deteriorate them a little bit until they're all smushed into nothing.


From there, do some nice "Level" stuff. Decide on how many centipedes there are per level, and do some swooshy "Level Complete!" stuff.
Sprinkle on some basic particles, and maybe add a little something else.
Add some points for the various hits and bounces, and wrap it all up in a nice little menu system.


But don't make "Centipong".
Be imaginative.
Make something new with the concept.

Add Space Invaders to the mix.
Throw in a Boss Battle or two.
Do something new and unique, and be creative.

Give it a go, and let me know how you get on.